by Romfea.news
The special envoy of the UN Secretary-General, Matthew Nimetz, in the talks between Greece and FYROM, rejects the argument that Prespes Agreement may be renegotiated if it does not take effect.
In an interview with the ANA-MPA, Matthew Nimetz stresses that “If the Prespes Agreement does not take effect, the consequences of a failure would be profound and probably both sides could reconsider many of the agreed elements. I do not think a ‘quick solution’ would be possible for such a deal that was carefully negotiated. I can predict many different scenarios that could be possible, and some of them even dangerous.”
He argued that the two parties worked in good faith to resolve this dispute since the signing of the Interim Agreement in September 1995, nearly 25 years of effort. An agreement was finally reached, after so many years of intense discussion and hard negotiation.
Regarding the issue of language and whether the United Nations recognize the “Macedonian language”, Nimetz emphasized that in the official list of country names, including languages, prepared by the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) and the entry “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, there was a reference to “Macedonian” (mk: Makedonija).
He also reported that in 1992 the UNGEGN began updating the official list of country names, including languages, which was initiated in 1986, and this list was maintained on an updated basis and accessible by website for 194 countries. “On page 94 of this document there is an entry for the ‘Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ and the entry under the heading ‘Language’ is ‘Macedonian’,” he said.