Macedonia naming dispute and Skateboarding: Difference between pages

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[[Image:Skaters1.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Skateboarders in [[Beijing]], [[China]].]]
|colspan="2"|{{Political Macedonia 2}}
[[Image:Skateboarder_Ollies_a_Gap.png|right|thumb|A skateboarder Ollies a gap.]]
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|valign="top"|{{Politics of Greece}}
|valign="top"|{{Politics of the Republic of Macedonia}}
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'''Skateboarding''' is the act of riding and performing tricks using a [[skateboard]]. A person who skateboards is most often referred to a skateboarder or a skater.
:''For an in depth analysis of the often confusing terms regarding [[Macedonia]], see [[Macedonia (terminology)]].''


Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an artform, a [[Profession|job]], or a method of [[transportation]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.webdelsol.com/Topic/articles/04/howell.html | title=Extreme Market Research | accessdate=2006-12-13 | author=Ocean Howell, Topic Magazine}}</ref> Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report by ''American Sports Data'' found that there were 18.5 million skateboarders in the world. 85 percent of skateboarders polled who had used a board in the last year were under the age of 18, and 74 percent were male.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4021/is_2002_Oct_1/ai_92087410 | title=Your Questions Answered - statistics about skateboarders | accessdate=2006-12-13 | author=John Fetto}}</ref>
The '''Macedonia naming dispute''' between [[Greece]] and the [[Republic of Macedonia]] stems from the disagreement between the two states over the name ''[[Macedonia (terminology)|Macedonia]]''. The former opposes the usage of the name "Macedonia" by the latter in its post 1991 constitutional name, without a geographical qualifier, since it has a province called [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]]. It also opposes the use of the term "Macedonian" without a qualifier for the neighbouring country's main [[Macedonians (ethnic group)|ethnic group]] and [[Macedonian language naming dispute|language]]{{Fact|date=September 2008}}. The dispute has escalated to the highest level of international mediation, involving numerous attempts to achieve a resolution, notably by the [[United Nations]].


Skateboarding is relatively modern. A key skateboarding maneuver, the [[Ollie (skateboarding trick)|ollie]], was developed in the late 1970s and in the early '80s freestyle skateboarder [[Rodney Mullen]] invented the ollie [[kickflip]]. <ref>{{cite web | url=http://skateboard.about.com/cs/boardscience/a/brief_history_2.htm | title=Skateboarding: A Brief History (page 2) | accessdate=2006-12-13 | author=Steve Cave, [[about.com]]}}</ref>
The provisional reference "'''the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'''" (FYROM) is currently always used in relations involving states which do not recognize the constitutional name, "Republic of Macedonia". Nevertheless, all [[United Nations|UN]] member-states, and the UN as a whole, have agreed to accept any final agreement resulting from negotiations between the two countries. The ongoing dispute has generated a great deal of political and academic debate on both sides.


==History==
Negotiations aimed at resolving the dispute are [[#NATO and EU accession talks|currently heightened]]. The objective was to reach a mutually acceptable solution by [[NATO]]'s [[2008 Bucharest summit|summit in Bucharest]] in April 2008. However, the failure to reach an agreement led to a Greek [[veto]] of the Republic's NATO accession.
===The 1940s-1960s===
Skateboarding was probably born sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s when surfers in [[California]], wanted something to surf when the waves were flat. No one knows who made the first board, rather, it seems that several people came up with similar ideas at around the same time. These first skateboarders started with wooden boxes or boards with roller skate wheels attached to the bottom. The boxes turned into planks, and eventually companies were producing decks of pressed layers of wood -- similar to the skateboard decks of today. During this time, skateboarding was seen as something to do for fun besides surfing, and was therefore often referred to as "Sidewalk Surfing".


[[Image:Skateboarder1.jpg|right|thumb|A skateboarder in [[Nice]], [[France]].]]
==Background==
The first manufactured skateboards were ordered by a [[Los Angeles, California]] surf shop, meant to be used by surfers in their downtime. The shop owner, Bill Richard, made a deal with the Chicago Roller Skate Company to produce sets of skate wheels, which they attached to square wooden boards. Accordingly, skateboarding was originally denoted "sidewalk surfing" and early skaters emulated [[surfing]] style and maneuvers. [[Crate scooters]] preceded skateboards, and were borne of a similar concept, with the exception of having a wooden crate attached to the nose (front of the board), which formed rudimentary handlebars.<ref name="SBH">{{cite web|url=http://skateboard.about.com/cs/boardscience/a/brief_history.htm|title=Skateboarding: A Brief History (page 1)|accessdate=2007-09-01}}</ref>
{{seealso|Foreign relations of the Republic of Macedonia#Greece|Foreign relations of Greece#Balkans}}


A number of surfing manufacturers such as [[Makaha]] started building skateboards that resembled small surfboards, and assembling teams to promote their products. The popularity of skateboarding at this time spawned a national magazine, [[Skateboarder Magazine]], and the 1965 international championships were broadcast on national television. The growth of the sport during this period can also be seen in sales figures for Makaha, which quoted $10 million worth of board sales between 1963 and 1965 (Weyland, 2002:28). Yet by 1966 the sales had dropped significantly (ibid) and Skateboarder Magazine had stopped publication. The popularity of skateboarding dropped and remained low until the early 1970s. <ref name="SBH"/><ref name="SBH2">{{cite web |url= http://www.skatelog.com/skateboarding/skateboarding-history.htm|title= Skateboarding History|accessdate=2007-09-02 }}</ref>
===Controversy and conflict===
Present-day Republic of Macedonia was formerly part of [[Rumelia]], part of the Ottoman Empire up to 1913. In 1893 a revolutionary movement for liberation of Macedonia as separate territorial entity from the Ottoman rule begun that resulted into [[Ilinden Uprising]] on [[2 August]] [[1903]] (St. Elias's day). The failure of the [[Ilinden Uprising]] caused a change the strategy of [[Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization]] (IMRO) from revolutionary to institutional and split on two wings (one fighting for autonomous Macedonia inside the Ottoman Empire or inside a Balkan Federation led by [[Jane Sandanski]] and second Supremist wing that drifted toward inclusion of Macedonia in Bulgaria). After the Ilinden Uprising the revolutionary movement ceased and opened a space for frequent insurgencies of Serbian, Bulgarian and Greek squads in the territory of Macedonia. These squads supported by the local population often engaged the Turkish army and caused chaos. That chaos in 1912 resulted into the [[First Balkan War]] and the territory of Macedonia was liberated from the Ottomans. In the next year the [[Second Balkan War]] begun and the aftermath was division of the territory of Macedonia in 1913 on four parts, between Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania. The present-day Republic of Macedonia was included in Serbia. In 1914 the First World War started and Bulgaria moved its army into the entire territory of Macedonia defeating the Serbs and setting a [[Macedonian front (World War I)|front]] on Salonica. The present-day Republic of Macedonia was part of Bulgaria to 1918. After Bulgaria signed a capitulation the borders returned with small adjustments to the situation of 1913 and present-day Republic of Macedonia was again included in Serbia as part of the [[Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes]]. In this period for the first time in the history the Macedonian nation was recognized by the illegal [[League of Communists of Yugoslavia]] on the third congress in Vienna in 1926 and in 1936 [[Josip Broz Tito]] will take the lead in the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1929 changed the name into Kingdom of Yugoslavia and present-day Republic of Macedonia was included together with South Serbia in a province named [[Vardar Banovina]]. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ceased to exist in 1941 with the beginning of the [[Second World War]]. Bulgaria as part of the Axis powers advanced into the territory of Republic of Macedonia and the Greek province of Macedonia. The territory of Republic of Macedonia was included into Bulgaria and Italy, later after 1943 in Albania. The [[National Liberation War of Macedonia]] begun officially in 1941 on the territory of Republic of Macedonia. The [[Macedonian National Liberation Army]] formed by Macedonian partisans liberated the entire territory of present-day Republic of Macedonia in 1944. On the 2nd of August in 1944 (day of St. Elias) honouring the fighters of the Ilinden Uprising the [[ASNOM|assembly of the people]] constituted the Macedonian state as a federate state within the framework of the future Yugoslav federation. In 1946 [[Socialist Republic of Macedonia|People's Republic of Macedonia]] was established as federal part of the newly proclaimed [[Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia]] under the leadership of [[Josip Broz Tito]]. The issue of the republic's name immediately sparked controversy with Greece over concerns that it presaged a territorial claim on the Greek coastal region of Macedonia (see [[#Territorial concerns|Territorial concerns]] below). The republic in 1963 was renamed the "Socialist Republic of Macedonia", when Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed into Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, but dropped the "Socialist" from its name when it declared independence from the [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]] in September 1991.


===The 1970s===
However, the newly independent republic's accession to the United Nations and recognition by the [[European Community]] was delayed by strong Greek opposition. Although the [[Arbitration Commission of the Peace Conference on the former Yugoslavia]] declared that the Republic of Macedonia met the conditions set by the EC for international recognition, Greece opposed the international community recognising the Republic due to a number of objections concerning the country's name, flag and constitution. In an effort to block the European Community from recognising the Republic,<ref name="veremis">Thanos Veremis, ''Greece'', pp. 315-316. C. Hurst & Co, 2002. ISBN 185065462X</ref> the Greek government persuaded the EC to adopt a common declaration establishing conditions for recognition which included a ban on "territorial claims towards a neighbouring Community state, hostile propaganda and the use of a denomination that implies territorial claims".<ref>"[http://www.ejil.org/journal/Vol4/No1/art7.html Recognition of States - Annex 2]", Declaration on Yugoslavia (Extraordinary EPC Ministerial Meeting, Brussels, 16 December 1991)</ref>
In the early 1970s, [[Frank Nasworthy]] started to develop a skateboard wheel made of [[polyurethane]], calling it the [['Cadillac']], as he hoped this would convey the fat ride it afforded the rider.<ref name="SBH"/> The improvement in traction and performance was so immense that from the wheel's release in 1972 the popularity of skateboarding started to rise rapidly again, causing companies to invest more in product development. Many companies started to manufacture trucks (axles) especially designed for skateboarding, reached in 1976 by [[Tracker Trucks]]. As the equipment became more maneuverable, the decks started to get wider, reaching widths of {{convert|10|in|mm}} and over, thus giving the skateboarder even more control. ''Banana board'' is a term used to describe skateboards made of [[polypropylene]] that were skinny, flexible, with ribs on the underside for structural support and very popular during the mid-1970s. They were available in myriad colors, bright yellow probably being the most memorable, hence the name.


Manufacturers started to experiment with more exotic composites and metals, like [[fiberglass]] and [[aluminium]], but the common skateboards were made of maple plywood. The skateboarders took advantage of the improved handling of their skateboards and started inventing new tricks. Skateboarders, most notably [[Ty Page]], Bruce Logan, Bobby Piercy, Kevin Reed, and the [[Z-Boys]] (so-called because of their local Zephyr surf shop) started to skate the vertical walls of swimming pools that were left empty in the 1976 California drought. This started the vert trend in skateboarding. With increased control, vert skaters could skate faster and perform more dangerous tricks, such as slash grinds and frontside/backside airs. This caused liability concerns and increased insurance costs to skatepark owners, and the development (first by [[Norcon]],then more successfully by [[Rector]]) of improved knee pads that had a hard sliding cap and strong strapping proved to be too-little-too-late. During this era, the "freestyle" movement in skateboarding began to splinter off and develop into a much more specialized discipline, characterized by the development of a wide assortment of flat-ground tricks.
Greece's major political parties agreed on [[13 April]] [[1992]] that the word "Macedonia" could not be included in any way in the new republic's name.<ref name="couloumbis">Theodore A. Couloumbis, Theodore C. Kariotis, Fotini Bellou, ''Greece in the Twentieth Century'', pp. 146-147. Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0714654078</ref> This became the cornerstone of the Greek position on the issue. The [[Greek diaspora]] was also mobilised in the naming controversy. A [[Greek-American]] group, Americans for the Just Resolution of the Macedonian Issue, placed a full-page advertisement in the [[26 April]] and [[10 May]], [[1992]] editions of the ''New York Times'', urging President [[George H. W. Bush]] "not to discount the concerns of the Greek people" by recognising the "Republic of Skopje" as Macedonia. Greek-Canadians also mounted a similar campaign.<ref name="shea">John Shea, ''Macedonia and Greece: The Struggle to Define a New Balkan Nation'', p. 185-188, ISBN-13: 978-0786402281, ISBN-10: 0786402288, published by McFarland & Company (February 1997)</ref> The EC subsequently issued a declaration expressing a willingness "to recognise that republic within its existing borders... under a name which does not include the term Macedonia."<ref>European Council in Lisbon, 26/27 June 1992, [http://www.europarl.europa.eu/summits/lisbon/li2_en.pdf Conclusions of the Presidency, Annex II], p. 43</ref>


As a result of the "vert" skating movement, skate parks had to contend with high-liability costs that led to many park closures. In response, vert skaters started making their own ramps, while freestyle skaters continued to evolve their flatland style. Thus by the beginning of the 1980s, skateboarding had once again fallen into obscurity. <ref name="SBH2"/>
Greek objections likewise held up the wider international recognition of the Republic of Macedonia. Although the Republic applied for membership of the United Nations on [[30 July]] [[1992]], its application languished in a diplomatic limbo for nearly a year. A few states—[[Belarus]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Croatia]], [[Lithuania]], [[Slovenia]] and [[Turkey]]—recognised the republic under its constitutional name prior to its admission to the UN.<ref name="veremis" /> Most, however, waited to see what the United Nations would do. The delay had a serious effect on the Republic, as it led to a worsening of its already precarious economic and political conditions. With war raging in nearby [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] and [[Croatia]], the need to ensure the country's stability became an urgent priority for the international community.<ref>Graham T. Allison, Kalypso Nicolàeidis, ''The Greek Paradox: Promise Vs. Performance'', p. 120. MIT Press, 1997. ISBN 0262510928</ref> The deteriorating security situation led to the UN's first-ever preventative peacekeeping deployment in December 1992, when units of the [[United Nations Protection Force]] were deployed to monitor possible border violations from [[Serbia]].<ref>"[http://www.un.org/Depts/DPKO/Missions/unprof_p.htm Former Yugoslavia - UNPROFOR]", Department of Public Information, United Nations. 31 August 1996</ref>


===Compromise solutions===
===The 1980s===
[[Image:Ollie_over_rubbish_bin.jpg|right|thumb|A skateboarder "Ollies" over a rubbish bin.]]
This period was fuelled by skateboard companies that were run by skateboarders. The focus was initially on [[vert ramp]] skateboarding. The invention of the no-hands aerial (later known as the [[Ollie (skateboarding trick)|ollie]]) by [[Alan Gelfand]] in Florida in 1976<ref name="sm">Snyder, Craig [http://www.skateboarding.com/skate/stories/article/0,23271,1116287,00.html Gasbag], [[Transworld Skateboarding Magazine]] (October 2005, p. 44)</ref> and the almost parallel development of the grabbed aerial by [[George Orton]] and [[Tony Alva]] in California in had made it possible for skaters to perform airs on vertical ramps. While this wave of skateboarding was sparked by commercialized vert ramp skating, a majority of people who skateboarded during this period never rode vert ramps. Because most people couldn't afford to build vert ramps or didn't have access to nearby ramps, street skating gained popularity. Freestyle skating remained healthy throughout this period with pioneers such as [[Rodney Mullen]] inventing the many of the basic tricks of modern street skating such as the Impossible and the [[kickflip]]. The influence freestyle had on street skating became apparent during the mid-eighties, but street skating was still performed on wide vert boards with short noses, slide rails, and large soft wheels. Skateboarding, however, evolved quickly in the late 1980s to accommodate the street skater. Since few skateparks were available to skaters at this time, street skating pushed skaters to seek out shopping centres and public and private property as their "spot" to skate. Public opposition, and the threat of lawsuits, forced businesses and property owners to ban skateboarding on their property{{Fact|date=July 2008}}. By 1992, only a small fraction of skateboarders remained as a highly technical version of street skating, combined with the decline of vert skating, produced a sport that lacked the mainstream appeal to attract new skaters.


===The 1990s to Present===
During 1992, the [[International Monetary Fund]], [[World Bank]] and the [[International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia]] all adopted the appellation "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" to refer to the Republic in their discussions and dealings with it. The same terminology was proposed in January 1993 by [[France]], [[Spain]] and the [[United Kingdom]], the three EC members of the [[United Nations Security Council]], to enable the Republic to join the United Nations.<ref>"[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7DC1F30F935A15752C0A965958260 Compromise Likely to Take Macedonia Into U.N.]", ''New York Times'', January 26, 1993</ref> The proposal was circulated on [[22 January]] [[1993]] by the [[United Nations Secretary General]]. However, it was initially rejected by both sides in the dispute. It was immediately opposed by the Greek Foreign Minister, [[Michael Papacostaninou]]. In a letter to the Secretary General dated [[25 January]] [[1993]], he argued that admitting the republic "prior to meeting the necessary prerequisites, and in particular abandoning the use of the denomination 'Republic of Macedonia', would perpetuate and increase friction and tension and would not be conducive to peace and stability in an already troubled region."<ref name="repertoire">''Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council Twelfth Supplement 1993-1995'', [http://www.un.org/french/docs/cs/repertoire/93-95/93-95_7.pdf Chapter VII: Practice relative to recommendations to the General Assembly regarding membership in the United Nations 1993-1995]</ref>
The president of the Republic of Macedonia, [[Kiro Gligorov]], also opposed the proposed formula. In a letter of [[24 March]] [[1993]], he informed the President of the United Nations Security Council that "the Republic of Macedonia will in no circumstances be prepared to accept 'the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia' as the name of the country." He declared that "we refuse to be associated in any way with the present connotation of the term 'Yugoslavia'&nbsp;".<ref name="repertoire" /> The issue of possible Serbian territorial ambitions had been a long-running concern in the Republic of Macedonia, which some Serbian nationalists still called "South Serbia" after its pre-World War II name.<ref>John B. Allcock, "Macedonia". In ''Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia'', ed. Bernard Anthony Cook, p. 807. Taylor & Francis, 2001. ISBN 0815340583</ref> The government in the Republic of Macedonia was consequently nervous of any naming formula which might be seen to endorse a possible Serbian territorial claim.


The current generation of skateboards is dominated by street skating. Most boards are about 7¼ to 8&nbsp;inches wide and 30 to 32&nbsp;inches long. The wheels are made of an extremely hard [[polyurethane]], with hardness([[durometer]]) approximately 99a. The wheel sizes are relatively small so that the boards are lighter, and the wheel's inertia is overcome quicker, thus making tricks more manageable. Board styles have changed dramatically since the 1970s but have remained mostly alike since the mid 1990s. The contemporary shape of the skateboard is derived from the [[Freestyle skateboarding|freestyle]] boards of the 1980s with a largely symmetrical shape and relatively narrow width. This form had become standard by the mid '90s.
Both sides came under intense diplomatic pressure to compromise. The support that Greece had received initially from its allies and partners in [[NATO]] and the [[European Community]] had begun to wane due to a combination of factors that included irritation in some quarters at Greece's hard line on the issue and a belief that Greece had flouted sanctions against [[Slobodan Milošević]]'s [[Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]]. The intra-Community tensions were publicly exposed on [[20 January]] [[1993]] by the Danish foreign minister, [[Uffe Ellemann-Jensen]], who attracted the ire of Greek members of the [[European Parliament]] when he described the Greek position as "ridiculous" and expressed the hope that "the Security Council will very quickly recognise Macedonia and that many of the member states of the Community will support this."<ref name="gallagher">Tom Gallagher, ''The Balkans in the New Millennium: In the Shadow of War and Peace'', pp. 7-8. Routledge, 2005. ISBN 0415349400</ref>


[[Go Skateboarding Day]] was created in 2004 by a group of skateboarding companies to promote skateboarding and help make it more noticeable to the world. It is celebrated every year on June 21st.
The Greek Prime Minister, [[Constantine Mitsotakis]], took a much more moderate line on the issue than many of his colleagues in the governing [[New Democracy (Greece)|New Democracy]] party.<ref name="veremis" /> Despite opposition from hardliners, he endorsed the proposal in March 1993.<ref name="bethlehem">Daniel L. Bethlehem, Marc Weller, ''The 'Yugoslav' Crisis in International Law'', p. xlv. Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 0521463041</ref> The acceptance of the formula by Athens also led to the reluctant acquiescence of the government in Skopje, though it too was divided between moderates and hardliners on the issue.


==Trick skating==
On [[7 April]] [[1993]], the UN Security Council endorsed the admission of the republic in [[UN Security Council Resolution 817]]. It recommended to the [[United Nations General Assembly]] "that the State whose application is contained in document S/25147 be admitted to membership in the United Nations, this State being provisionally referred to for all purposes within the United Nations as 'the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia' pending settlement of the difference that has arisen over the name of the State."<ref>[http://www.nato.int/ifor/un/u930407a.htm United Nations Security Council Resolution 817], 7 April 1993</ref> The recommendation was agreed by the General Assembly, which passed Resolution 225 on the following day, [[8 April]], using virtually the same language as the Security Council.<ref>"[http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/47/a47r225.htm Admission of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to membership in the United Nations]", United Nations General Assembly Resolution 225, 8 April 1993</ref> The Republic of Macedonia thus became the 181st member of the United Nations.
:''See [[Skateboarding trick]] for detailed descriptions of maneuvers''
[[Image:Kickflip1.jpg|thumb|A skater performs a switch [[kickflip]] off a stairset.]]


With the evolution of [[skatepark]]s and ramp skating, the skateboard began to change. Early skate tricks had consisted mainly of two-dimensional manoeuvres like riding on only two wheels ("wheelie" or "manual"), spinning only on the back wheels (a "pivot"), high jumping over a bar and landing on the board again, also known as a "hippie jump", long jumping from one board to another (often over small barrels or fearless teenagers) or slalom.
The compromise solution, as set out in the two resolutions, was very carefully worded in an effort to meet the objections and concerns of both sides. The wording of the resolutions rested on four key principles:


In 1976, skateboarding was transformed by the invention of the [[Ollie (skateboarding trick)|ollie]] by [[Alan Gelfand|Alan "Ollie" Gelfand]]. It remained largely a unique Florida trick until the summer of 1978, when Gelfand made his first visit to California. Gelfand and his revolutionary manoeuvre caught the attention of the West Coast skaters and the media where it began to spread worldwide. The ollie was adapted to flat ground by [[Rodney Mullen]] in 1982. Mullen also invented the "Magic Flip", which was later renamed the [[Kickflip]], as well many other tricks including, the 360 Kickflip, which is a 360 pop [[shove it]] and a kickflip in the same motion. The flat ground ollie allowed skateboarders to perform tricks in mid-air without any more equipment than the skateboard itself, it has formed the basis of many street skating tricks.
* The appellation "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" was purely a ''provisional'' term to be used only until the dispute was resolved.<ref name="frowein">Jochen Abr. Frowein, Rüdiger Wolfrum, ''Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law 1997'', p. 239. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1998.</ref>


==Culture==
* The term was a ''reference'', not a name; as a neutral party in the dispute, the United Nations had not sought to determine the name of the state.<ref name="frowein" /> The President of the Security Council subsequently issued a statement declaring on behalf of the Council that the term "merely reflected the historic fact that it had been in the past a republic of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia."<ref name="repertoire" /> The purpose of the term was also emphasized by the fact that the expression begins with the uncapitalised words "the former Yugoslav", acting as a descriptive term, rather than "the Former Yugoslav", which would act as a [[proper noun]].<ref name="frowein" /> By also being a reference rather than a name, it met Greek concerns that the term "Macedonia" should not be used in the republic's internationally recognised name.
{{see also|Skate punk}}
{{see also|Punk fashion}}
Skateboarding was, at first, tied to the culture of [[surfing]]. As skateboarding spread across the [[United States]] to places unfamiliar with surfing or surfing culture, it developed an image of its own. For example, the classic film short ''[[Video Days]]'' (1991) portrayed skateboarders as reckless rebels.


The image of the skateboarder as a rebellious, non-conforming youth has faded in recent years{{Fact|date=July 2008}}. Certain cities still oppose the building skateparks in their neighbourhoods, for fear of increased crime and drugs in the area. The rift between the old image of skateboarding and a newer one is quite visible: magazines such as ''[[Thrasher (magazine)|Thrasher]]'' portray skateboarding as dirty, rebellious, and still firmly tied to [[punk subculture|punk]], while other publications, ''[[Transworld Skateboarding]]'' as an example, paint a more diverse, and controlled picture of skateboarding. Furthermore, as more professional skaters use [[hip hop]], [[reggae]], or [[hard rock]] music accompaniment in their videos, many urban youths, hip-hop fans, reggae fans, and hard rock fans are also drawn to skateboarding, further diluting the sport's punk image.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3181390863653504968&q=Team+Ice+cream+skate+video | title=Team Ice Cream Skate Video | accessdate=2007-01-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://skateboarding.transworld.net/2003/7/23/roots-rock-reggae-skateboarding/ | title=Roots, Rock, Reggae, Skateboarding | accessdate=2003-07-23}}</ref>
* The use of the term was purely "for all purposes within the United Nations"; it was not being mandated for any other party.<ref name="frowein" />


Films such as ''[[Grind (2003 film)|Grind]]'' and ''[[Lords Of Dogtown]]'', have helped improve the reputation of skateboarding youth{{Fact|date=July 2008}}, depicting individuals of this subculture as having a positive outlook on life, prone to poking harmless fun at each other, and engaging in healthy sportsman's competition. According to the film, lack of respect, egotism and hostility towards fellow skateboarders is generally frowned upon, albeit each of the characters (and as such, proxies of the "stereotypical" skateboarder) have a firm disrespect for authority and for rules in general. Group spirit is supposed to heavily influence the members of this community. In presentations of this sort, showcasing of criminal tendencies is absent, and no attempt is made to tie extreme sports to any kind of illegal activity{{Fact|date=July 2008}}.
* The term did not imply that the Republic of Macedonia had any connection with the existing Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as opposed to the historical and now-defunct Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.<ref name="repertoire" />


''[[Gleaming the Cube]]'', a 1989 movie starring Christian Slater as a skateboarding teen investigating the death of his adopted Vietnamese brother was somewhat of an iconic landmark to the skateboarding genre of the era{{Fact|date=July 2008}}. Many well-known skaters had cameos in the film, including [[Tony Hawk]].
One additional concern that had to be taken care of was the seating of the Republic of Macedonia in the General Assembly. Greece rejected seating the Republic's representative under M [as in "Macedonia (former Yugoslav Republic of)"], and the Republic rejected sitting under F (as in "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", which turned the reference into a proper noun rather than a description). Instead, it was seated under T as "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and placed next to [[Thailand]].<ref name="frowein">Jochen Abr. Frowein, Rüdiger Wolfrum, ''Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law 1997'', p. 239. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1998.</ref>


Skateboarding video games have also become very popular in skateboarding culture{{Fact|date=July 2008}}. Some of the most popular are ''[[Tony Hawk's Proving Ground]]'', and ''[[Skate (video game)|Skate.]]'' for the [[Xbox 360]] and [[Playstation 3]] platforms.
In due course, the same convention was adopted by many other international organizations and states but they did so independently, not as the result of being instructed by the UN. For its part, Greece did not adopt the UN terminology at this stage and did not recognise the Republic under any name. The rest of the international community did not immediately recognise the Republic, but this did eventually happen at the end of 1993 and start of 1994. The [[People's Republic of China]] was the first major power to act, recognising the Republic under its constitutional name on [[13 October]] [[1993]]. On [[16 December]] [[1993]], two weeks before Greece was due to take up the European Community presidency, six key EC countries—[[Denmark]], [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Italy]], the [[Netherlands]] and the [[United Kingdom]]—recognised the Republic under its UN designation. Other EC countries followed suit in quick succession and by the end of December, all EC member states except Greece had recognised the Republic.<ref name="bethlehem" /> [[Japan]], [[Russia]] and the [[United States]] followed suit on [[21 December]], [[1993]], [[3 February]], [[1994]], and [[9 February]], [[1994]] respectively.<ref>Ian Jeffries, ''The Former Yugoslavia at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century'', p. 54. Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0415281903</ref>


== Skateboarding as a form of transportation ==
===A continuing dispute===
The use of skateboards solely as a form of transportation is often associated with the [[Longboard_(skateboard) | longboard]]{{Fact|date=July 2008}}. Depending on local laws, using skateboards as a form of transportation outside residential areas may or may not be legal. Backers cite portability, exercise, and environmental friendliness as some of the benefits of skateboarding as an alternative to automobiles.


Skateboards, along with other small-wheeled transportation such as in-line skates and scooters, suffer a safety caveat where riders may easily be thrown from small cracks and outcroppings in pavement, especially where the cracks run perpendicular to the direction of travel. However, high average travel speeds help mitigate this; injuries are more likely to be minor{{Fact|date=July 2008}}, although very uncommon, head injuries still pose a major health risk.
Despite the apparent success of the compromise agreement, it led to an upsurge in nationalist agitation in both countries. Anti-Western and anti-American feelings came to the fore in Greece, in response to a perception that Greece's partners in the EC and NATO had betrayed it.<ref name="gallagher" /> The government of Constantine Mitsotakis was highly vulnerable; it had a majority of only a couple of seats and was under considerable pressure from ultra-nationalists. After the country's admission to the UN, the hardline former foreign minister [[Antonis Samaras]] broke away from the governing New Democracy (ND) party along with three like-minded deputies who resented what they saw as the prime minister's unacceptable weakness on the Macedonian issue. This defection deprived ND of its slim parliamentary majority and ultimately caused the fall of the government, which suffered a landslide defeat in the general election of October 1993. It was replaced by the [[PASOK]] party under [[Andreas Papandreou]], who introduced an even more hardline policy on Macedonia and withdrew from the UN-sponsored negotiations on the naming issue in late October.<ref>Robert Bideleux, Richard Taylor, ''European Integration and Disintegration: East and West'', p. 136. Routledge, 1996. ISBN 0415137403</ref><ref name="gallagher" />


==Miscellaneous==
The government of the Republic of Macedonia also faced domestic opposition for its part in the agreement. Protest rallies against the UN's temporary reference were held in the cities of [[Skopje]], [[Kočani]] and [[Resen, Republic of Macedonia|Resen]]. The parliament only accepted the agreement by a narrow margin, with 30 deputies voting in favour, 28 voting against and 13 abstaining. The nationalist opposition [[VMRO-DPMNE]] party called a [[vote of no confidence]] over the naming issue, but the government survived with 62 deputies voting in its favour.<ref>John Phillips, ''Macedonia: Warlords and Rebels in the Balkans'', p. 56. I.B.Tauris, 2004. ISBN 186064841X</ref>
[[Image:Usmcskateboard.jpg|right|thumb|LCPL Chad Codwell of Charlie Company 1st Battalion 5th Marines carries a skateboard during military exercise ''Urban Warrior '99'']]


===Skateboard ban in Norway===
The naming dispute has not been confined to the Balkans, as immigrant communities from both countries have actively defended the positions of their respective homelands around the world, organizing large protest rallies in major European, North American and Australian cities. After [[Australia]] recognized the "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" in early 1994, tensions between the two communities reached a climax, with churches and properties hit by a series of tit-for-tat bomb and arson attacks in [[Melbourne]].<ref name="shea" /><ref>Dennis Ernest Ager, ''Language, Community and the State'', p. 63. Intellect Books, 1997. ISBN 1871516943</ref>
The use, ownership and sale of skateboards were forbidden in [[Norway]], during the period between 1978 and 1989. The ban was said to be due to the perceived high number of injuries caused by boards. The ban led skateboarders to construct ramps in the forest and other secluded areas to avoid the police.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://oslopuls.no/film/article1536291.ece | title=Criminals on wheels | accessdate=2006-12-13}}</ref>


===Military experimentation in the United States===
===Interim accord===
The [[United States Marine Corps]] tested the usefulness of commercial off-the-shelf skateboards during [[urban combat]] [[military exercise]]s in the late 1990s in a program called Urban Warrior '99. Their special purpose was "for maneuvering inside buildings in order to detect [[tripwire]]s and [[sniper]] fire".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil/DVIC_View/Still_Details.cfm?SDAN=DMSD0002959&JPGPath=/Assets/2000/Marines/DM-SD-00-02959.JPG | title=Defense Visual Information Center database / US Department of Defense| accessdate=2006-12-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://newton.nap.edu/books/0309088739/html/82.html | title=The Role of Experimentation in Building Future Naval Forces (2004), Naval Studies Board | accessdate=2006-12-30}}</ref>
[[Image:Flag of the Republic of Macedonia 1991-1995.svg|right|150px|thumb|The former flag of Republic of Macedonia (used from 1992–1995)]]
[[Image:Flag of Macedonia.svg|right|150px|thumb|The current flag of the Republic.]]
Greece and the Republic of Macedonia eventually formalised bilateral relations in an Interim Accord signed in [[New York City|New York]] on [[13 September]] [[1995]].<ref>"[http://faq.macedonia.org/politics/interim.accord.html Interim Accord]", 13 September 1995</ref> Under the agreement, the Republic removed the [[Vergina Sun]] from its flag and allegedly [[irredentism|irredentist]] clauses from its constitution, and both countries committed to continuing negotiations on the naming issue under UN auspices. For its part, Greece agreed that it would not object to any application by the Republic so long as it used only the appellation set out in "paragraph 2 of the United Nations Security Council resolution 817" (i.e. "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia").<ref name="shea" /> This opened the door for the Republic to join a variety of international organisations and initiatives, including the [[Council of Europe]], [[OSCE]] and [[Partnership for Peace]].<ref>Edmund Jan Osmanczyk, "Macedonia, former Yugoslav Republic of", in ''Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements'' ed. Anthony Mango, p. 1355. Routledge, 2002. ISBN 0415939208</ref>


==Notes==
The accord was not a conventional perpetual treaty, as it can be superseded or revoked, but its provisions are legally binding in terms of international law. Most unusually, it did not use the names of either party. Greece, "the Party of the First Part", recognised the Republic of Macedonia under the term "the Party of the Second Part".<ref name="veremis" /> The accord did not specifically identify either party by name (thus avoiding the awkwardness of Greece having to use the term "Macedonia" in reference to its northern neighbour). Instead, it identified the two parties elliptically by describing the Party of the First Part as having [[Athens]] as its capital and the Party of the Second Part having its capital at [[Skopje]].<ref name="frowein" /> Subsequent declarations have continued this practice of referring to the parties without naming them.<ref>See e.g. the [http://old.mfa.gr/english/foreign_policy/hiperb/bilateral/fyrom.html Agreement on a five year development cooperation programme 2002-2006 between the Government of the Party of the First Part to the Interim Accord September 13, 1995 and the Government of the Party of the Second Part to the Interim Accord September 13, 1995]</ref>
{{reflist}}


== Further reading and information ==
=== Stalemate ===
*Borden, Iain. (2001). ''Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body''. Oxford: Berg.
*Hocking, Justin, Jeffrey Knutson and Jared Maher (Eds.). (2004). ''Life and Limb: Skateboarders Write from the Deep End''. New York: Soft Skull Press.
*Weyland, Jocko. (2002). ''The Answer is Never: a History and Memoir of Skateboarding''. New York: Grove Press.
*Hawk, Tony and Mortimer, Sean. (2000). ''Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder''. New York: HarperCollins.
*Thrasher Magazine. (2001). ''Thrasher: Insane Terrain''. New York: Universe.
*Brooke, Michael (1999) ''The Concrete Wave - the History of Skateboarding''. Warwick Publishing
*Mullen, Rodney and Mortimer, Sean (2003). ''The Mutt''
*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7734067482568610083&q=skateboard+kings Skateboard Kings], a 1978 documentary on skateboarding
*[http://skatespotter.com/ SkateSpotter], a directory of skate spots


== External links ==
The naming issue has not yet been resolved, but it has effectively reached a stalemate.<ref>Floudas, Demetrius Andreas; {{cite web |publisher= 24 (1996) Journal of Political and Military Sociology, 285|url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3719/is_199601/ai_n8752910 | title= "A Name for a Conflict or a Conflict for a Name? An Analysis of Greece's Dispute with FYROM”, |accessdate=2007-01-24}}</ref> Various names had been proposed over the years, for instance "New Macedonia", "Upper Macedonia", "Slavo-Macedonia", "Nova Makedonija", "Macedonia (Skopje)" and so on. However, these had invariably fallen foul of the Greek position that no permanent formula incorporating the term "Macedonia" is acceptable.<ref>Kyriakos Kentrotis, "Echoes from the Past: Greece and the Macedonian Controversy", p. 100 in ''Mediterranean Politics'', ed. Richard Gillespie. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1996. ISBN 0838636098</ref><ref name="couloumbis" /> Athens had counter-proposed the names "Vardar Republic" or "Republic of Skopje", but the government and opposition parties in Skopje had consistently rejected any solution that eliminates the term "Macedonia" from the country's name.<ref>David Turncock, ''The Human Geography of East Central Europe'', p. 33. Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0415121914</ref> Following these developments, Greece has gradually revised its position and demonstrates its acceptance of a "composite solution" (i.e. the incorporation of the term "Macedonia" in the name, but with the use of a disambiguating qualifier).<ref name= GrFA /><ref name= Gorna /><ref name= dashskopje1 /><ref name= dashskopje2 /><ref name= Skai.10.2007>{{el icon}} [http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=62678 Skai News], Συμβιβασμός ή βέτο (''Compromise or Veto''), Retrieved on [[2007-10-14]]. The source uses original quotes from an interview of MFA [[Dora Bakoyannis]] in [[Kathimerini]] newspaper where she supports a composite name solution.</ref><ref>{{en icon}} [http://www.ypex.gov.gr/www.mfa.gr/Articles/en-US/15102007_McC_KL1337.htm Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs], ''Interview of FM Ms. D. Bakoyannis in the Athens daily Kathimerini, with journalist Ms. D. Antoniou (Sunday, 14 October 2007)'', [full text], Retrieved on [[2007-10-15]]</ref>
{{commonscat}}
{{Wiktionarypar|Skateboarding}}
*[http://www.shredbook.com/browse.php?cat=Skate&showBNav=true Skating Slang]
*[http://www.sk8uk.co.uk Skateboard UK]
*[http://www.skatebook.tv Skatebook.TV]
{{Skateboarding}}


[[Category:Extreme Sports]]
The inhabitants of the Republic of Macedonia are overwhelmingly opposed to changing the country's name. A June 2007 opinion poll found that 77 per cent of the population were against a change in the country's constitutional name, and 72 per cent supported the Republic's accession to [[NATO]] only if it was admitted under its constitutional name. Only 8 per cent supported accession under the reference "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" <ref>"Macedonians in Favour of NATO Accession Under Constitutional Name", A1 TV, 12 June 2004</ref>. However, most recent polls have shown a decrease of support for the retention of the constitutional name.{{Fact|date=July 2008}}
[[Category:Skateboarding| ]]
[[Category:Individual sports]]
[[Category:Youth culture]]
[[Category:Sports culture]]
[[Category:Transport culture]]


[[es:Skateboarding]]
An increasing number of states switch to recognising the Republic of Macedonia by its constitutional name. A few had recognized it by this name from the start, while most others had switched from recognising it under its UN reference. By September 2007, 118 countries (61% of all UN member states) had recognised the Republic of Macedonia under its constitutional name.<ref name="mia">{{cite news |title=New Draft Resolution Won't Change US Position Towards Macedonia |work=Foreign Ministry |publisher=MIA news agency |location=Skopje |date=2007-08-09 |url=http://www.vmacedonianews.com/2008/08/greek-olympic-committee-protests-over.html}}</ref> Some observers have suggested that the gradual erosion of the Greek position means that "the question appears destined to die" in due course.<ref>Duncan M. Perry, "The Republic of Macedonia: finding its way", in ''Democratization and Authoritarianism in Postcommunist Societies'', ed. Karen Dawisha, Bruce Parrott, p. 270. Cambridge University Press, 1997. ISBN 0521597331</ref> On the other hand, attempts by the Republic to persuade international organisations to drop the provisional reference have met with limited success. A recent example was the rejection by the [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]] of a draft proposal to replace the provisional reference with the constitutional name in [[Council of Europe]] documents.<ref>{{citenews|url=http://enet.gr/online/online_text/c=110,dt=22.01.2008,id=10870080|title= Βρήκαν τοίχο τα Σκόπια στο Συμβούλιο της Ευρώπης|work=[[Eleftherotypia|Ελευθεροτυπία]]|author=Νίκος Ρούσσης|date=2008-01-22}}</ref>
[[id:Skateboarding]]

[[it:Skateboarding]]
The compromise reference is always used in relations when states not recognizing the constitutional name are present. This is because the UN refers to the country only as "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", although all UN member-states (and the UN itself) have agreed to accept any final agreement resulting from negotiations between the two countries. Moscow's ambassador to Athens, Andrei Vdovin, stated that Russia will support whichever solution stems from the UN compromise talks, while hinting that "it is some other countries that seem to have a problem in doing so".<ref>[http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_1_02/03/2008_261439 Kathimerini], «Ναι» από τη Ρωσία στο όνομα που θα συμφωνηθεί (''"Yes" from Russia in whichever name agreed''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-02]].</ref>
[[he:סקייטבורדינג]]

[[lt:Riedlenčių sportas]]
Although the two countries continue to argue over the name, in practice they deal pragmatically with each other. Economic relations and cooperation have resumed to such an extent that Greece is now considered one of the Republic's most important foreign economic partners and investors.<ref>{{cite web | author=National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia | url=http://www.nbrm.gov.mk/WBStorage/Files/AI_Annual_Report_2003_ang.pdf | title=Annual Report 2003 |accessdate=2006-11-19 | format=PDF | work= }}</ref>
[[nl:Skateboarden]]

[[pl:Jazda na deskorolce]]
Most Greeks reject any use of the word "Macedonia" to describe the Republic of Macedonia, instead calling it "ΠΓΔΜ" (Πρώην Γιουγκοσλαβική Δημοκρατία της Μακεδονίας), the Greek translation of FYROM, or ''[[Skopje]]'' and its inhabitants ''Skopians'' (Greek: ''Σκοπιανοί''), after the country's capital. This [[metonymy|metonymic]] name is not used by non-Greeks, and many inhabitants of the Republic regard it as insulting. Greek official sources sometimes use the term "Slavomacedonian" to refer to the Republic's inhabitants; the US State Department has used the term side by side with "Macedonian", albeit having them both in quotation marks.<ref>{{cite web | author=[[United States Department of State]], Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
[[sk:Skateboarding]]
|title=Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 |accessdate=2006-11-19 | url=http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61651.htm |date=2006-03-09 |format=HTML |work=}}</ref> The name "Macedonian Slavs" (Македонски Словени) is another term used to refer to the ethnic Macedonians by non-Greeks. A number of news agencies have used it (although the BBC recently discontinued its use on the grounds that people had alleged it was offensive), and it is used by the [[Encarta]] Encyclopedia. The name has been occasionally used in early ethnic Macedonian literary sources as in [[Krste Misirkov]]'s work ''On Macedonian Matters'' (Za Makedonckite Raboti) in 1903.
[[sl:Rolkanje]]

[[sr:Скејтери]]
The March 2004 application of the Republic of Macedonia for membership of the European Union may help to speed efforts to find a solution; in a meeting of [[14 September]] [[2004]], the EU noted that the difference over the name of the Republic of Macedonia still persists and encouraged parties to find a mutually acceptable solution, but stated that it is not part of the conditions for [[Accession of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the European Union|EU accession]]. It was, however, a handicap for its membership into [[NATO]].
[[fi:Rullalautailu]]

[[th:สเกตบอร์ด (กีฬา)]]
===Recent proposals and the "double name formula"===
In 2005, [[Matthew Nimetz]], UN Special Representative, suggested using "Republika Makedonija-Skopje" [sic] for official purposes. Greece did not accept the proposal outright, but characterized it as "a basis for constructive negotiations". Prime Minister [[Vlado Buckovski]] rejected the proposal and counterproposed a "double name formula" where the international community uses "Republic of Macedonia" and Greece uses "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia".<ref name=dashskopje1>{{cite news | title=Greece considers Macedonia name | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4425249.stm | publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=2005-04-08 | accessdate=2006-11-19 }} </ref><ref name=dashskopje2>{{cite web |publisher=Southeast European Times |first=Zoran |last=Nikolovski |date=2005-04-14 |title=Nimitz Proposal For Macedonia's Name Sparks Debate | url=http://www.balkan-info.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2005/04/14/feature-02 | accessdate=2006-11-19 }}</ref>

Nimetz was reported to have made a new proposal in October 2005; that the name "Republika Makedonija" should be used by those countries that have recognized the country under that name and that Greece should use the formula "Republika Makedonija – Skopje", while the international institutions and organizations should use the name "Republika Makedonia" in Latin alphabet transcription. Although the government of the Republic of Macedonia accepted the proposal as a good basis for solving the dispute, Greece rejected the proposal as unacceptable.<ref name="oneworld_20051014">{{cite news |publisher=OneWorld Southeast Europe | url=http://see.oneworld.net/article/view/120536/1/ | title=Matthew Nimitz Will Not Present a New Proposal on the Name date=2005-10-14 | accessdate=2006-11-19 }}</ref>

In December 2006, the government of the Republic announced the intent to rename [[Skopje Airport]] "Petrovec" to "Aleksandar Veliki" ([[Alexander the Great]]).<ref name=kath1>{{cite web| url= http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100006_29/12/2006_78322 | title= Kathimerini | work= A stir over name of Skopje’s airport | accessdate=2007-01-19 | year= Friday December 29, 2006}}</ref> Matthew Nimetz was invited to Athens in January 2007, where he commented that the efforts to mediate in the issue over the name were "affected and not in a positive way".<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/novina/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=2&NrArticle=50789&NrIssue=243&NrSection=20 | title= Makfax vesnik | work= Nimetz's talks in Athens included "Alexander the Great" | accessdate=2007-01-19 | year= Friday, 12.01.2007}}</ref>

===NATO and EU accession talks===
<!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: [[Image:FYROM's EU accession logo.svg|thumb|250px|right|The official logo of the [[Accession of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the European Union|process for European integration of the Republic of Macedonia]].]] -->
The Republic of Macedonia's aspirations to join the European Union and NATO under its constitutional name have caused controversy in recent years. Under the Interim Accord of September 1995, Greece agreed not to obstruct the Republic's applications for membership in international bodies as long as it did so under its provisional UN appellation. Leading Greek officials had repeatedly stated that Athens would [[veto]] the country's accession in the absence of a resolution to the dispute.<ref>{{cite web|title=Southeast European Times|work=Greece to veto Macedonia's EU, NATO bids if name issue not resolved|url=http://setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbriefs/2007/09/07/nb-06|accessdate= 2007-09-19}}</ref><ref name=noEUsorry>{{cite web| url=http://www.greekembassy.org/Embassy/content/en/Article.aspx?office=1&folder=24&article=18371 | title=Embassy of Greece - Washington, DC | work=Answer of FM Ms. D. Bakoyannis regarding the FYROM name issue | accessmonthday= September 11 | accessyear=2006 |language= English}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://umdiaspora.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=76 |title= United Macedonian Diaspora | work= Interview with Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis | accessmonthday= November 2 |accessyear= 2006}}</ref> The [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Greece)|Greek foreign minister]], [[Dora Bakoyannis]], stated that "...the [[Hellenic Parliament]], under any composition, will not ratify the accession of the neighbouring country to the [[EU]] and [[NATO]] if the name issue is not resolved beforehand."<ref name=noEUsorry>{{cite web| url=http://www.greekembassy.org/Embassy/content/en/Article.aspx?office=1&folder=24&article=18371 | title=Embassy of Greece - Washington, DC | work=Answer of FM Ms. D. Bakoyannis regarding the FYROM name issue | accessmonthday= September 11 | accessyear=2006 |language= English}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://umdiaspora.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=150&Itemid=76 |title= United Macedonian Diaspora | work= Interview with Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis | accessmonthday= November 2 |accessyear= 2006}}</ref>

The Greek Prime Minister [[Kostas Karamanlis]] had initially denied ever committing himself unequivocally to exercising Greece's right of veto, stating instead that he would only block the neighbouring country's application for EU and NATO membership if it sought to be admitted as the "Republic of Macedonia",<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.tovimadaily.gr//Article.aspx?d=20070911&nid=5953596&sn=ΚΥΡΙΟ%20ΤΕΥΧΟΣ&spid= | title= To Vima | work= "I Never Used the Word Veto" | accessdate=2007-01-23 | date= September 11, 2007}}</ref> but on [[19 October]] [[2007]], he stated that without a mutually acceptable solution to the name issue, the country could not join either NATO or the EU.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.e-tipos.com/newsitem?id=13321 | title= Eleútheros Týpos | work= "Karamanlis: No accession without a solution for the name" | accessdate=2007-10-25 | date= October 19, 2007}}</ref>

Negotiations between Athens and Skopje were resumed on the [[1 November]] [[2007]], continued on [[1 December]] of the same year, and a bilateral meeting was held in January 2008. On [[19 February]] [[2008]] in Athens, the delegations of the two countries met under the auspices of the UN mediator, Matthew Nimetz. They were presented with a new framework, which they both accepted as a basis for further negotiations. The new framework was intended to be secret for the negotiations to take place, but leaked early in the press. The full text in Greek was published initially by ''[[To Vima]]'' and circulated fast in all major media. It contained 8 points, and the general idea was a "composite name solution" for all international purposes.<ref name=NimetzComprText>[http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=110,dt=22.02.2008,id=81896072 Enet News], Ολόκληρο το κείμενο της πρότασης Νίμιτς (''Whole text of the Nimetz proposal'') ([http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.enet.gr%2Fonline%2Fonline_text%2Fc%3D110%2Cdt%3D22.02.2008%2Cid%3D81896072&langpair=el%7Cen&hl=el&ie=UTF8 Automatic translation in English]), Retrieved on [[2008-03-06]].</ref> It also contained five proposed names:<ref name=NimetzComprText />

*"Constitutional Republic of Macedonia"
*"Democratic Republic of Macedonia"
*"Independent Republic of Macedonia"
*"New Republic of Macedonia"
*"Republic of Upper Macedonia"

On February 27, 2008, a rally was held in Skopje called by the governing nationalist party [[VMRO-DPMNE]], in support of the name "Republic of Macedonia".<ref>[http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/8192/ Balkan Insight.com], ''Macedonians Rally 'To Protect Name','' Retrieved on [[2008-02-28]].</ref> Greek nationalist party [[Popular Orthodox Rally]] also organized a similar rally in Thessaloniki on March 5th, in support of the name "Macedonia" being used only by Greece.<ref>[http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=110,id=22605288 Enet.gr], Συλλαλητήριο ΛΑΟΣ την άλλη Τετάρτη στη Θεσσαλονίκη (''LAOS Demonstration next Wednesday in Thessaloniki''), Retrieved on [[2008-02-28]].</ref> The Greek church and both major Greek parties have strongly discouraged such manifestations "during this sensitive time of negotiation".<ref>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=74729 Skai News], Εκ του σύνεγγυς στη Νέα Υόρκη (''Concurrently in New York''), Retrieved on [[2008-02-28]].</ref><ref>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=74772 Skai News], Χαμηλοί τόνοι (''Low tones''), Retrieved on [[2008-02-29]].</ref>

On [[2 March]] [[2008]] in New York, Matthew Nimetz announced that the talks failed, that there is a "gap" in the positions of the two countries, and that there will not be any progress, unless there is some sort of compromise, which he characterized as "valuable" for both sides.<ref>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=74961 Skai News] "Ναυάγιο" στις διαπραγματεύσεις (''"Shipwreck" in the talks''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-02]].</ref><ref>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=75029 Skai News], Στην Αθήνα με "μήνυμα" ο Σέφερ (''[[Jaap de Hoop Scheffer|Scheffer]] in Athens with a "message"''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-02]].</ref> After Greek PM Karamanlis's warnings that "no solution equals no invitation",<ref name=GrVeto>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=74863 Skai News], "Μη λύση σημαίνει μη πρόσκληση" (''No Solution equals No Invitation''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-02]].</ref> the Greek media took it for granted that Greece would [[veto]] the coming [[NATO Membership Action Plan|NATO accession talks]] for the country, in the Foreign Ministers' summit on [[6 March]] [[2008]] in Brussels.<ref>[http://www.ant1online.gr/Politics/Diplomacy/Pages/20083/fd8a8be7-93f3-4f9f-87dc-8f6525a2f9e5.aspx Ant1 News], Ώρα μηδέν για το Σκοπιανό (''Time Zero for the Skopjan issue''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-02]].</ref><ref name=GrVeto2>[http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=878422&lngDtrID=244 in.gr], Στην Αθήνα τη Δευτέρα ο γγ του ΝΑΤΟ με φόντο το αδιέξοδο στο θέμα της ΠΓΔΜ (''NATO Secretary in Athens on Monday after FYROM issue deadlock''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-02]].</ref>

Meanwhile, in a newer poll in Greece, the "composite name that includes the name Macedonia for the country" seemed, for the first time, to be marginally more popular than the previous more hard-lined stance of "no Macedonia in the title" (43% vs 42%). In the same poll, 84% of the respondents were pro-veto in the country's NATO accession talks, if the issue wasn't resolved by then.<ref>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=74967 Skai News], Υπέρ του βέτο το 84% των Ελλήνων (''84% of Greeks Are For Veto''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-02]].</ref><ref name=GrVeto2 /> All Greek political parties except the small nationalist party Popular Orthodox Rally support the "composite name for all uses" solution, and vehemently oppose to any "[[Macedonia naming dispute#Recent proposals and the .22double name formula.22|double name]]" formula which is proposed by the republic.<ref>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=74076 Skai News], Ενημέρωση για την πρόταση Νίμιτς (''Briefing on Nimetz's proposal''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-02]].</ref> This shift in the official and public position was described by the PM of Greece as "the maximum recoil possible".<ref name=GrVeto />

Following his visit to Athens for an attempt to persuade the Greek government not to proceed in a veto, the NATO Secretary General [[Jaap de Hoop Scheffer]] implied that the onus to compromise rested on the Republic of Macedonia.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7276524.stm BBC News], ''Macedonia urged to solve name row'', Retrieved on [[2008-03-05]].</ref> In the same spirit, the EU enlargement commissioner [[Olli Rehn]], expressed his fear that "it might have negative consequences on [[Accession of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the European Union|FYROM’s EU bid]], although it is a bilateral question, Greece - as any other EU member - has the right to veto".<ref name=GapRemains>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=75294 Skai News], "Παραμένει το χάσμα" (''"The gap remains"''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-05]].</ref><ref>[http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/8393/ BalkanInsight], ''EU Warns Over Macedonia 'Name','' Retrieved on [[2008-03-05]].</ref><ref>[http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/novina/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=2&NrArticle=103916&NrIssue=600&NrSection=10 Makfax Online], ''Rehn requested settling of the name issue'', Retrieved on [[2008-03-05]].</ref> On March 5, 2008, Nimetz visited Skopje to try to find common ground on his proposal, but announced that "the gap remains".<ref name=GapRemains/>

As earlier anticipated, on March 6, 2008, in the NATO Foreign Minister's summit in Brussels, Greek minister [[Dora Bakoyannis]] announced that "as regards the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, ... , unfortunately, the policy followed by our neighbouring country in its relations with Greece, on the one side with intransigence and on the other with a logic of nationalist and irredentist actions tightly connected with the naming issue, does not allow us to maintain a positive stance, as we did for Croatia and Albania. ... As long as there is no such solution, Greece will remain an insuperable obstacle to the European and Euro-Atlantic ambition of FYROM".<ref name=veto1>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=75394 Skai News], "Η Ελλάδα ανυπέρβλητο εμπόδιο" (''"Greece, an insuperable obstacle"''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-07]].</ref><ref name=veto2>[http://www.skai.gr/master_avod.php?id=75389 Skai News Video], "Λύση ή Βέτο" (''"Solution or Veto"''), video of Bakoyannis' press interview after the summit, Retrieved on [[2008-03-07]].</ref>

On March 7, 2008, the US [[Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs]], [[Daniel Fried]], made an unscheduled visit to Skopje, with the message that the two sides must cooperate with Matthew Nimetz to find a mutually acceptable solution for the naming dispute.<ref>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=75520 Skai News], Επαφές στα Σκόπια (''Contacts in Skopje''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-08]].</ref>

Concerns have been expressed in Skopje and Athens on the stability of the governing coalition of [[VMRO-DPMNE]] and [[Democratic Party of Albanians]] (DPA) and subsequently the negotiating power of PM [[Nikola Gruevski]] with regards to the naming dispute, after the leader of DPA Menduh Thaçi accused the government of not complying to its requests about the rights of [[Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia]].<ref name=crisis>[http://www.reuters.com/article/europeCrisis/idUSL12922300 Reuters], "Albanian party threatens to bring down Macdonian govt", Retrieved on [[2008-03-12]]</ref> Greek media considered the option that the crisis may be a diplomatic way of increasing the pressure for the Greek side.<ref>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=75990 Skai News], Νέοι Ελιγμοί (''New Tactics''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-15]].</ref> Following a call for cooperation by the president [[Branko Crvenkovski]], the other four major parties agreed to support Gruevski's government until [[2008 Bucharest summit|NATO's convention in Bucharest]] on April 4, 2008.<ref>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=76055 Skai News], Σκόπια: Έκκληση για πολιτική συναίνεση (''Skopje: Call for political cooperation''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-15]].</ref><ref>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=76105 Skai News], Στηρίζουν Γκρουέφκσι (''[They] Support Gruevski''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-15]].</ref>

Following the declaration of Athens for a veto, the press in Skopje reported increased intervention from the United States to solve the dispute, through [[Victoria Nuland]], the US NATO ambassador.<ref name=Unchanged /> Antonio Milošoski announced that "Nimetz's proposal remains unchanged".<ref name=Unchanged /> The daily newspaper ''[[Dnevnik (Skopje)|Dnevnik]]'' reported that diplomatic sources claim that this is the last attempt from the American leadership to help in finding a solution, and that the target of this effort will be for the country to retreat from its position for a "double name formula" and Greece to accept something along these lines.<ref name=Unchanged /> It continued that the US would exercise pressure to both parts for finding a solution until NATO's summit, so that the alliance can be expanded.<ref name=Unchanged /> [[Olli Rehn]] urged "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to show the correct political will in seizing the opportunity to find an acceptable solution for both parts".<ref name=Unchanged>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=75753 Skai News], "Η εντολή του Νίμιτς παραμένει ως έχει" (''"Nimetz's order remains unchanged"''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-18]].</ref>

A new meeting between Nimetz and the two parties was arranged on March 17, 2008, in Vienna, in the office of the former US special envoy to Kosovo and ex-[[president of Finland]], [[Martti Ahtisaari]].<ref>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=76251 Skai News], Ξεκίνησαν οι Συνομιλίες (''The Talks Began''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-18]].</ref> Nimetz noted that he did not present any new proposals, thanked the United States with whom he said he was in contact, and urged more countries to help in solving the dispute. He also announced that he is more optimistic after this meeting, and that he focused only on the solutions that could be applied by NATO's summit in April.<ref>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=76261 Skai News], Αισιόδοξος ο Νιμιτς (''Nimetz is Optimistic''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-18]].</ref>

According to the press in the Republic of Macedonia<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.utrinski.com.mk/?ItemID=86447574CFD4D748998828E31E075A41|title=По Виена Нимиц е поголем оптимист за името (After Vienna Nimetz is a bigger optimist about the name)|date=2008-03-18|publisher=[[Utrinski vesnik (daily newspaper)|Utrinski Vesnik]]|language=Macedonian|accessdate=2008-05-11}}</ref> Nimetz now limited his proposal to three names of the five that were proposed in his original framework:<ref name=NimetzComprText />

*"Republic of Upper Macedonia"
*"New Republic of Macedonia" or "Republic of New Macedonia"
*"Republic of Macedonia-Skopje"

Of the three, Greek media have reported that the only serious contender is "New Macedonia", being the solution favoured throughout the current round of negotiations by Washington, which regards it as the "most neutral" option.<ref>{{citenews|url=http://www.tovimadaily.gr//Article.aspx?d=20080319&nid=7890209&sn=&spid=|title=Αναζητούν συμβιβασμό με «Νέα Μακεδονία» (''Seeking a compromise with "New Macedonia"'')|work=[[To Vima]]|language=Greek|date=2008-03-19}}</ref> According to some reports, all three proposals were swiftly rejected by Skopje on the grounds that "neither would constitute a logical basis for a solution, given that all had been rejected by one or the other side over the last 15 years".<ref>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=76371 Skai News], "Όχι" από Σκόπια στις προτάσεις Νίμιτς (''"No" from Skopje to Nimetz proposals''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-19]].</ref> Greek diplomatic sources have intimated that international pressure has now shifted towards the former Yugoslav republic.<ref name=3proposals>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=76333 Skai News], Εντατικές διαπραγματεύσεις για το όνομα (''Intense negotiations for the name''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-18]].</ref>

A special meeting outside the auspices of the UN was arranged on March 21, 2008, at US ambassador's to NATO [[Victoria Nuland]]'s house in Brussels, between the two foreign ministers [[Dora Bakoyannis]] and [[Antonio Milošoski]] and with the presence of the US [[Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs]], [[Daniel Fried]].<ref name=commitment>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=76459 Skai News], "Δέσμευση" για το όνομα (''"Commitment" for the name''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-22]].</ref><ref name=commitment2>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=76552 Skai News], Νέος γύρος συνομιλιών για το όνομα (''New round of talks for the name''),Retrieved on [[2008-03-22]].</ref> Following the meeting, both ministers stressed for the first time their "commitment" for finding a solution until NATO's summit.<ref name=commitment /><ref name=commitment2 />

The first voices seeking compromise have started to be heard in Skopje.<ref name= compromisevoices>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=76555 Skai News], Σύσκεψη για το όνομα στα Σκόπια (''Meeting for the name in Skopje''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-22]].</ref> The president of the republic, [[Branko Crvenkovski]], announced: "If during the ongoing talks we can reach a rational compromise, which from the one side will defend our ethnic identity, and from the other will enable us to receive the NATO invitation, while at the same time canceling our further EU accession obstacles, then I think that this is something that must be supported, and I personally side with the supporters. Some accuse me that with my stance I am undermining the negotiating position of the Republic of Macedonia, yet I do not agree, because we are not in the beginning, but in the final phase of the negotiations. The one who will tell me that the price is high, is obliged to address the public opinion and announce an alternative scenario on how Macedonia will develop in the next ten to fifteen years."<ref name= compromisevoices /><ref name=comprvoc2>[http://www.in.gr/news/article.asp?lngEntityID=884242&lngDtrID=244 in.gr], Ενισχύονται οι φωνές στο εσωτερικό της ΠΓΔΜ για ένα «λογικό συμβιβασμό» στην ονομασία (''Voices within FYROM for a "logical compromise" are louder''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-22]].</ref>

In the same spirit, opposing [[New Social Democratic Party]] party leader [[Tito Petkovski]] (which by now participates in the governmental coalition until NATO's summit), announced: "I do not hide that we must proceed on a international usage name's change, with some type of addition, which in no way must put our values under question. I do not want to proceed in an auction with the name, because that will be very damaging also for the interests of the neighboring country that disputes it." He added that "the overwhelming majority of the state and the scholars, ask for a solution and for a way out, using something that does not put our identity and our cultural distinction under questioning. I think that such a solution can be found, especially if the greatest lobbyists and supporters of ours, the [[United States]], declare that Macedonia will be safe, with a safe territorial integrity, with financial support and dynamic development. If we declare which name we support, probably there will be more terms".<ref name= compromisevoices /><ref name=comprvoc2 />

However, governing [[VMRO-DPMNE]] party leader, and current prime minister, [[Nikola Gruevski]], when asked to comment on these statements, said: "We have different views with Mr.Petkovski, however there is still time to overcome these differences and reach a solution which will benefit the country".<ref name= compromisevoices /><ref name=comprvoc2 />

Centre-left Greek newspaper ''[[To Vima]]'' reported that the two countries were close to an agreement on the basis of the name "New Macedonia" or the untranslated native form, "Nova Makedonija".<ref>{{citenews|url=http://www.tovimadaily.gr//Article.aspx?d=20080321&nid=7901142&sn=&spid=|title=Πιθανή συμφωνία στο «Νέα Μακεδονία» (''Possible agreement on "New Macedonia"'')|work=[[To Vima]]|language=Greek|date=2008-03-21}}</ref>

Another meeting under the auspices of UN mediator [[Matthew Nimetz]] was held in New York on March 25, 2008.<ref name=geoMk >[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=76795 Skai News], "Όνομα με γεωγραφική διάσταση" (''"Name with a geographic dimension"''), Retrieved on [[2008-03-26]].</ref> Nimetz announced his final proposal, with a name "with a geographic dimension, and for all purposes".<ref name=geoMk /> He also noted that the proposal is a compromise, and that the ways of implementation are also included in his proposal. The two representatives will urgently return to their countries for consultation on this proposal, given the short timeframe until NATO's summit.<ref name=geoMk /> According to the latest Greek media reports, Nimetz revived his 2005 proposal, "Republic of Macedonia-Skopje".
<ref>{{citenews|url=http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=76800|title=Νέα ονομασία (''New name'')|work=[[Skai TV|ΣΚΑΪ.gr]]|language=Greek|date=2008-03-26}}</ref> The news agency for Macedonian private television station [[A1 (TV channel)|A1]] reported that the full proposal was:
*The constitutional name, in Cyrillic ("Република Македонија") could be used for internal purposes.
*"Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)" would be used for international relations.
*For bilateral relations, "Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)" is suggested, and any countries using the state's constitutional name would be encouraged to use it, but not forced to change it.
*The terms "Macedonia" and "Macedonian", on their own, would be able to be used freely by both countries
The Macedonian government has not yet issued a statement on whether the proposal has been accepted or rejected.<ref>{{citenews|http://www.a1.com.mk/vesti/default.asp?VestID=91146|title=Нимиц предложи формула за решавање на спорот (''Nimetz proposes a formula for solving the dispute'')|work=[[A1 (TV channel)|A1 News]]|language=Macedonian|date=2008-03-26}}</ref>

Greek foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis told journalists that the proposal does not meet Greece's stated objectives.<ref>{{citenews|url=http://www.ethnos.gr/article.asp?catid=11378&subid=2&tag=8777&pubid=728559|title=Δεν ικανοποιεί την Ελλάδα η πρόταση (''The proposal does not satisfy Greece'')|work=[[Ethnos (newspaper)|Ethnos]]|language=Greek|date=2008-03-26}}</ref> <ref>{{citenews|url=http://www.a1.com.mk/vesti/default.asp?VestID=91130|title=Бакојани: Предлогот е далеку од целите на Грција (''The proposal is far from the objectives of Greece'')|work=[[A1 (TV channel)|A1 News]]|language=Macedonian|date=2008-03-26}}</ref>

The Macedonian foreign minister, Antonio Milošoski, stated that any reasonable solution that did not impose on the identity of ethnic Macedonians would be explored. However, he also stated that if Greece were to veto the country's entrance into NATO, compromise talks would be stopped.<ref>{{citenews|url=http://www.dnevnik.com.mk/?ItemID=4EF69757C67A414BB0E4B6373240DF8C|title=Македонија подготвена за разумен компромис (''Macedonia prepared for a reasonable compromise'')|work=[[Dnevnik (Skopje)|Dnevnik newspaper]]|language=Macedonian|date=2008-03-26}}</ref> <ref>{{citenews|http://www.novamakedonija.com.mk/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=0&tabid=0&EditionID=964&ArticleID=51657|title=Има мала надеж за компромис (''There is still small hope for a compromise'')|work=[[Nova Makedonija (newspaper)|Nova Makedonija]]|language=Macedonian|date=2008-03-26}}</ref> <ref>{{citenews|http://www.vest.com.mk/default.asp?id=149257&idg=8&idb=2333&rubrika=Makedonija|title=Грчко вето ќе ги прекине преговорите (''A Greek veto will stop the negotiations'')|work=Vest|language=Macedonian|date=2008-03-26}}</ref>

Meanwhile, police in Skopje said they were investigating death threats against academics, journalists and politicians who publicly favour reaching a compromise in the dispute with Greece.<ref>{{citenews|url=http://iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/27/europe/EU-GEN-Macedonia-Death-Threats.php|title=Macedonia police examine death threats over name dispute|work=[[International Herald Tribune]]|date=2008-03-27}}</ref>

===NATO non-invitation===
{{seealso|2008 Bucharest summit}}

On April 3, 2008, in [[NATO]]'s [[2008 Bucharest summit|summit in Bucharest]], Greece [[veto]]ed the invitation of the republic. NATO secretary general [[Jaap de Hoop Scheffer]] announced the mutually agreed text of the NATO members, which included the following points:
* Reason for no invitation was the inability to find solution in the name dispute
* Open invitation to the government of Skopje for new negotiations for the name under the auspices of the United Nations,
* The wish that those negotiations start as soon as possible
* And the further wish that they are concluded as soon as possible, without mentioning a specific time frame.<ref name=NewData>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=77661 Skai News], Νέα δεδομένα μετά το βέτο (''New situation after veto'' [http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skai.gr%2Fmaster_story.php%3Fid%3D77661&langpair=el%7Cen&hl=el&ie=UTF8 machine translation in English]), retrieved on [[2008-04-03]].</ref><ref name=Mega-2008-04-03>[http://www.megatv.com/gegonota/shownews.asp?id=31270&cat=1 Mega channel], ΝΑΤΟ: Μόνο με λύση η πρόσκληση (''NATO: Invitation only after solution'' [http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.megatv.com%2Fgegonota%2Fshownews.asp%3Fid%3D31270%26cat%3D1&langpair=el%7Cen&hl=el&ie=UTF8 machine translation in English]), retrieved on [[2008-04-03]].</ref><ref name=NATOdecl>NATO 2008 Bucharest summit, [http://www.summitbucharest.ro/en/doc_202.html Bucharest Summit Declaration Issued by the Heads of State and Government participating in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Bucharest on 3 April 2008] (par.20), Retrieved on [[2008-04-13]].</ref>

A major concern cited by Greek officials was a number of maps that have circulated by nationalist groups based in Skopje depicting parts of Greece (including Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city) as being part of a future [[United Macedonia|expanded Macedonian state]], and the country's prime minister photographed laying a wreath under such a map just a few weeks before the summit.<ref>Greece, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ''[http://www.mfa.gr/www.mfa.gr/Articles/en-US/280308_alp_1640.htm Interview of FM Ms. Bakoyannis in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, with journalist Michael Martens]'', retrieved on [[2008-04-06]].</ref><ref>[[Dora Bakoyannis|Bakoyannis, Dora]], [[Wall Street Journal]], ''[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120701620662579369.html All in a Name]'', retrieved on [[2008-04-06]].</ref><ref>''[http://www.greeksoccer.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=235052139&mode=threaded&pid=1052837018 the picture at Greeksoccer.com]'', retrieved on [[2008-04-06]].</ref> Also a poster displayed in Skopje just days before the Bucharest summit by a private organization replacing the white cross on the [[Flag of Greece|Greek flag]] with the [[swastika]]<ref>[[The Daily Telegraph|Telegraph.co.uk]], [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/02/wmacedonia102.xml Macedonia row overshadows NATO summit]</ref> and caricatures of Greek PM Karamanlis depicted wearing an Nazi SS uniform,<ref>[[International Herald Tribune]], ''[http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/02/europe/EU-GEN-Greece-Macedonia-NATO.php Greece insists Macedonia will not be invited to join NATO if name issue is not resolved]'', retrieved on [[2008-04-06]].</ref> led to vigorous Greek diplomatic protests and international condemnation,<ref>[http://www.in.gr/innews/article.asp?lngEntityID=887497 in.gr] Στη «μάχη του Βουκουρεστίου» για το όνομα της ΠΓΔΜ ο Κ.Καραμανλής (''C. Karamanlis to "Bucharest's battle" for FYROM's name'' [http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.in.gr%2Finnews%2Farticle.asp%3FlngEntityID%3D887497&langpair=el%7Cen&hl=el&ie=UTF8 English machine translation]), retrieved on [[2008-04-06]].</ref><ref>[http://international.ibox.bg/news/id_2028157717 News.bg], Olli Rehn Condemns the Language of Hatred Against Greece and Bulgaria in Macedonian Media, retrieved on [[2008-04-06]].</ref> although the government disassociated itself from the depictions and expressed its regret.<ref>[[BBC News]], [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7324510.stm Greek fury over swastika poster]</ref>

According to media reports, the Greek position was strongly supported by [[France]] and [[Spain]]. [[Italy]], [[Portugal]], [[Luxembourg]], [[Iceland]], [[Belgium]], [[Hungary]], [[Slovakia]], and the [[Netherlands]] also showed understanding to the Greek concerns.<ref name=Mega-2008-04-03 /><ref>''[[Eleftherotypia]]'', [http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=110,dt=04.04.2008,id=86594016 Η επιμονή Μπους και η αλληλεγγύη των Ευρωπαίων στην Ελλάδα] (''Bush's insistence and the European support to Greece''), retrieved on [[2008-04-05]].</ref><ref>''[[Eleftherotypia]]'', [http://www.enet.gr/online/online_hprint?q=%D3%EA%FC%F0%E9%E1&a=&id=15246048 Αρνηση, χωρίς χρονοδιάγραμμα και με ήπιες αντιδράσεις] (''Refusal, without time frame and with moderate reactions''), retrieved on [[2008-04-05]].</ref>

The [[US]] proposal for inviting the country under its UN provisional reference (FYROM) was backed by [[Turkey]], [[Slovenia]], the [[Czech Republic]], [[Estonia]], [[Lithuania]], [[Denmark]], [[Bulgaria]], and [[Norway]].<ref name=Mega-2008-04-03 />

[[Germany]], the [[United Kingdom]], and [[Canada]] were reported neutral.<ref name=Mega-2008-04-03 />

According to polls, 95% of Greeks consider that the veto was a correct action, while only 1% oppose it.<ref>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=77905 Skai News], Σωστό το βέτο για το 95% (''Veto correct for 95%'' [http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skai.gr%2Fmaster_story.php%3Fid%3D77905&langpair=el%7Cen&hl=el&ie=UTF8 English machine translation]), retrieved on [[2008-04-06]].</ref> At the same time, Greece maintains its focus on promoting its neighbour's NATO and EU accession as soon as the naming issue is resolved.<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080429/COMMENTARY/877032880 Washington Times], In the name of a common future, Retrieved on [[2008-04-30]].</ref>

===A continuing negotiation===

The [[Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia]] voted on [[11 April]] [[2008]] to dissolve itself and hold [[Macedonian parliamentary election, 2008|early elections]] within sixty days.<ref>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=78540 Skai News], Πρόωρες εκλογές στη ΠΓΔΜ (''Early elections in FYROM'' [http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skai.gr%2Fmaster_story.php%3Fid%3D78540&langpair=el%7Cen&hl=el&ie=UTF8 English machine translation]), Retrieved on [[2008-04-12]].</ref> Following a meeting with the four major parties, president [[Branko Crvenkovski]] announced the continuation of the negotiations for the name, despite the parliament dissolution.<ref name=NegCont>[http://www.skai.gr/master_story.php?id=78533 Skai News], Συνεχίζονται οι διαπραγματεύσεις (''Negotiations continue'' [http://www.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skai.gr%2Fmaster_story.php%3Fid%3D78533&langpair=el%7Cen&hl=el&ie=UTF8 English machine translation]), Retrieved on [[2008-04-12]].</ref> The parties agreed that the dispute should not be a matter of heavy political debate prior to the elections.<ref name=NegCont />

Matthew Nimetz visited Skopje on [[17 April]] [[2008]] and Athens on the following day, initiating a new cycle of negotiations, but without bearing a new proposal yet.<ref name=NegCont />

Talks continued in New York from [[30 April]] to [[2 May]] [[2008]], though Nimetz again did not propose a new compromise name.<ref>[http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbriefs/2008/04/30/nb-03 Southeast European Times], ''Macedonia, Greece continue name dispute talks in New York'', Retrieved on [[2008-05-27]].</ref>

===The newest proposal===

According to Macedonian media, the main points of the proposal are the following<ref>[http://www.dnevnik.com.mk/default.asp?ItemID=5C24E9C6AE578B45B4AAB7E8C30E2BE7 Dnevnik newspaper],</ref>:

*the name "Republic of Macedonia" will stay the official name inside the country
*the name for the country in all official purposes (i.e. [[United Nations]], [[EU]], [[NATO]]) will be "Republic of North Macedonia" ([[Macedonian language|Macedonian]]: Република Северна Македонија)
*third countries shall use the name "Republic of North Macedonia" in official bilateral relations
*the name "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" will no more be an acceptable name for the country
*the frontpage of the [[Macedonian passport|Macedonian passports]] will contain the following names for the country:
**''Republic of North Macedonia'' in [[English language|English]]
**''République de Macédoine du Nord'' in [[French language|French]]
**''Република Македонија'' in [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]]
*Greece will support the integration of its neighbouring country into [[EU]] and [[NATO]]
*both countries will confirm that they have no territorial claims towars each other

===Lists of countries and organisations===
====Lists of countries====

{{MultiCol}}
=====List of countries/entities using "Republic of Macedonia" in bilateral diplomatic relations=====
As of September 2008, up to 124 countries recognise the Republic of Macedonia by its constitutional name. <ref>[http://www.vlada.mk/?q=node/1026 Macedonia MFA]</ref>
Four of the five permanent [[UN Security Council]] members:
* {{flag|United States of America}} ([[NATO]] and [[G8]] member ): The federal government uses "Republic of Macedonia",<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/26759.htm | title=Background Note: Macedonia | accessdate=2007-09-08}}</ref> while the [[United States Congress|US Congress]] uses the mixed designation "Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)".<ref>NATO {{cite web | url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.494.ENR: | title=NATO Freedom Consolidation Act of 2007 (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate) | accessdate = 2007-06-12}}</ref>
* {{flag|United Kingdom}} ([[EU]], NATO and G8 member): The UK uses the name "Republic of Macedonia" for bilateral relations, and "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" for multilateral relations.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394365&a=KCountryProfile&aid=1019233917528 | title=Country Profiles: Republic of Macedonia | accessdate=2007-09-08}}</ref>
* {{flag|People's Republic of China}} <ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.people.com.cn/english/200106/18/eng20010618_72901.html| title=People's daily |work=China, Macedonia Sign Joint Communique on Normalization of Relations |accessdate=2007-01-02}}</ref>
* {{flag|Russia}} (G8 member) <ref>[http://www.mid.ru/zu_r.nsf/e0f3cd1a55ff248dc32571e7003f460b/909fdd5998c7c8c3c32565e800360468?OpenDocument Russian Embassy in the Republic of Macedonia]</ref>

All former [[Yugoslavia|Yugoslav]] republics:
* {{flag|Bosnia-Herzegovina}} <ref name="CEFTA">[http://www.stabilitypact.org/trade/Cefta%20Agreement%20Amendment%20of%20and%20Accession%20to%20the%20Central%20European%20Free%20Trade%20Agreement%20-%20Preamble.pdf CEFTA 2006 text, signed by "the Republic of Macedonia" and "the Republic of Montenegro"], ''Stability Pact for Southeast Europe'', Retrieved on [[2007-04-10]]</ref>
* {{flag|Croatia}} <ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.mvpei.hr/MVP.asp?pcpid=13&dmid=127#pocdrz |title=Ministarstvo vanjsklh poslova I europsklh integracija |work= Republika Makedonija - Uspostava diplomatskih odnosa: 30.3.1992 | accessdate= 2007-01-02}}</ref><ref name="CEFTA"/>
* {{flag|Montenegro}} <ref name="CEFTA"/>
* {{flag|Serbia}} <ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.scgembassy.org.mk | title=Embassy of the Republic of Serbia |work=Skopje Republic of Macedonia | accessdate= 2007-01-02}}</ref>
* {{flag|Slovenia}} (EU and NATO member) <ref>{{cite web | title=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia | work=Macedonia |accessdate=2007-01-02 | url= http://www.mzz.gov.si/index.php?id=539&L=2}}</ref>

In addition, the following countries have also recognized the nation by its constitutional name:
* {{flag|Algeria}} <ref>[http://193.194.78.233/ma_fr/stories.php?story=04/05/19/6156295 Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres - Republique Algerienne Democratique et Populaire]</ref>
* {{flag|Argentina}} <ref>Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs ''[http://www.mrecic.gov.ar/portal/repre_argentinas/plantilla.php?id=87&concurrencia=113 Embassy of Macedonia in Sofia, Bulgaria]''</ref>
* {{flag|Austria}} (EU member) <ref>[http://www.bmeia.gv.at/aussenministerium/buergerservice/oesterreichische-vertretungen.html?no_cache=1 Diplomatic representation], [http://www.bmeia.gv.at/en/foreign-ministry/foreign-policy/voelkerrecht/treaties-in-german/bilateral-treaties-in-german.html?ADMCMD_view=1&LNG=de&dv_name=Mazedonien&dv_staat=0&mode=country&submit=1&vb_vp_id=261&cHash=19e87fb504 Bilateral agreements]</ref>
* {{flag|Azerbaijan}} <ref>[http://azembassy.com.my/links/index.htm Diplomatic Missions of Azerbaijan]</ref>
* {{flag|Belarus}} <ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.by/ru/about/foreign_missions/ Foreign Diplomatic Missions in Belarus]</ref>
* {{flag|Brunei Darussalam}} <ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.bn/overseas_missions/20070804a.htm Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade - Brunei Darussalam]</ref>
* {{flag|Bulgaria}} (EU and NATO member)<ref name=BulgRec>[http://www.mfa.bg/bg/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14329&Itemid=382 Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs], ''Diplomatic Relations - Macedonia.'' Retrieved on [[2007-01-25]]</ref>
* {{flag|Canada}} (NATO and G8 member) <ref name=CanadianMFA>Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, ''[http://geo.international.gc.ca/cip-pic/geo/macedonia-en.aspx Country and Regional Information: Macedonia]'', Retrieved on [[2007-09-20]]</ref><ref name=A1News>(Macedonian) A1 News, ''[http://a1.com.mk/vesti/default.asp?VestID=84094 Канада ја призна Македонија под уставното име]'', Retrieved on [[2007-09-20]]</ref>
* {{flag|Chile}} <ref>[http://www.vlada.mk/?q=node/1026 Macedonia MFA]</ref>
* {{flag|Costa Rica}} <ref>[http://www.rree.go.cr/promocion/index.php?stp=133 Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Affairs]</ref>
* {{flag|Cuba}} <ref>[http://europa.cubaminrex.cu/Actualidad/Breves%20Diplomaticas/2007/Marzo.htm#47 Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs]</ref>
* {{flag|Ecuador}}<ref>[http://www.mmrree.gov.ec/mre/documentos/pol_internacional/bilateral/europa_macedonia.htm]</ref>
* {{flag|El Salvador}} <ref>[http://www.rree.gob.sv/sitio/sitiowebrree.nsf/pages/spolext_paisesconrelacionesdiplomaticas Ministry of Foreign Affairs of El Salvador]</ref>
* {{flag|Honduras}} <ref>[http://www.sre.hn/tramitessj_paises.html]</ref>
* {{flag|Hungary}} (EU and NATO member) <ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.mfa.gov.hu/kulkepviselet/MK/HU | title=Embassy of the Republic of Hungary |work=Skopje Republic of Macedonia | accessdate= 2007-01-20}}</ref>
* {{flag|Iceland}} (NATO member) <ref>[http://www.utanrikisraduneyti.is/sendi-og-raedisskrifstofur/erlendar/ Ministry for Foreign Affairs - Iceland]</ref>
* {{flag|Iran}} <ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.ir/cms/cms/Tehran/en/Mission/Europe.html Ministry of foreign affairs of Iran]</ref>
* {{flag|Kazakhstan}} <ref>[http://portal.mfa.kz/portal/page/portal/mfa/en/content/news/nws2006/2006-09-23 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan]</ref>
* {{flag|Kyrgyzstan}} <ref>[http://www.mfa.kg/diplomatic-missions-in-kr/dip-in-kr-3_kg.html Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic]</ref>
* {{flag|Laos}} <ref>[http://www.mofa.gov.la/Foreign%20Diplomatic/ListOfDiplomaticRelations.htm#M Diplomatic Relations] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Laos</ref>
* {{flag|Liechtenstein}}<ref>[http://www.liechtenstein.li/en/pdf-fl-staat-aussenpolitik-multilateral-dipl-vertretungen.pdf Diplomatic Missions to the Principality of Liechtenstein]</ref>
*{{flag|Lithuania}} (EU and NATO member)<ref name="veremis"/> <ref>[http://www.urm.lt/index.php?679327484 Bilateral treaties], [http://www.urm.lt/popup2.php?tmpl_name=m_urm_lt_embassy&m_urm_country_id=59 Diplomatic mission],[http://www.urm.lt/popup2.php?tmpl_name=m_urm_for_embassy&m_urm_country_id=70 Embassy of the Republic of Macedonia] (accessed 3 October 2008)</ref>
* {{flag|Malaysia}} <ref>[http://www.kln.gov.my/?m_id=1&c_id=72&s_id=43 Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Malaysia]</ref><ref>[http://www.kln.gov.my/perwakilan/bucharest/news/1190 Embassy of Malaysia, Bucharest]</ref>
* {{flag|Maldives}} <ref>[http://www.foreign.gov.mv/v2/menu.php?menu=3&submenu=Bilateral%20Relations Republic of Maldives - Ministry of Foreign Affairs]</ref>
* {{flag|Moldova}} <ref name=MoldRec>[http://www.stabilitypact.org/trade/fta-mou/mol-mac.pdf Free Trade Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the Government of the Republic of Macedonia], ''Stability Pact for Southeast Europe'', Retrieved on [[2007-04-10]]</ref>
* {{flag|Mongolia}} <ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.mn/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=5&id=19&Itemid=42 Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Mongolia]</ref>
* {{flag|Morocco}} <ref name=MFA-Morocco>[http://www.maec.gov.ma/fr/fiche.asp?num=3720 Exchange of letters concerning the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries] Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Retrieved on [[2008-10-01]]</ref>
* {{flag|Myanmar}} <ref>[http://www.mofa.gov.mm/news/july15_tue_diplomatic.html Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar - Diplomatic Ties between Myanmar and Macedonia Established]</ref>
* {{flag|Nauru}} <ref>[http://www.un.int/nauru/foreignaffairs.html Department of Foreign Affairs - Republic of Nauru]</ref>
* {{flag|Nepal}} <ref>[http://www.mofa.gov.np/diplomaticaz.php Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Nepal]</ref>
* {{flag|New Zealand}} <ref>[http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/novina/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=2&NrArticle=121030&NrIssue=733&NrSection=10 Makfax: Lobbyists urge Australia to recognize Macedonian name]</ref>
* {{flag|Nigeria}} <ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.ng/newsitem34.html Ministry of foreign affairs of Nigeria]</ref>
* {{flag|Norway}} (NATO member)<ref>[http://www.regjeringen.no/upload/UD/Vedlegg/Protokoll/odl080919.pdf Oslo diplomatic list]</ref>
* {{flag|Oman}} <ref>[http://www.mofa.gov.om/mofa/bilateral_continent.asp?cont=6 Sultanate of Oman - Ministry of Foreign Affairs using 'republic of macedonia']</ref>
* {{flag|Panama}} <ref name="Panama">{{cite news|url=http://www.a1.com.mk/vesti/default.aspx?VestID=95985|title=Panama refutes Greece|date=2008-08-04|publisher=[[A1 (TV channel)|A1 News]]|language=Macedonian|accessdate=2008-08-08}} "According to him [ [[Samuel Lewis Navarro]] ], the Greek media recently misinterpreted the statement of the Panamanian ambassador in Athens"</ref> <ref>[http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/2657/45/ Panama negates information by Greek Media in English]</ref>
* {{flag|Paraguay}} <ref name=DW>[http://www.deutsche-welle.de/dw/article/0,2144,2858800,00.html Deutche Welle], Retrieved on [[2008-09-22]]</ref>
* {{flag|Poland}} (EU and NATO member) <ref>Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ''[http://www.msz.gov.pl/Polish,Missions,Abroad,2143.html?PHPSESSID=fe037956eab58817a34e2f3280fc37ff Polish Missions Abroad]'', Retrieved on [[2007-04-12]]</ref><ref>Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ''[http://www.msz.gov.pl/M-S,2147.html?PHPSESSID=fe037956eab58817a34e2f3280fc37ff Foreign Embassies in Poland]'', Retrieved on [[2007-04-12]]</ref>
* {{flag|Qatar}}<ref>[http://english.mofa.gov.qa/details_consul.cfm?Id=394&type=local Embassy of Republic of Macedonia in The state of Qatar]</ref>
* {{flag|Romania}} (EU and NATO member) <ref name=FMoR>[http://www.mae.ro/index.php?unde=doc&id=158&idlnk=5&cat=6 Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Romanian Missions], Retrived on [[2008-05-01]]</ref><ref>[http://www.mae.ro/index.php?unde=doc&id=1170&idlnk=5&cat=6 Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Missions], Retrived on [[2008-05-01]]</ref><ref>[http://skopje.mae.ro/index.php?lang=ro&id=14871 Romanian Embassy in the Republic of Macedonia] Retrived on [[2008-05-01]]</ref>
* {{flag|Saint Kitts and Nevis}} <ref>[http://gip.gov.kn/ct.asp?xItem=237&ctNode=215&mp=6 St. Christopher (St. Kitts) and Nevis, Ministry of F. Affairs]</ref>
* {{flag|Saint Lucia}}<ref>[http://www.stlucia.gov.lc/faq/do_i_need_a_visa_to_enter_saint_lucia.htm#Require_Visas List of countries which need visa]</ref>
* {{flag|Slovakia}} (EU and NATO member) <ref>[http://www.mfa.sk/zu/index/podstranka.php?id=1401 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic - Bilateral Relations - Republic of Macedonia]</ref>
* {{flag|Sovereign Military Order of Malta}} <ref>[http://www.orderofmalta.org/site/attdiplomatica.asp?idlingua=5 Order of Malta - Bilateral relations with countries]</ref>
* {{flag|Sri Lanka}} <ref>[http://www.slmfa.gov.lk//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=111&Itemid=1 Sri Lanka Ministry of Foreign Affairs]</ref>
* {{flag|Sweden}} (EU member) <ref>[http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/5616#M Government Offices of Sweden - Embassies and consulates]</ref>
* {{flag|Switzerland}} <ref>[http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/reps/eur/vmkd/embsko.html Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Switzerland]</ref>
* {{flag|Turkey}} (NATO member) <ref>{{cite web | title=NATO Update - Week of 9-15 June 1999 | accessdate=2007-09-18 | url= http://www.nato.int/docu/update/1999/0609e.htm}}</ref> <ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.tr/turkey_s-political-relations-with-republic-of-macedonia.en.mfa Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs]</ref>
* {{flag|Ukraine}} <ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.ua/mfa/ua/publication/content/1779.htm Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to Ukraine]</ref>
* {{flag|Uzbekistan}} <ref>[http://mfa.uz/eng/inter_cooper/uzbekistan_countries/countries_eu/uzb_macedonia/ Relations between Uzbekistan and Macedonia - Ministry o. F. Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan]</ref>
* {{flag|Vietnam}} <ref>[http://www.mofa.gov.vn/en/cn_vakv/euro/nr040819111555/ns070919140054 Vietnam-Macedonia relations] Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs</ref>
{{ColBreak}}

=====List of countries/entities using "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" for all official purposes=====
* {{flag|Australia}} <ref name=AUmfa>Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ''[http://www.dfat.gov.au/missions/countries/mk.html Australian Consulate in Skopje, Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of]'', Retrieved on [[2007-04-10]]</ref>
* {{flag|Bahrain}} <ref name=BahrainMFA>"[http://www.mofa.gov.bh/MOFA/En/DeplomaticMission International Relations]", Retrieved on [[2008-09-16]]</ref>
* {{flag|Belize}} <ref name=BelizeMFA>[http://www.mfa.gov.bz/library/bze_treaties/bi_lateral.php Bilateral Relations], Retrieved on [[2008-09-16]]</ref>
* {{flag|Belgium}} (EU and NATO member) <ref name=BMFA>Federal Public Service: Foreign Affairs: [http://www.diplomatie.be/en/addresses/abroad/otherpostsdetail.asp?POSTE_ID=404 MACEDOINE (EX-REP. YOUGOSLAVE DE)], Retrieved on [[2007-04-10]]</ref>
* {{flag|Cyprus}} (EU member)<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.cy/mfa/embassies/embassy_doha.nsf/DMLfaq_en/DMLfaq_en?OpenDocument Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Doha - Visa Applications][[2008-04-15]]</ref>
*{{flag|Egypt}}<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.eg/MFA_Portal/Templates/Alpha_Search_Plus_Results.aspx?NRMODE=Published&NRNODEGUID=%7b93D47EB3-6273-4215-B383-824EAE08F119%7d&NRORIGINALURL=%2fMFA_Portal%2fen-GB%2fMissions%2fForeign_Missions_in_Egypt%2f&NRCACHEHINT=Guest Foreign Missions in Egypt][[2008-09-26]]</ref>
* {{flag|France}} (EU, NATO, G8 and permanent UN Security Council member)<ref>Base Pacte - Archives of the French Republic,''[http://www.doc.diplomatie.gouv.fr/BASIS/pacte/webext/bilat/DDD/19930261.pdf Agreement by exchange of letters establishing diplomatic relations between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Republic of Macedonia]'', Retrieved on [[2008-04-04]]</ref><ref> French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, france-ancienne-republique-yougoslave-macedoine page</ref><ref>''[http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/pays-zones-geo_833/macedoine-arym_442/france-ancienne-republique-yougoslave-macedoine_1177/relations-politiques_4744/relations-politiques_12153.html]''</ref>
* {{flag|Germany}} (EU, NATO and G8 member) <ref name=GermanMFA>German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, {{de icon}} ''[http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/de/Laenderinformationen/01-Laender/Mazedonien.html Ehemalige jugoslawische Republik Mazedonien]'', Retrieved on [[2008-04-15]]</ref>
* {{flag|Greece}} (EU and NATO member) <ref name=GrFA> {{cite web | url= http://www2.mfa.gr/www.mfa.gr/en-US/Policy/Geographic+Regions/South-Eastern+Europe/Balkans/Bilateral+Relations/FYROM/FYROM+-+THE+NAME+ISSUE.htm|title=Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs | accessmonthday = [[July 17]] | accessyear=[[2006]] | work=Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) — The Name Issue | publisher= | pages= | language=English }}</ref>
* {{flag|India}} <ref name=IndianMFA>Indian Ministry of External Affairs, ''[http://meaindia.nic.in/foreignrelation/macedonia.htm Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia]'', Retrieved on [[2007-04-10]]</ref>
* {{flag|Latvia}} (EU and NATO member) <ref name=LatvianMFA>[http://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/policy/bilateral-relations/4542/Macedonia/ Relations Between Latvia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia], Retrieved on [[2008-09-13]]</ref>
* {{flag|Luxembourg}} (EU and NATO member) <ref name=LuxembourgMFA>[http://www.mae.lu/images/biblio/biblio-42-1_vcxuu_660_3156_265.pdf Missions diplomatiques étrangères accréditées au Luxembourg], Retrieved on [[2008-09-16]]</ref>
* {{flag|Micronesia}} <ref name=MicroMFA>[http://www.fsmgov.org/diprel.html Countries With Which the Federated States of Micronesia Has Established Diplomatic Relations ], Retrieved on [[2008-09-16]]</ref>
* {{flag|Monaco}} <ref name=MonacoMFA>[http://www.diplomatie.gouv.mc/315Diplomatie/wwwnew.nsf/1909$/afaad54691d027abc125746a004c1e8agb?OpenDocument&2Gb Macédoine ], Retrieved on [[2008-09-13]]</ref>
* {{flag|Portugal}} (EU and NATO member) <ref name=Portugal>http://www.portugal.gov.pt/portal/pt/directorio/europa Conselho da Europa - Antiga República Jugoslava da Macedónia]</ref><ref>[http://antigo.mdn.gov.pt/Defesa/Operacoes/macedonia.htm]</ref><ref>[http://srec.azores.gov.pt/dre/alunos/Basico_DEPEB/ProgramasEspecificos/Prog%20Cidadania%20e%20Mundo%20Actual.pdf]</ref>
*{{flag|Singapore}} <ref name=SingaporeMFA>[http://shinedom1.internet.gov.sg/mfa/dipCon/dipCon.nsf/FMDetailsAgent?OpenAgent&id=185 Foreign Missions Accredited to Singapore], Retrieved on [[2008-09-14]]</ref>
*{{flag|South Africa}} <ref name=DSA>Department of Foreign Affairs, ''[http://www.dfa.gov.za/foreign/bilateral/fyrom.html FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)]'', Retrieved on [[2008-02-15]]</ref>
* {{flag|Spain}} (EU and NATO member) <ref name=SpanishMFA>Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, {{es icon}} ''[http://www.maec.es/es/MenuPpal/Paises/ArbolPaises/Macedonia_Falsa/Informacion%20Relacionada/Paginas/relacMacedonia.aspx Ex-República Yugoslava De Macedonia (ERYM)]'', Retrieved on [[2007-07-24]], [http://www.maec.es/es/MenuPpal/Paises/ArbolPaises/ARYMacedonia/Recomendaciones%20de%20viaje/Paginas/recoMacedonia.aspx Antigua-República Yugoslava de Macedonia (ARYM)], Retrieved on [[2008-07-24]], also uses "A.R.Y. Macedonia"[http://www.maec.es/es/MenuPpal/Paises/Paginas/informacion_representaciones.aspx].</ref>
* {{flagicon|Vatican City}} The [[Holy See]] <ref name=HolySee>[http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/documents/rc_seg-st_20010123_holy-see-relations_en.html Bilateral and multilateral relations of the Holy See]</ref>

=====List of countries/entities to be sorted=====
* {{flag|Albania}} <ref name=AlbFC>The Albanian Foreign Service,>''[http://www.km.gov.al/index.php?fq=brenda&r=&gj=gj2&kid=26 Embassy of the Republic of Albania in F.Y.R.O.M]'', Retrieved on [[2008-07-25]]</ref><ref>[http://www.makfax.com.mk/look/novina/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=2&NrArticle=125105&NrIssue=767&NrSection=20 Makfax - Internet Daily Newspaper]</ref><ref>"[http://www.km.gov.al/index.php?fq=brenda&m=news&lid=9240 Premier Berisha receives Deputy Premier of Macedonia, Abdilaqim Ademi]"</ref>
* {{flag|Brazil}} <ref name=BrazilianMFA>[http://www.brazil-bg.info/consulate.html Embassy of Brazil in Bulgaria], Retrieved on [[2008-09-14]]</ref> <ref>[http://www.abe.mre.gov.br/mundo/america-do-norte/estados-unidos-da-america/chicago/servicos/visas/countries-that-require-visa-to-brazil/ Countries That Require Visa to Brazil], Retrieved on [[2008-09-14]] </ref>
* {{flag|Czech Republic}} (EU and NATO member)<ref name=CzechMFA>[http://www.mzv.cz/wwwo/mzv/default.asp?id=59730&ido=7904&idj=2&amb=1 Consular department of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Macedonia/FYROM], Retrieved on [[2008-09-14]] </ref>
* {{flag|Denmark}} (EU and NATO member)<ref name=DanishMFA>[http://www.um.dk/en/servicemenu/contact/missionsabroad/missionsabroadm.htm MISSIONS ABROAD], Retrieved on [[2008-09-14]] </ref> <ref name=DanishMFA1>[http://www.um.dk/en/menu/developmentpolicy/danishdevelopmentpolicycountries/theneighbourhoodprogramme/countries/macedoniafyrom DANISH ASSISTANCE TO MACEDONIA (FYROM) UNDER THE NEIGHBOURHOOD PROGRAMME OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF DENMARK], Retrieved on [[2008-09-14]] </ref>
* {{flag|Dominican Republic}}<ref name=DominicanMFA>"[http://www.serex.gov.do/AsuntosConsulares/AsuntosConsulares/visas.htm?mid=9060 LISTADO DE PAISES Y SU CONDICION DE ENTRADA A LA REPUBLICA DOMINICANA]", Retrieved on [[2008-09-18]] </ref><ref name=DominicanMFA2>[http://www.serex.gov.do/serex%20informa/SerexNo.08.pdf "Serex"], Retrieved on [[2008-09-18]] </ref>
* {{flag|Estonia}} (EU and NATO member)<ref name=EstonianMFA>[http://www.vm.ee/eng/kat_176/8678.html Estonia and Macedonia], Retrieved on [[2008-09-13]] </ref>
* {{flag|Finland}} (EU member)<ref name=Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland>[http://formin.finland.fi/public/default.aspx?nodeid=17382&culture=en-US&contentlan=2 Macedonia], Retrieved on [[2008-09-13]]</ref>
* {{flag|Guatemala}} <ref>[http://www.minex.gob.gt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2053&Itemid=132 Guatemalan Ministry of Foreign Affairs]</ref> <ref>"[http://www.minex.gob.gt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1517&Itemid=105 Macedonia, Embajada de la Antigua Républica Yugoslava de]"</ref>
* {{flag|Indonesia}} <ref>[http://www.deplu.go.id/?hotnews_id=1431 Department of Foreign Affairs - Indonesia]</ref><ref>[http://www.deplu.go.id/?category_id=13&country_id=105&bilateral=eropatimur Macedonia/FYROM ], Retrieved on [[2008-09-13]]</ref><ref>[http://www.indonesia.hu/ Embassy of Indonesia in Hungary]</ref>
* {{flag|Ireland}} (EU member) <ref>[http://foreignaffairs.gov.ie/home/index.aspx?id=25061 Department of Foreign Affairs - Macedonia]</ref><ref name=IrishMFA>[http://foreignaffairs.gov.ie/home/index.aspx?id=5597 Department of Foreign Affairs - Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia], Retrieved on [[2008-04-15]]</ref> <ref>[http://www.embassyofireland.sk/home/index.aspx?id=39044 Embassy of Ireland in Slovakia, also accredited to Macedonia]</ref>
* {{flag|Japan}} (G8 member)<ref>[http://www.mofa.go.jp/about/emb_cons/protocol/i-p.html List of Embassies and Consulates-General in Japan], [[2008-09-15]]</ref><ref>[http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/europe/macedonia/index.html Japan-Macedonia Relations], Retrieved on [[2008-09-15]]</ref>
* {{flag|Lesotho}}<ref>[http://www.foreign.gov.ls/missions/show_missions.php?Country=Italy LESOTHO MISSIONS ABROAD], [[2008-09-16]]</ref><ref>[http://www.foreign.gov.ls/services/default.php CONSULAR SERVICES], Retrieved on [[2008-09-16]]</ref>
* {{flag|Mexico}}<ref>[http://www.sre.gob.mx/delviajero/europa/mcd.htm Ministry of foreign affairs]</ref><ref>[http://www.sre.gob.mx/acerca/directorio/embajadas/serbiamontenegro.htm Embassy of Mexico in Serbia]</ref>
* {{flag|Netherlands}} (EU and NATO member) <ref name=NLFA>Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, [http://www.mfa.nl/en/europe?continent=europe Missions Abroad], Retrieved on [[2007-12-12]]</ref><ref>[http://www.mfa.nl/sko Embassy of the Netherlands in Skopje]</ref> <ref>[http://www.minbuza.nl/nl/ontwikkelingssamenwerking/wereldkaart/landenAZ,Macedonie.html Country profile- Macedonia]</ref>
*{{flag|Peru}}<ref>[http://www.rree.gob.pe/portal/boletinInf.nsf/afdaa58f9a4dc40605256e160070d8a9/9aeab09b21d6ad910525735c0070e1b5?OpenDocument]</ref><ref>[http://www.rree.gob.pe/portal/aconsular.nsf/0/9F10D80FD06FFF0405256E38005537D3?OpenDocument]</ref><ref>[http://www.rree.gob.pe/portal/Pbilateral.nsf/9DAA604E1B36B559052574790061BE01/$FILE/MACEDONIA.pdf]</ref><ref>[http://www.rree.gob.pe/portal/Tratados.nsf/6e698a2aa7c4dd6805256e680056dec7/1eb8ad5549e7d00b052571cc00532453?OpenDocument Visa Agreement between the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Peru]</ref>
* {{flag|Thailand}}<ref>[http://www.mfa.go.th/web/showStatic.php?staticid=1563&Qsearch=macedonia Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Kingdom of Thailand]</ref> <ref name=ThaiMFA>[http://www.mfa.go.th/web/2642.php?id=21770 Statement by Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand at the 62th UNGA]</ref>

=====List of countries/entities that do not use either appellation consistently=====
The following states have inconsistent official references to the country, using both names:
* {{flag|Italy}} (EU, NATO and G8 member) <ref name=ItalianMFA>Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, {{it icon}}
''[http://www.esteri.it/MAE/IT/Politica_Europea/AffariGen_RelazEst/UE_allargamento/paesicandidati/Ex_Rep_Jugosl_di_Macedonia.htm Ex Repubblica Jugoslava di Macedonia]'', Retrieved on [[2007-08-20]]</ref><ref>[http://www.esteri.it/MAE/doc_concorsi_gare/macedonia_gara.pdf]</ref><ref>[http://www.esteri.it/MAE/doc/4_28_67_81_91_89_109.pdf]</ref>
* {{flag|Israel}} <ref name=IsraeliMFA>Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Sherut/IsraeliAbroad/Continents/Europe/ Europe], Retrieved on [[2007-12-12]]</ref><ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Treaties/Israel+Bilateral+agreements/ Bilateral agreements]</ref><ref>[http://mexico-city.mfa.gov.il/mfm/Web/main/document.asp?documentid=109765 Ambassador accredited to Macedonia]</ref>

The following countries/entities have no diplomatic relations with the state <ref>[http://mfa.gov.mk/default1.aspx?ItemID=310 List of countries with which Republic of Macedonia have bilateral relations]</ref>: [[Andorra]], [[Bahamas]], [[Barbados]], [[Bhutan]], [[Botswana]], [[Fiji]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Grenada]], [[Guyana]], [[Kiribati]], [[Lebanon]], [[Liberia]], [[Mali]], [[Malta]], [[Namibia]], [[Palau]], [[Palestinian Authority]], [[Papua New Guinea]], [[Philippines]],
[[Republic of China]] ([[Taiwan]]), [[Sahrawi Republic]], [[Saint Kitts and Nevis]], [[San Marino]], [[Solomon Islands]], [[South Korea]], [[Syria]], [[Tonga]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Tunisia]], [[Tuvalu]] and [[Zimbabwe]].
{{EndMultiCol}}

''Note: All countries, regardless of their position, have agreed that they will use whichever name results from the UN compromise talks.''

====List of international organisations====

The following international organisations use the reference "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (or a variant thereof) in their official proceedings:

*[[United Nations]],<ref name=un>{{cite web| url=http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/47/a47r225.htm | title=United Nations | work=Admission of the State whose application is contained in document A/47/876-S/25147 to membership in the United Nations | accessmonthday = [[July 17]]| accessyear=2006}}</ref>
*[[European Union]],<ref name= eu>{{cite web | url= http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/the_former_yugoslav_republic_of_macedonia/index_en.htm | title= European Union | work= European Commission, Enlargement, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | accessmonthday = September, 5 |accessyear=2006}}</ref>
*[[NATO]],<ref name=NATO>{{cite web | url= http://www.nato.int/issues/enlargement/index.html | title=NATO |work=Enlargement |accessmonthday = [[July 18]] | accessyear= 2006}}</ref>
*[[International Monetary Fund]],<ref name=IMF>{{cite web | url= http://www.imf.org/external/country/MKD/index.htm| title= International Monetary Fund |work=former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the IMF |accessmonthday = [[July 18]] | accessyear= 2006}}</ref>
*[[World Trade Organization]],<ref name=WTO>{{cite web| url=http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/countries_e/macedonia_e.htm | title= World Trade Organization | work=Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and the WTO |accessmonthday = [[July 20]] | accessyear=2006}}</ref>
*[[International Olympic Committee]],<ref name=IOC>{{cite web | title=International Olympic Committee |work=Olympic Committee of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | url= http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/noc/noc_uk.asp?noc_initials=MKD|accessmonthday = [[July 18]] | accessyear= 2006}}</ref>
*[[World Bank]],<ref name=WB>{{cite web | title=World Bank | work= Countries & Regions | url= http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/0,,pagePK:180619~theSitePK:136917,00.html|accessmonthday = [[July 18]] | accessyear= 2006}}</ref>
*[[European Bank for Reconstruction and Development]],<ref name=EBRD>{{cite web| title=European Bank for Reconstruction and Development | work=ebrd and fyr Macedonia | url= http://www.ebrd.com/country/country/mace/index.htm EBRD |accessmonthday = [[July 18]] | accessyear= 2006}}</ref>
*[[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]],<ref name=OSCE>{{cite web | title=The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe |work=Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia admitted to OSCE | url= http://www.osce.org/item/16032.html|accessmonthday = [[July 18]] | accessyear= 2006}}</ref>
*[[FIFA]],<ref name=fifa>{{cite web |url= http://www.fifa.com/en/organisation/confederations/associationdetails/0,1483,MKD,00.html?countrycode=MKD| title=FIFA Organisation | work= FYR Macedonia |accessmonthday = [[July 20]]| accessyear=2006}}</ref>
*[[FIBA]].<ref name=fiba>{{cite web |url= http://www.fibaeurope.com/Default.asp?nfID=2604| title=FIBA Organisation | work= FYR Macedonia |accessmonthday = [[July 20]]| accessyear=2006}}</ref>

==Greek position==
The constitutional name of the country "Republic of Macedonia" and the short name "Macedonia" when referring to the country, can be considered offensive by most [[Greeks]], especially [[Macedonians (Greek)|inhabitants]] of the [[provinces of Greece|Greek province]] of [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]]. The Greek government officially uses the term "Slavomacedonian" to describe both the language and a member of the ethnic group, and the [[United Nations]]' provisional reference for the country (''"the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"'') by the main international organisations, including the [[United Nations]].<ref name=un>{{cite web| url=http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/47/a47r225.htm | title=United Nations | work=Admission of the State whose application is contained in document A/47/876-S/25147 to membership in the United Nations | accessmonthday = [[July 17]]| accessyear=[[2006]]}}</ref> The official reasons for this, as described by the [[Foreign relations of Greece|Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], are:

{{quotation|
"The choice of the name Macedonia by FYROM directly raises the issue of usurpation of the cultural heritage of a neighbouring country. The name constitutes the basis for staking an exclusive rights claim over the entire geographical area of Macedonia. More specifically, to call only the Slavo-Macedonians Macedonians monopolizes the name for the Slavo-Macedonians and creates semiological confusion, whilst violating the human rights and the right to self-determination of Greek Macedonians. The use of the name by FYROM alone may also create problems in the trade area, and subsequently become a potential springboard for distorting reality, and a basis for activities far removed from the standards set by the European Union and more specifically the clause on good neighbourly relations. The best example of this is to be seen in the content of school textbooks in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia."<ref name=GrFA />
}}

The current leader of the major opposition party, [[PASOK]], [[George Papandreou, junior|George Papandreou]] has stated that "in January 2002, when he was [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Greece)|Minister for Foreign Affairs]], was next to a deal with Skopje leadership about using the name "Горна Македонија" ("Gorna Makedonija" - "Upper Macedonia" in Slavic). The other parties and the [[List of Presidents of Greece|President]] of the Republic, he said, were informed but the solution process didn't work, because the [[2001 Macedonia conflict|Tetovo crisis]] broke out."<ref name= Gorna>{{el icon}} {{cite web| title=Eleftherotypia |work=George's "No" to Nimitz proposals | url= http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=110,dt=13.04.2005,id=42766704 |accessdate= 2007-06-25}}</ref>

The Greek concerns can be analyzed as follows:

===Historical concerns===
{| class="infobox bordered" style="width: 250px; font-size: 90%; float: right;" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"
|[[Image:Macedon431bcpriortoExpansions.png|120px]]
|[[Image:Map Macedonia 200 BC-fr.svg|120px]]
|-
|Ancient [[Macedon]] prior to expansion into Thracian and Illyrian territories.
|Kingdom of Macedon under Philip V.
|-
|colspan="2" align="center" |[[Image:LocationMacedonia-HEL-1-z.png|244px]]
|-
|colspan="2" align="center" | Modern [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]] in Greece.
|}

Greeks argue that the name Macedonia is historically inseparably associated with Greek culture, especially through the ancient kingdom of [[Macedon]] and the [[ancient Macedonians]], and that the modern Slavs lack any relation to these. They therefore consider that only Greeks have a historical right to use the name today.<ref name=GrFA> {{cite web | url= http://www2.mfa.gr/www.mfa.gr/en-US/Policy/Geographic+Regions/South-Eastern+Europe/Balkans/Bilateral+Relations/FYROM/FYROM+-+THE+NAME+ISSUE.htm|title=Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs | accessmonthday = [[July 17]] | accessyear=[[2006]] | work=Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) — The Name Issue | publisher= | pages= | language=English }}</ref>. Efforts by ethnic Macedonians to construct a narrative of ethnic continuity linking them to the ancient Macedonians in various ways<ref name="mkukemb">{{cite web| url= http://www.macedonianembassy.org.uk/history.html | title= Official site of the Embassy of the Republic of Macedonia in London | work= An outline of Macedonian history from Ancient times to 1991 | accessmonthday = [[October 19]] | accessyear=[[2006]] }}</ref> and symbolic actions underlining such claims (such as the public use of the [[Vergina sun]] symbol as a flag of the Republic of Macedonia, or the renaming of [[Skopje Airport]] to "Alexander the Great Airport")<ref>{{cite web| title=Kathimerini |work=A stir over name of Skopje’s airport | url= http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100006_29/12/2006_78322 |accessdate= 2007-01-02}}</ref> meet a strong criticism from the Greek side, much of the international media that reported the issue, as well as from moderate political views in the Republic of Macedonia<ref>[[Kiro Gligorov]], first president of the Republic of Macedonia: "We are Slavs who came to this area in the sixth century[...]we are not descendants of the ancient Macedonians". (Foreign Information Service Daily Report, Eastern Europe, February 26, 1992, p. 35) - "We are Macedonians but we are Slav Macedonians. That's who we are! We have no connection to Alexander the Greek and his Macedonia[...]Our ancestors came here in the 5th and 6th century (AD)". (Toronto Star, March 15, 1992</ref><ref>Gyordan Veselinov, diplomat of the Republic of Macedonia: "We are not related to the northern Greeks who produced leaders like Philip and Alexander the Great. We are a Slav people and our language is closely related to Bulgarian[...]There is some confusion about the identity of the people of my country". (Ottawa Citizen, 24 February 1999)</ref><ref>Denko Maleski, foreign minister of the Republic of Macedonia from 1991 to 1993, and ambassador to the United Nations from 1993 to 1997: "The idea that [[Alexander the Great]] belong to us, was at the mind of some outsider political groups only! These groups were insignificant the first years of our independence but the big problem is that the old Balkan nations have been learned to legitimate themselves through their history. In Balkans, if you want to be recognised as a nation, you need to have history of 3000 years old. So since you made us to invent a history, we invent it! [...] You forced us to the arms of the extreme nationalists who today claim that we are direct descendants of Alexander the Great!" (In an interview for Greek TV channel [[Mega Channel|Mega]], November 2006)</ref>.

Greek nationalist historians tend to emphasise the late emergence of a "Macedonian" nation, often pointing to 1944 as the date of its "artificial" creation under [[Josip Broz Tito]], discounting earlier roots in the 19th and early 20th century <ref>[[Loring Danforth]], ''The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World'', [http://www.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0691043566&id=ZmesOn_HhfEC&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&ots=Eb0bBzHBQT&dq=macedonism&sig=LO82EJ_vsHIAzByUF4dUWNNRjd4#PPA56,M1 p. 56]</ref>.

The Greek view also stresses that the name Macedonia as a geographical term historically used to refer typically to the southern, Greek parts of today's geographical Macedonia, and not or only marginally to the territory of today's Republic, and that this territory was not called Macedonia as a political entity until 1944.

{{clear}}

===Territorial concerns===
[[Image:Ethnicmacedonia.jpg|thumb|250px|The region of Macedonia as perceived by ethnic Macedonian irredentists. Some ethnic Macedonian nationalists, including at official level have expressed irredentist claims to what they refer to as "Aegean Macedonia" ([[Greece]]), "Pirin Macedonia" ([[Bulgaria]]), "Mala Prespa and Golo Brdo" ([[Albania]]), and "Gora and Prohor Pchinski" ([[Serbia]]) despite the fact that ethnic [[Greeks]], [[Bulgarians]], [[Albanians]] and [[Serbs]] form the majority of the population of each region respectively. These fringe groups have received no official encouragement from the government of the Republic of Macedonia since 1995 when they agreed to remove all territorial claims to neighbouring countries' territories from their constitution, but the United Macedonia concept is still found among official sources in the Republic, and taught in schools through school textbooks and through other governmental publications.]]


{{main|United Macedonia|Aegean Macedonia}}

During the [[Greek Civil War]], in 1947 the Greek Ministry of Press and Information published a book, Ἡ ἐναντίον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἐπιβουλή (''Designs on Greece''), namely of documents and speeches on the ongoing Macedonian issue, many translations from Yugoslav officials. It reports [[Josip Broz Tito]] using the term "[[Aegean Macedonia]]" on [[October 11]], [[1945]] in the build up to the Greek Civil War; the original document is archived in ‘GFM A/24581/G2/1945’. For Athens in 1947, the “new term, Aegean Macedonia”, (also “Pirin Macedonia”), was introduced by Yugoslavs. Contextually, this observation indicates this was part of the Yugoslav offensive against Greece, laying claim to Greek Macedonia, but Athens does not seem to take issue with the term itself. The 1945 date concurs with Bulgarian sources.

Tito's wartime representative to Macedonia, General Tempo (Svetozar Vukmanovic), is credited with promoting the usage of the new regional names of the Macedonian region for irredentist purposes. Concerns over territorial implications of the usage of the term "Macedonian" were expressed as early as 1944 by US diplomats.<ref>U.S STATE DEPARTMENT, Foreign Relations Vol. VIII Washington D.C. Circular Airgram (868.014/ 26 December 1944)</ref>

Greece suspects that the Republic of Macedonia has [[United Macedonia|territorial ambitions]] in the northern [[Macedonia (Greece)|Greek provinces of Macedonia]]. This has been a Greek concern for decades; as far back as 1957, the Greek government expressed concern about reported Yugoslav ambitions to create an "independent" People's Republic of Macedonia with the Greek city of [[Thessaloniki]] as its capital.<ref name=Times>Greek Macedonia "not a problem", ''The Times'' (London), [[August 5]], [[1957]]</ref>

[[Loring Danforth|Loring M. Danforth]] ascribes the goal of a "free, united, and independent Macedonia" including "liberated" Bulgarian and Greek territory to a fraction of extreme Macedonian nationalists, whereas more moderate ethnic Macedonians recognise the inviolability of the borders but regard the presence of ethnic Macedonians in the neighbouring countries as an issue of minority protection.<ref name=Danforth>{{cite book| title=How can a woman give birth to one Greek and one Macedonian? | url= http://www.gate.net/~mango/How_can_a_woman_give_birth.htm | work=
The construction of national identity among immigrants to Australia from Northern Greece | first=
Loring M. | last= Danforth | accessdate= 2007-01-02 }}</ref>

Greek analysts<ref> Floudas, Demetrius Andreas; {{cite web |publisher= in: Kourvetaris et al (eds.), ''The New Balkans'', East European Monographs: Columbia University Press, 2002, p. 85 |url=http://www.intersticeconsulting.com/documents/FYROM.pdf | title= "Pardon? A Name for a Conflict? FYROM's Dispute with Greece Revisited”|format=PDF}} </ref> and politicians<ref name="dora_iht">Dora Bakoyannis, [http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/31/opinion/edbakoy.php Macedonia and NATO: The View From Athens], International Herald Tribune, March 31, 2008.</ref> have expressed concerns that western observers tend to overlook or not to understand the severity of the perceived territorial threat and tend to misunderstand the conflict as a trivial issue over just a name.

The concerns are further reinforced by the fact that extremist ethnic Macedonian [[nationalist]]s of the "[[United Macedonia]]" movement have expressed [[irredentist]] claims to what they refer to as "[[Greek Macedonia|Aegean Macedonia]]" (in [[Greece]]),<ref name=Times /><ref name="Patrides">Patrides, Greek Magazine of Toronto, September — October, 1988, p. 3.</ref><ref name="Currency">{{cite news| first=Marlise |last=Simons |title=As Republic Flexes, Greeks Tense Up |date=[[February 3]] [[1992]] |publisher=New York Times | url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE0DD103CF930A35751C0A964958260 }} </ref> ''"[[Pirin Macedonia]]"'' (in [[Bulgaria]]),<ref name="Bulgaria">{{cite web | last = Lenkova | first = M. | coauthors = Dimitras, P., Papanikolatos, N., Law, C. (eds) | title =Greek Helsinki Monitor: Macedonians of Bulgaria | work = Minorities in Southeast Europe | publisher =Greek Helsinki Monitor, Center for Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe — Southeast Europe |year=1999 | url = http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/pdf/cedime-se-bulgaria-macedonians.PDF | format = pdf | accessmonthday = [[July 24]] | accessyear= [[2006]]}}</ref> "[[Mala Prespa and Golo Brdo]]" (in [[Albania]]),<ref name="Albania">{{cite web| url= http://www.florina.org/html/2003/2003_osce_albania.html | title=Rainbow — Vinozhito political party | work=The Macedonian minority in Albania | accessmonthday = [[July 22]]| accessyear= [[2006]]}}</ref> and ''"[[Gora (region)|Gora]] and [[Prohor Pchinski]]"'' (in [[Serbia]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.makedonija.info/info.html|title=Makedonija — General Information|accessmonthday = [[July 22]]|accessyear=[[2006]]}}</ref>

[[Macedonians (Greek)|Greek Macedonians]], [[Bulgarians]], [[Albanians]] and [[Serbs]] form the overwhelming majority of the population of each part of the region respectively.

Schoolbooks and official government publications in the Republic have shown the country as part of an unliberated whole.<ref name=MkTimes>''The Macedonian Times'', semi-governmental monthly periodical, Issue number 23, July-August 1996:14, Leading article: Bishop Tsarknjas</ref><ref name=Booklets>''Facts About the Republic of Macedonia'' - annual booklets since 1992, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Secretariat of Information, Second edition, 1997, ISBN 9989-42-044-0. p.14. [[2 August]] [[1944]].</ref><ref name=MIA>[http://www.mia.com.mk MIA (Macedonian Information Agency)], ''[http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:bV_xiNmQMRYJ:205.217.154.67/world/macedonia+MACEDONIA+MARKS+30TH+ANNIVERSARY+OF+DIMITAR+MITREV'S+DEATH&hl=en&gl=gr&ct=clnk&cd=1&lr=lang_en Macedonia marks 30th anniversary of Dimitar Mitrev's death]'', Skopje, [[February 24]] [[2006]]</ref><ref name=UKMKemb>{{cite web| url= http://www.macedonianembassy.org.uk/history.html | title= Official site of the Embassy of the Republic of Macedonia in London | work= An outline of Macedonian history from Ancient times to 1991 | accessmonthday = [[October 19]] | accessyear=[[2006]] }}</ref>
{{clear}}

===Self-determination===
[[Image:Apogevmatini Macedonians.gif|thumb|250px|right|[[Apogevmatini]] headline quoting [[Kostas Karamanlis]]:<br>"I am a Macedonian, as are two and a half million Greeks."]]
{{seealso|Macedonians (Greek)|Greek Struggle for Macedonia|Demographic history of Macedonia}}

According to both the official Greek position<ref name=GrFA /> and various public manifestations in Greece<ref>Liotta, P. H. and Simons, A. ''[http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/parameters/98winter/liotta.htm Thicker than Water? Kin, Religion, and Conflict in the Balkans]'', from ''Parameters'', Winter 1998, pp. 11-27.</ref> and the [[Greek diaspora]],<ref name="theaustralianpeople">[[James Jupp|Jupp, J.]] ''The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins'', [[Cambridge University Press]], October 1, 2001. ISBN 0-521-80789-1, p. 147.</ref> the [[Macedonians (Greek)|Greek Macedonians]] feel that their right to [[self-determination]] is violated by what they regard as the monopolisation of their name by a neighbouring country.

The strong regional identity of the Macedonians was emphasized by the [[List of Prime Ministers of Greece|Prime Minister of Greece]], [[Kostas Karamanlis]], who in January 2007 during a meeting of the [[Council of Europe]] in [[Strasbourg]] declared that:

{{quotation|
I myself am a Macedonian, and another two and a half million Greeks are Macedonians.<ref>[http://news.ert.gr/en/1/22936.asp ERT online] ''Stark message to Skopje'', [[2007-01-24]]. Retrieved on [[2007-01-25]]</ref>
}}

In Greece, the extreme position on the issue suggests that there must be "no Macedonia in the title" of a neighbouring country.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.e-grammes.gr/article.php?id=717 | title=Ελληνικές Γραμμές (Hellenic lines - official site of the LA.O.S. party) | work= Η Μακεδονία είναι μόνο Ελληνική (Macedonia is only Greek) | accessmonthday= December 27 |accessyear= 2006}}</ref>

Professor Danforth reports:

{{quotation|
From the Greek nationalist perspective, then, the use of the name "Macedonian" by the "Slavs of Skopje" constitutes a "felony", an "act of plagiarism" against the Greek people. By calling themselves "Macedonians" the Slavs are "stealing" a Greek name; they are "embezzling" Greek cultural heritage; they are "falsifying" Greek history. As Evangelos Kofos, a historian employed by the Greek Foreign Ministry told a foreign reporter, "It is as if a robber came into my house and stole my most precious jewels - my history, my culture, my identity".<ref name=Danforth />
}}

More moderate positions suggest that a disambiguating element should be added to the name of the neighbouring state and its people (notably Slav- or Vardar or New), so as to illustrate the distinction between not just the two, but all groups of self-identifying [[Macedonian]]s.<ref name=GrFA />

{{clear}}

===Semiological confusion===
{| class="infobox bordered" style="width: 345px; font-size: 95%; float: right;" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"
| height=35px; colspan="2" border="0" style="color:#fff; background:#669; font-size:larger; font-weight: bold;" align="center" | <big>Demographic Macedonia</big>
|-
| '''[[Macedonians]]'''&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>c. 5 million || <small>All inhabitants of the region, irrespective of ethnicity</small>
|-
| [[Macedonians (ethnic group)|Macedonians]]<br><small>c. 1.3 million plus diaspora<ref name= census-mk>{{cite web| url=http://www.stat.gov.mk/pdf/kniga_13.pdf | title= State Statistical Office of the Republic of Macedonia| work= 2002 census| language=English | format=pdf | pages=34 |accessmonthday = [[July 21]]| accessyear=[[2006]]}}</ref></small> || <small>A contemporary ethnic group, also referred to as ''Slavomacedonians'' or ''Macedonian Slavs''<ref>{{cite web| title=MSN Encarta | work=Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761555941/Macedonia_Former_Yugoslav_Republic_of.html#p6| accessmonthday = [[September 9]]|accessyear=[[2006]]}}</ref>
|-
| Macedonians<br><small>c. 2.0 million<ref name= census-mk /><small/>|| <small>Citizens of the [[Republic of Macedonia]] irrespective of ethnicity</small>
|-
| [[Macedonians (Greek)|Macedonians]]<br><small>c. 2.6 million plus diaspora<ref census-gr> {{el icon}} {{cite web| url= http://www.statistics.gr/gr_tables/S1101_SAP_01_TB_DC_01_02_Y.zip | title= General Secretariat of National Statistical Service of Greece | work= 2001 census | format = zip xls | accessmonthday = [[July 21]] | accessyear= [[2006]]}}</ref></small> || <small>A [[Greeks|Greek]] regional group, also referred to as ''Greek Macedonians'' or ''Aegean Macedonians''.
|-
| [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonians]]<br><small>(unknown population)</small> || <small>A group of antiquity</small>
|-
| Macedonians<br><small>c. 0.3 million<ref census-bg> {{bg icon}} {{cite web| url=http://www.nsi.bg/Census/Ethnos.htm | title=National Statistical Institute (of Bulgaria) | work= 2001 census | accessmonthday = August, 3 | accessyear= 2006 }}</ref></small>|| <small>A [[Bulgarians|Bulgarian]] regional group;<ref name=bcb>{{cite web| url=http://www.diversitybulgaria.org/en/materials.php?sub=36| title=British Council — Bulgaria | work= Macedonians of Bulgaria | accessmonthday = [[September 11]] | accessyear=[[2006]]}}</ref> also referred to as ''[[Pirin]]ers''.</small>
|-
| [[Aromanians|Macedo-Romanians]]<br><small>c. 0.3 million<ref name= Macedo-Romanians>{{cite web| url= http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=rup | title= Ethnologue | work= Report for Macedo-Romanian language | accessyear=2006 | accessmonthday = August, 3 }}<br><sup>*</sup>The figure includes Aromanians in all countries.</ref><sup>*</sup></small> || <small>An alternative name for [[Aromanians]]</small>
|}

{{main|Macedonia (terminology)}}
The contemporary [[Macedonia (region)|region of Macedonia]] is a wider region in the [[Balkan peninsula]] that spans across several modern states, mainly Greece (Greek [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]]), Bulgaria ([[Blagoevgrad province]]), the Republic of Macedonia (formerly [[Vardar Macedonia]]), and [[Albania]] (around [[Lake Ohrid]]). The definite borders of the region are vague, but most contemporary geographers agree on its general location.<ref name= wilkinson>{{cite book | last = Wilkinson| first =H. R.| title = Maps and Politics; a review of the ethnographic cartography of Macedonia| url = http://worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/oclc/244268?tab=holdings| year = 1951| publisher = Liverpool University Press| location = Liverpool | id= {{LCC|DR701.M3|W5}} | pages = pp.1-4}}</ref> There are several ethnic groups in this region, mostly living within their respective states, all of which are technically [[Macedonians]] in the regional sense. The Republic itself, has a substantial minority (25.2%) of ethnic [[Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia|Albanians]] who are "Macedonians" both in the regional sense, and as legal citizens of the Republic.<ref name= census-mk /><ref name= mkconst>{{cite web| url=http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/mk00000_.html | title=International Constitutional Law | work= Macedonia — Constitution |accessmonthday = [[July 20]] | accessyear=[[2006]] |language= English translation}}</ref>

The Greek position suggests that the ''monopolization'' of the name by the Republic and its citizens creates semiological confusion, as it becomes increasingly difficult to disambiguate which "Macedonia", which "Macedonians" and what "Macedonian language" are referred to in each occasion.

[[Bulgarians]] living in [[Blagoevgrad province]] ([[Bulgarian Macedonia]]) are reported to not identify themselves with their regional term "Macedonians", so as not to be confused with the [[ethnic Macedonians]].<ref name=bcb />

[[Macedo-Romanians]] ([[Aromanians]]) are often called "Machedoni" by Romanians, as opposed to the citizens of Macedonia, who are called "Macedoneni".

The Greek [[Macedonians (Greek)|Macedonians]] demonstrate a strong regional identity and identify themselves as plain Macedonians, who live in plain [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]], speaking a [[Macedonian dialect]] of modern Greek.

==Ethnic Macedonian position==
===Self-determination and self-identification===
Skopje rejects many of Athens' objections due to what it sees as several errors in the Greek claims.

According to the government in Skopje, the preservation of the constitutional name both for domestic and international use is of utmost importance. The country asserts that it does not lay exclusive claim to the term ''Macedonia'' either in the geographic or the historic sense.<ref name="OfficialMk">''[http://www.president.gov.mk/info_e.asp?SectionID=5&InfoID=1564 Annual address of the President of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Branko Crvenkovski in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia]'', on [[2005-12-22]], Retrieved on [[2007-05-11]].</ref> Various demonstrations and protests in the [[Republic of Macedonia]]<ref>{{cite web | title= Eurominority | work= Macedonians protest Concil of Europe decision on their Country's name | accessdate= 2007-01-02 | url= http://www.eurominority.org/version/fra/reports-detail.asp?id_actualite=558}}</ref> and the ethnic Macedonian diaspora, the [[ethnic Macedonians]] feel that their right to self-determination is violated by what they regard as the rejection of the name from the Greeks and their country. The Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences suggests:

{{Quotation|
And today Slavs have been living there (Macedonia) for a period of 1,400 years. What is more natural than that the Balkanized Slavs who have lived so long and continuously in Macedonia should be called Macedonians and their language Macedonian"<ref>Council for Research into South-Eastern Europe of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Skopje, 1993 </ref>}}

It should be noted, however, that the Slavs inhabited Macedonia for more than a millennium before the name "Macedonians" was first used to distinguish a specific Slavic ethnic group by a small number of intellectuals towards the end of the nineteenth century.<ref>Danforth, L. (1995) ''The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World'' p. 56-77 ISBN 0691043574 </ref> They also dismiss the idea that they are depriving Greek Macedonians of an identity and falsifying history, as the northern Greeks are free to call themselves such.{{Fact|date=November 2007}} Their views are outlined below.

===Historical perspective===
From a historical perspective, Macedonian Slav scholars blame Greece for claiming ownership over an ancient kingdom which, in their view, was not Greek, claiming historical studies propose there was a considerable degree of political and cultural distance between ancient Greeks and Macedonians. This view contrasts sharply with that of Greek authors, who point to historical data seen as evidence that ancient Macedonians identified as Greeks and spoke Greek. A minority of Slav Macedonian scholars have attempted to show that ancient Macedonians were Slavic-speaking, a theory rejected by virtually all mainstream scholars, including mainstream Slav scholars. Most neutral scholars maintain that the [[ancient Macedonian language]] had an uncertain degree of affiliation to Greek. According to more moderate views, the ethnic Macedonian claim to continuity with ancient Macedonia would be based on the idea that there was symbiosis and assimilation between whatever original Macedonian people and culture remained and the new Slavic tribes, who arrived in the Balkans long after ancient Macedonia had ceased to exist as a political entity and been absorbed into the common Greek culture of the [[Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic]] era.<ref> The Balkans, From Constantinople to Communism. D P Hupchik </ref><ref>The new Cambridge Medieval History. Paul Fouracre</ref>

=== The ethnic Macedonian minority in Greece ===
{{main|Aegean Macedonians| Minorities in Greece#Slavic-speaking|ethnic Macedonians}}

In the 6th and 7th centuries AD [[Slavic languages|Slavic]]-speaking populations came into northern Greece and the ethnic composition of the wider [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia region]],<ref name="Britannica-Macedonia">Macedonia. (2006). In ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved June 16, 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service: [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=4411]</ref> and Slavic languages have been spoken in the area alongside [[Greek language|Greek]] in the region ever since. In parts of northern Greece, in the regions of [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]] (Μακεδονία) and [[Western Thrace|Thrace]] (Θράκη), Slavonic languages continue to be spoken by people with a wide range of self-identifications. The actual linguistic classification of these dialects is unclear, although most linguists will classify them as either [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] or [[Macedonian language|Macedonian Slavic]] taking into account numerous factors, including the resemblance and mutual intelligibility of each dialect to the standard languages (''[[abstand]]''), and the self-identification of the speakers themselves. As however the vast majority of these people don't have a non-Greek national identity, linguists will make their decisions based on ''abstand'' alone. The Slavic-speaking minority of northern Greece can be divided in to two main groups: [[Christianity|Christians]] and [[Islam|Muslims]]. The latter has no reported connection to ethnic Macedonians.

The Christian portion of Greece's Slavic-speaking minority are commonly referred to as ''Slavophones'' (from the Greek Σλαβόφωνοι ''Slavophōnoi<!--Standard [[ALA-LC Romanization]]-->'' - lit. Slavic-speakers) or ''Dopii'', which means "locals" in Greek. The vast majority of them espouse a Greek national identity and are bilingual in Greek. They live mostly in the [[West Macedonia|Periphery of Western Macedonia]] and belong to the [[Church of Greece|Greek Orthodox Church]], which in conjunction with the [[Millet (Ottoman Empire)|''millet'']] system of the [[Ottoman Empire]] which occupied the region until 1913, may explain their self-identification as Greeks. In the 1951 census, 41,017 people claimed to speak the [[Slavic language (Greece)|Slavic language]]. One unofficial estimate for 2000 puts their number at 1.8% of the Greek population, that is c.200,000.<ref>''Encyclopedia Britannica'', [http://www.britannica.com/new-multimedia/pdf/wordat077.pdf World Data Greece]. Called "Macedonians" in this source.</ref>

This group has received some attention in recent years due to claims from the [[Republic of Macedonia]] that these people form an [[Macedonians (ethnic group)|''ethnic Macedonian'']] minority in Greece. Some organisations and academics have stated that there is a minority within the [[Minorities in Greece#Slavic-speaking|Slavophone community in Greece]] which self-identifies as [[ethnic Macedonian]].<ref name=GHM>{{cite web | url= http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/pdf/rainbow-english.pdf | title= Greek Helsinki Monitor | work= Greece against its Macedonian minority The "Rainbow" trial | accessdate= 2007-01-02|format=PDF}}</ref><ref>Hill, P. (1999) "Macedonians in Greece and Albania: A Comparative study of recent developments". ''Nationalities Papers'' Volume 27, Number 1, 1 March 1999, pp. 17-30(14)</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Eurominority |work=Macedonians in Greece | accessdate= 2007-01-02 | url= http://www.eurominority.org/version/eng/minority-detail.asp?id_minorites=gr-mace}}</ref><ref name="Danforth">Danforth, L. (1995) ''The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World'' ISBN 0691043574</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=The Guardian |work=Bittersweet return for Greek civil war's lost victims | accessdate= 2007-01-02 | url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1064683,00.html}}</ref><ref name=shea />

There is a dispute over the size of this alleged minority, with some Greeks denying it outright, and most ethnic Macedonians inflating the numbers substantially. The [[Greek Helsinki Monitor]] reports that, "difficult and therefore risky it is to declare a Macedonian minority identity in such an extremely hostile if not aggressive environment in Greece".<ref name=GHM /> There are no official statistics to confirm or deny either claims. The Greek government has thus far refused on the basis that there is no significant such community and that the idea of minority status is not popular amongst the (Greek identifying) linguistic community of northern Greece as it would have the effect of them being marginalized.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.florina.org/html/2005/2005_greece_lies_to_coe.html| title=Rainbow — Vinozhito political party |work= Greek Diplomats and Members of the Greek Parliament Lie to the Council of Europe| accessdate= 2007-01-02}}</ref>

Professor Danforth reports:

{{quotation|
...Finally, the Greek government denies the existence of a Macedonian minority in northern Greece, claiming that there exists only a small group of "Slavophone Hellenes" or "bilingual Greeks," who speak Greek and "a local Slavic dialect" but have a "Greek national consciousness".<ref name=Danforth />
}}

A political party promoting this line and claiming rights of what they describe as the "Macedonian minority in Greece" — the [[Rainbow (political party)|Rainbow]] (Виножито) — was founded in September 1998; it received a minimal support of 2,955 votes in the region of [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]] in the latest elections (2004).<ref>{{cite web| title=Ministry of Interiors, Greece |work= 2004 Election results |accessdate= 2007-01-03 | url=http://www.ypes.gr/ekloges/content/gr/elec_data/2004UE_epi_res.asp |language=Greek}}</ref>

==Macedonian language==
{{main|Macedonian language naming dispute}}

===Macedonian (Slavic)===
The name of the [[Macedonian language]] ([[Macedonian language|Macedonian]]: македонски јазик - ''makedonski jazik'') as used by the people and defined in the constitution of the [[Republic of Macedonia]] is "Macedonian" ([[Macedonian language|Macedonian]]: македонски - ''makedonski'').<ref>[http://www.b-info.com/places/Macedonia/republic/Constitution.shtml Republic of Macedonia - Constitution]</ref> This is also the name used by international bodies, such as the [[United Nations]]<ref>[http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UNTC/UNPAN018344.pdf Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights - FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION - OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission - Final Report]</ref> and the [[World Health Organisation]].<ref>[http://www.who.int/entity/occupational_health/network/en/oehcompendium.pdf World Health Organization - WHO Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data]</ref> The name is also used by convention in the field of [[Slavic Studies]].<ref>Sussex, R. (2006) ''The Slavic Languages'' (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press) ISBN 0-521-22315-6</ref>

However, for historical reasons, as well as due to the conflict with Greece, several other terms for the language remain in use. Some of the names use the family to which the language belongs to disambiguate it from the undoubtedly non-Slavic and entirely different [[ancient Macedonian language]], or from the homonymous [[modern Greek#Varieties|dialect of modern Greek]]; sometimes the autonym "Makedonski" is used in English for the modern Slavic language, with "Macedonian" being reserved for the ancient language.<ref>Joseph, B. (1999) [http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~bjoseph/publications/1999roma.pdf ''Romanian and the Balkans: Some Comparative Perspectives''] In S. Embleton, J. Joseph, & H.-J. Niederehe (eds.) ''The Emergence of the Modern Language Sciences.'' Studies on the Transition from Historical-Comparative to Structural Linguistics in Honour of E.F.K. Koerner. Volume 2: Methodological Perspectives and Applications. Amsterdam: John Benjamins (1999), pp. 218-235</ref>

Affirmation of the separateness of Macedonian as a separate language is an issue of some importance for the ethnic Macedonian self-view.<ref name="Danforth"/> In opposition to this, Bulgarian and Greek critics sometimes continue to insist on treating Macedonian as merely a dialect of Bulgarian, pointing to its close structural affinity, its historically late emergence as a separate standard language, and the political motivation behind its promotion in the mid-20th century.

===Macedonian (modern Greek)===
Macedonian is applied to the present-day Greek dialect spoken by Macedonian Greeks.<ref>{{cite book |language=Greek |last=Ανδριώτης (Andriotis) |first=Νικόλαος Π. (Nikolaos P.) |year=1995 |title=Ιστορία της ελληνικής γλώσσας: (τέσσερις μελέτες) (History of the Greek language: four studies) |publisher=Ίδρυμα Τριανταφυλλίδη |location=Θεσσαλονίκη ([[Thessaloniki]]) |isbn=960-231-058-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Vitti |first=Mario |year=2001 |title=Storia della letteratura neogreca |publisher=Carocci |location=Roma |isbn=88-430-1680-6}}</ref>

===Macedonian (ancient)===
{{Main|Ancient Macedonian language}}

The origins of the [[ancient Macedonian language]] are currently debated. It is as yet undetermined whether it was a [[Ancient Greek dialects|Greek dialect]] which was part of or closely related to the [[Doric Greek|Doric]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Masson |first=Olivier |editor=S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth (eds.) |title=[[Oxford Classical Dictionary|The Oxford Classical Dictionary]] |origyear=1996 |edition=revised 3rd ed. |year=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=USA |isbn=0-19-860641-9 |pages=pg. 905-906}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |authorlink=N.G.L. Hammond |last=Hammond |first=N.G.L. |year=1989 |title=The Macedonian State. Origins, Institutions and History |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-814927-1 |pages=pg. 12-13}}</ref> and/or [[Aeolic Greek|Aeolic]]<ref>{{cite book |language=German |authorlink=Franz Heinrich Ludolf Ahrens |last=Ahrens |first=Franz Heinrich Ludolf |year=1843 |title=De Graecae linguae dialectis |location=Göttingen, 1839-1843}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Hoffmann |first=O. |title=Die Makedonen. Ihre Sprache und ihr Volkstum |location=Göttingen |year=1906 |language=German}}</ref> dialects, a sibling language of [[ancient Greek]] forming a ''Hellenic''<ref name="Joseph">{{cite book |first=B. |last=Joseph |year=2001 |chapter=Ancient Greek |editor=In: J. Garry et al. (eds.) |title=Facts about the world's major languages: an encyclopedia of the world's major languages, past and present |url=http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~bjoseph/articles/gancient.htm}}</ref> (i.e. Greco-Macedonian) supergroup, or an [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] language which was a close cousin to Greek and also related to [[Thracian language|Thracian]] and [[Phrygian language|Phrygian]] languages.<ref>{{cite book |author=[[JP Mallory|Mallory, J.P.]] and Adams, D.Q. (eds.) |year=1997 |title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture |publisher=Taylor & Francis Inc. |isbn=1-884964-98-2 |pages=pg. 361}}</ref> The scientific community generally agrees that, although some sources are available (e.g. [[Hesychius of Alexandria|Hesychius']] lexicon, [[Pella curse tablet]])<ref>{{cite book |language=French |author=Dubois L. |year=1995 |title=Une tablette de malédiction de Pella: s'agit-il du premier texte macédonien? Revue des Études Grecques (REG) |pages=pg. 108:190-197}}</ref> there is no decisive evidence for supporting either hypothesis.<ref>{{cite book |language=French |author=Brixhe C., Panayotou A. |year=1994 |title=Le Macédonien in: Langues indo-européennes |editor=Bader |location=Paris |pages=pg. 205–220}}</ref> Nevertheless, [[Attic Greek]], a form of the [[Greek language]], eventually supplanted it entirely in Macedonia from the 5th Century BC, and ancient Macedonian became extinct during the first few centuries AD. Attic Greek evolved into [[Koine Greek]] and in turn into [[Medieval Greek|Byzantine]] and [[modern Greek]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Brian D. Joseph |url=http://www.ling.ohio-state.edu/~bjoseph/articles/gmodern.htm |title=Greek, Modern |work=Ohio State University, Department of Linguistics}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

==See also==
*[[Macedonia (region)]]
*[[Macedonia (terminology)]]
*[[Macedonian Question]]
*[[List of homonymous States and Regions]]
''<small>Notice: Hyperlinks and emphasis in the quotations appearing in this article were not in the original source being quoted, but are merely used for disambiguation purposes.</small>''

{{Hellenic foreign relations}}

[[Category:Geographical naming disputes]]

{{Link FA|mk}}
[[bg:Спор за името на Република Македония]]
[[de:Streit um den Namen Mazedonien]]
[[fr:Débat autour du nom de la Macédoine]]
[[id:Persengketaan nama Makedonia]]
[[ko:그리스-마케도니아 분쟁]]
[[mk:Спор за името помеѓу Македонија и Грција]]
[[pl:Konflikt grecko-macedoński]]
[[pt:FYROM]]
[[sv:Makedonska namnkonflikten]]

Revision as of 16:15, 10 October 2008

Skateboarders in Beijing, China.
File:Skateboarder Ollies a Gap.png
A skateboarder Ollies a gap.

Skateboarding is the act of riding and performing tricks using a skateboard. A person who skateboards is most often referred to a skateboarder or a skater.

Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an artform, a job, or a method of transportation.[1] Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report by American Sports Data found that there were 18.5 million skateboarders in the world. 85 percent of skateboarders polled who had used a board in the last year were under the age of 18, and 74 percent were male.[2]

Skateboarding is relatively modern. A key skateboarding maneuver, the ollie, was developed in the late 1970s and in the early '80s freestyle skateboarder Rodney Mullen invented the ollie kickflip. [3]

History

The 1940s-1960s

Skateboarding was probably born sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s when surfers in California, wanted something to surf when the waves were flat. No one knows who made the first board, rather, it seems that several people came up with similar ideas at around the same time. These first skateboarders started with wooden boxes or boards with roller skate wheels attached to the bottom. The boxes turned into planks, and eventually companies were producing decks of pressed layers of wood -- similar to the skateboard decks of today. During this time, skateboarding was seen as something to do for fun besides surfing, and was therefore often referred to as "Sidewalk Surfing".

A skateboarder in Nice, France.

The first manufactured skateboards were ordered by a Los Angeles, California surf shop, meant to be used by surfers in their downtime. The shop owner, Bill Richard, made a deal with the Chicago Roller Skate Company to produce sets of skate wheels, which they attached to square wooden boards. Accordingly, skateboarding was originally denoted "sidewalk surfing" and early skaters emulated surfing style and maneuvers. Crate scooters preceded skateboards, and were borne of a similar concept, with the exception of having a wooden crate attached to the nose (front of the board), which formed rudimentary handlebars.[4]

A number of surfing manufacturers such as Makaha started building skateboards that resembled small surfboards, and assembling teams to promote their products. The popularity of skateboarding at this time spawned a national magazine, Skateboarder Magazine, and the 1965 international championships were broadcast on national television. The growth of the sport during this period can also be seen in sales figures for Makaha, which quoted $10 million worth of board sales between 1963 and 1965 (Weyland, 2002:28). Yet by 1966 the sales had dropped significantly (ibid) and Skateboarder Magazine had stopped publication. The popularity of skateboarding dropped and remained low until the early 1970s. [4][5]

The 1970s

In the early 1970s, Frank Nasworthy started to develop a skateboard wheel made of polyurethane, calling it the 'Cadillac', as he hoped this would convey the fat ride it afforded the rider.[4] The improvement in traction and performance was so immense that from the wheel's release in 1972 the popularity of skateboarding started to rise rapidly again, causing companies to invest more in product development. Many companies started to manufacture trucks (axles) especially designed for skateboarding, reached in 1976 by Tracker Trucks. As the equipment became more maneuverable, the decks started to get wider, reaching widths of 10 inches (250 mm) and over, thus giving the skateboarder even more control. Banana board is a term used to describe skateboards made of polypropylene that were skinny, flexible, with ribs on the underside for structural support and very popular during the mid-1970s. They were available in myriad colors, bright yellow probably being the most memorable, hence the name.

Manufacturers started to experiment with more exotic composites and metals, like fiberglass and aluminium, but the common skateboards were made of maple plywood. The skateboarders took advantage of the improved handling of their skateboards and started inventing new tricks. Skateboarders, most notably Ty Page, Bruce Logan, Bobby Piercy, Kevin Reed, and the Z-Boys (so-called because of their local Zephyr surf shop) started to skate the vertical walls of swimming pools that were left empty in the 1976 California drought. This started the vert trend in skateboarding. With increased control, vert skaters could skate faster and perform more dangerous tricks, such as slash grinds and frontside/backside airs. This caused liability concerns and increased insurance costs to skatepark owners, and the development (first by Norcon,then more successfully by Rector) of improved knee pads that had a hard sliding cap and strong strapping proved to be too-little-too-late. During this era, the "freestyle" movement in skateboarding began to splinter off and develop into a much more specialized discipline, characterized by the development of a wide assortment of flat-ground tricks.

As a result of the "vert" skating movement, skate parks had to contend with high-liability costs that led to many park closures. In response, vert skaters started making their own ramps, while freestyle skaters continued to evolve their flatland style. Thus by the beginning of the 1980s, skateboarding had once again fallen into obscurity. [5]

The 1980s

A skateboarder "Ollies" over a rubbish bin.

This period was fuelled by skateboard companies that were run by skateboarders. The focus was initially on vert ramp skateboarding. The invention of the no-hands aerial (later known as the ollie) by Alan Gelfand in Florida in 1976[6] and the almost parallel development of the grabbed aerial by George Orton and Tony Alva in California in had made it possible for skaters to perform airs on vertical ramps. While this wave of skateboarding was sparked by commercialized vert ramp skating, a majority of people who skateboarded during this period never rode vert ramps. Because most people couldn't afford to build vert ramps or didn't have access to nearby ramps, street skating gained popularity. Freestyle skating remained healthy throughout this period with pioneers such as Rodney Mullen inventing the many of the basic tricks of modern street skating such as the Impossible and the kickflip. The influence freestyle had on street skating became apparent during the mid-eighties, but street skating was still performed on wide vert boards with short noses, slide rails, and large soft wheels. Skateboarding, however, evolved quickly in the late 1980s to accommodate the street skater. Since few skateparks were available to skaters at this time, street skating pushed skaters to seek out shopping centres and public and private property as their "spot" to skate. Public opposition, and the threat of lawsuits, forced businesses and property owners to ban skateboarding on their property[citation needed]. By 1992, only a small fraction of skateboarders remained as a highly technical version of street skating, combined with the decline of vert skating, produced a sport that lacked the mainstream appeal to attract new skaters.

The 1990s to Present

The current generation of skateboards is dominated by street skating. Most boards are about 7¼ to 8 inches wide and 30 to 32 inches long. The wheels are made of an extremely hard polyurethane, with hardness(durometer) approximately 99a. The wheel sizes are relatively small so that the boards are lighter, and the wheel's inertia is overcome quicker, thus making tricks more manageable. Board styles have changed dramatically since the 1970s but have remained mostly alike since the mid 1990s. The contemporary shape of the skateboard is derived from the freestyle boards of the 1980s with a largely symmetrical shape and relatively narrow width. This form had become standard by the mid '90s.

Go Skateboarding Day was created in 2004 by a group of skateboarding companies to promote skateboarding and help make it more noticeable to the world. It is celebrated every year on June 21st.

Trick skating

See Skateboarding trick for detailed descriptions of maneuvers
A skater performs a switch kickflip off a stairset.

With the evolution of skateparks and ramp skating, the skateboard began to change. Early skate tricks had consisted mainly of two-dimensional manoeuvres like riding on only two wheels ("wheelie" or "manual"), spinning only on the back wheels (a "pivot"), high jumping over a bar and landing on the board again, also known as a "hippie jump", long jumping from one board to another (often over small barrels or fearless teenagers) or slalom.

In 1976, skateboarding was transformed by the invention of the ollie by Alan "Ollie" Gelfand. It remained largely a unique Florida trick until the summer of 1978, when Gelfand made his first visit to California. Gelfand and his revolutionary manoeuvre caught the attention of the West Coast skaters and the media where it began to spread worldwide. The ollie was adapted to flat ground by Rodney Mullen in 1982. Mullen also invented the "Magic Flip", which was later renamed the Kickflip, as well many other tricks including, the 360 Kickflip, which is a 360 pop shove it and a kickflip in the same motion. The flat ground ollie allowed skateboarders to perform tricks in mid-air without any more equipment than the skateboard itself, it has formed the basis of many street skating tricks.

Culture

Skateboarding was, at first, tied to the culture of surfing. As skateboarding spread across the United States to places unfamiliar with surfing or surfing culture, it developed an image of its own. For example, the classic film short Video Days (1991) portrayed skateboarders as reckless rebels.

The image of the skateboarder as a rebellious, non-conforming youth has faded in recent years[citation needed]. Certain cities still oppose the building skateparks in their neighbourhoods, for fear of increased crime and drugs in the area. The rift between the old image of skateboarding and a newer one is quite visible: magazines such as Thrasher portray skateboarding as dirty, rebellious, and still firmly tied to punk, while other publications, Transworld Skateboarding as an example, paint a more diverse, and controlled picture of skateboarding. Furthermore, as more professional skaters use hip hop, reggae, or hard rock music accompaniment in their videos, many urban youths, hip-hop fans, reggae fans, and hard rock fans are also drawn to skateboarding, further diluting the sport's punk image.[7][8]

Films such as Grind and Lords Of Dogtown, have helped improve the reputation of skateboarding youth[citation needed], depicting individuals of this subculture as having a positive outlook on life, prone to poking harmless fun at each other, and engaging in healthy sportsman's competition. According to the film, lack of respect, egotism and hostility towards fellow skateboarders is generally frowned upon, albeit each of the characters (and as such, proxies of the "stereotypical" skateboarder) have a firm disrespect for authority and for rules in general. Group spirit is supposed to heavily influence the members of this community. In presentations of this sort, showcasing of criminal tendencies is absent, and no attempt is made to tie extreme sports to any kind of illegal activity[citation needed].

Gleaming the Cube, a 1989 movie starring Christian Slater as a skateboarding teen investigating the death of his adopted Vietnamese brother was somewhat of an iconic landmark to the skateboarding genre of the era[citation needed]. Many well-known skaters had cameos in the film, including Tony Hawk.

Skateboarding video games have also become very popular in skateboarding culture[citation needed]. Some of the most popular are Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, and Skate. for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 platforms.

Skateboarding as a form of transportation

The use of skateboards solely as a form of transportation is often associated with the longboard[citation needed]. Depending on local laws, using skateboards as a form of transportation outside residential areas may or may not be legal. Backers cite portability, exercise, and environmental friendliness as some of the benefits of skateboarding as an alternative to automobiles.

Skateboards, along with other small-wheeled transportation such as in-line skates and scooters, suffer a safety caveat where riders may easily be thrown from small cracks and outcroppings in pavement, especially where the cracks run perpendicular to the direction of travel. However, high average travel speeds help mitigate this; injuries are more likely to be minor[citation needed], although very uncommon, head injuries still pose a major health risk.

Miscellaneous

File:Usmcskateboard.jpg
LCPL Chad Codwell of Charlie Company 1st Battalion 5th Marines carries a skateboard during military exercise Urban Warrior '99

Skateboard ban in Norway

The use, ownership and sale of skateboards were forbidden in Norway, during the period between 1978 and 1989. The ban was said to be due to the perceived high number of injuries caused by boards. The ban led skateboarders to construct ramps in the forest and other secluded areas to avoid the police.[9]

Military experimentation in the United States

The United States Marine Corps tested the usefulness of commercial off-the-shelf skateboards during urban combat military exercises in the late 1990s in a program called Urban Warrior '99. Their special purpose was "for maneuvering inside buildings in order to detect tripwires and sniper fire".[10][11]

Notes

  1. ^ Ocean Howell, Topic Magazine. "Extreme Market Research". Retrieved 2006-12-13.
  2. ^ John Fetto. "Your Questions Answered - statistics about skateboarders". Retrieved 2006-12-13.
  3. ^ Steve Cave, about.com. "Skateboarding: A Brief History (page 2)". Retrieved 2006-12-13.
  4. ^ a b c "Skateboarding: A Brief History (page 1)". Retrieved 2007-09-01.
  5. ^ a b "Skateboarding History". Retrieved 2007-09-02.
  6. ^ Snyder, Craig Gasbag, Transworld Skateboarding Magazine (October 2005, p. 44)
  7. ^ "Team Ice Cream Skate Video". Retrieved 2007-01-07.
  8. ^ "Roots, Rock, Reggae, Skateboarding". Retrieved 2003-07-23.
  9. ^ "Criminals on wheels". Retrieved 2006-12-13.
  10. ^ "Defense Visual Information Center database / US Department of Defense". Retrieved 2006-12-30.
  11. ^ "The Role of Experimentation in Building Future Naval Forces (2004), Naval Studies Board". Retrieved 2006-12-30.

Further reading and information

  • Borden, Iain. (2001). Skateboarding, Space and the City: Architecture and the Body. Oxford: Berg.
  • Hocking, Justin, Jeffrey Knutson and Jared Maher (Eds.). (2004). Life and Limb: Skateboarders Write from the Deep End. New York: Soft Skull Press.
  • Weyland, Jocko. (2002). The Answer is Never: a History and Memoir of Skateboarding. New York: Grove Press.
  • Hawk, Tony and Mortimer, Sean. (2000). Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder. New York: HarperCollins.
  • Thrasher Magazine. (2001). Thrasher: Insane Terrain. New York: Universe.
  • Brooke, Michael (1999) The Concrete Wave - the History of Skateboarding. Warwick Publishing
  • Mullen, Rodney and Mortimer, Sean (2003). The Mutt
  • Skateboard Kings, a 1978 documentary on skateboarding
  • SkateSpotter, a directory of skate spots

External links