The NATO Summit
Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs
Foreign Press Center Briefing
Washington, DC
April 7, 2008
MODERATOR: Good morning, and thank you for coming to the Washington Foreign Press Center this morning. We're extremely pleased to have Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried with us this morning to talk about the aftermath of the NATO summit.
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Hi. Apostolos Zoupaniotis, Alpha Television in Greece. Mr. Secretary, I see many similarities in your negotiating tactics on the name issue and 2004, before the referendum, in Cyprus. And I wonder why you kept pushing in Bucharest for a decision and actually, by doing that, you were taking sides with Skopje, when you knew that Greece would veto it and when you knew that the latest proposal of Nimetz was much worse than the previous one in February 19?
Well, I'm not going to discuss the merits or demerits of the proposal by Ambassador Nimetz. We support the UN process. So does Greece. So does Macedonia. Of course, we thought -- we hoped that there would be an invitation to Macedonia. We said so. That remains our view. I see no reason to apologize for very active American role. We have, as you know, encouraged Skopje to negotiate in good faith. We have encouraged Greece to do the same. We don't take sides. We do -- our side is the side of a resolution on the most favorable terms possible for both sides, mutually acceptable terms. And I'm glad that we have -- that the United States is supporting Nimetz, and we intend to do so in the future.
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Mr. Secretary, I need your attention. A few moments ago, you said specifically, "Ethnic Macedonians" for the first time in history. That means the U.S. Government is recognizing the so-called "Macedonian ethnicity and language."
I don't think it is so-called. Macedonian language exists. Macedonian people exist. It's not – you know, we teach Macedonian at the Foreign Service Institute. We teach Serbian, we teach Croatian, now we teach Bosnian. There's a debate in Montenegro as to Crnogorski Jezik, the Montenegrin language. All languages – and I speak now as – not as a bureaucrat, but as – you know, a former --a lapsed historian. All languages are – you know, are human creations and, you know, they develop over time and become codified. And it's not up to – you know, there is a Macedonian language.
There is also the historic Macedonian province, which is different from the country. And it's important. It's quite clear that the government in Skopje, what we Americans call the Government of Macedonia, has no claims. We recognize the difference between the historic territory of Macedonia, which is, of course, much larger than the current country. And we're involved in the – we are supportive of the Nimetz process on the name to make – to settle this issue.
What about the ethnicity? You mentioned ethnicity.
I'm not – I did – I did mention that. But, you know, this is an issue – you know, it is for people to define themselves, ultimately, I suppose. The ethnicity is – you know, it's just a fact as far as I can tell. The issue of the name is something that is on the table. And this is something to be discussed. I'm not the negotiator and I'm not, certainly, an anthropologist or an ethno-historian.
Aυτές είναι οι επίσημες δηλώσεις τού κυρίου Φριντ....
Καθε ομοιότητα με καθηγητάδες δικούς μας και λοιπούς ´ψευτοκοσμοπολίτες´είναι εντελώς φανταστική...
Τι για Μακεδονικό εθνος λεει,τι για Μακεδονικη γλώσσα(δεν το λέει και στούς Βούλγαρους αυτό να γελάσουν..)...Μπάς και είναι μέλος τού Ουράνιου Τοξου ο Φριντ και δεν το ξέρει???
