Macedonia has passed the psychological threshold at the United Nations General Assembly after Syria has recently taken an unexpected step and recognized Macedonia’s constitutional name. The news reverberated more strongly in Greece than Macedonia though despite the fact that with this 129th recognition the option for the name issue to be put to vote in the General Assembly becomes theoretically possible, considering that Syria helped Macedonia get to the two-thirds majority that may vote through a decision favorable for Macedonia.
At the moment there are 192 UN member states and so it can easily be calculated that Macedonia get to the point it has been working hard for since 1992. However, why has this news failed to excite the public in Macedonia and has gone almost unheeded in the media?
“The recognition is not mathematics but politics,” is the first reaction of the diplomat who is a connoisseur of Macedonia’s recognition and who says that this Syrian act is not going to change anything in the current status quo situation. According to his assessments, even if all 159 countries that established bilateral relations with Macedonia recognized Macedonia’s constitutional name, no one could forecast the outcome of the General Assembly vote, because there is no guarantee that all those that decided to call Macedonia Republic of Macedonia are going to vote in the same fashion at the UN where there is still a resolution requiring a name issue solution.
In his view, the decision is relevant for having been taken “at a strange moment by a strange country” considering that even the most staunch supporters of the constitutional name (USA) push for a compromise with Greece and considering that Syria has very good relations with Greece.
It is evident, according to this diplomat, that there is a political motive behind the decision of Damascus. It is either instigated by Turkey or the aim is to provide Athens with an argument before its own citizens that the victory is not guaranteed and so Greece has to make a concession too.
