Vlado Popovski: I will vote in the referendum, a better agreement is not possible


The Prespa Agreement is the optimal solution that Macedonia could achieve to resolve the name dispute, says Academician Vlado Kambovski, who yesterday, together with Vlado Popovski and Nano Ruzin, held a meeting with journalists dedicated to this agreement.

– This is the optimal solution. Nobody should hope or think differently – said Kambovski. From a scientific point of view, he says the deal is completely acceptable and no remarks can be found.

According to him, the reached consensus on the name “Republic of Northern Macedonia” is a compromise between fears and hopes on both sides: the state’s name of Macedonia has been retained, which does not jeopardize the identity of the Macedonian people living on its territory, but a geographical determinant is added that differs it from the northern region of Greece. According to him, the agreement does not tap into issues of national identity. The determination of the citizenship of “citizens of the Republic of Northern Macedonia”, which will be registered in all travel documents as “Macedonian”, is a proper formulation. According to Kambovski, the provision on the Macedonian language as an official language has a declarative character.

– It does not recognize the existence of the Macedonian language and its status in the official language of the Republic of Macedonia, but confirms its international recognition – says Kambovski. According to him, the enormous contribution of this agreement is that it anticipates the registration of the Macedonian language as one of the official languages in the EU, preventing the possibility of contradicting its status from other member states. Kambovski said that the work with the Prespa agreement does not end after it has been ratified, but that it is yet to begin.

In the same line with Kambovski is the university professor Popovski who says that there could not have been a better deal and that it is an illusion if someone says that they could get a better agreement than this one.

– I absolutely believe that a better deal could not be made. The empty phrase shared to our public that someone else would make a better deal is an illusion and it can be said that at this time there is no positive role considering the goal, especially when there is no concretization proposing in what way it could be achieved – Popovski says, adding that he will come out and vote in the referendum, although some issues of the deal could be discussed. Only this government dared to step out, Popovski points out, pointing out that it is the maximum that Macedonia can get at this moment, and further pave the way for the EU and NATO.

He pointed out that this agreement has a deadline by the end of 2018, which is very interesting from a legal point of view.

– What if the deadline is not met, what will happen in January or February 2019? Is this a preclusive term? This means if the deadline is not met, then there are no obligations to either side. In that case, there is no agreement, and what is left are those legal acts that previously existed, the UN resolutions, the Interim Accord, etc. – says Popovski. He points out that in this sense Macedonia will not fall into a vacuum in terms of legal acts, but enters into uncertainty in the political sense of the word. In the hierarchy of interests, Macedonia must put NATO and the EU in the first place, says the university professor, so that we do not remain in limbo, which in reality calls into question the sustainability of the state and peace.

The academics warned that the name of MANU is uncertain under the agreement.

– If the Macedonian national character of the Academy is emphasized, then an alternative Albanian Academy of Sciences in the Northern Republic of Macedonia may appear in Macedonia. Perhaps the prolonged name of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Northern Macedonia is more accurate in terms of the character of the Republic of Macedonia – Popovski says.

Nano Ruzin pointed out that with the Prespa agreement, the century-old Macedonian question is now near its closing.

– The second important element is that with this agreement, virtually, the bilateral relations between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia and the entire region are stabilized. The agreement is not only in the function of NATO and the EU, the agreement is much wider, it also applies to the stabilization of the entire region, and the third idea is that I, together with that of Bulgaria, consider them as one whole – Ruzin said.