Not all Greek

The mania over Alexander is the latest chapter in a long-running feud between Macedonia and Greece. The dispute centres on a basic question: does Macedonia,a country born out of the rubble of the former Yugoslavia,have the right to call itself what it wants? The Greek government refuses to recognize its neighbours constitutional name,the Republic of Macedonia,which it sees as a thinly veiled bid to lay claim to three northern districts known as Greek Macedonia. After Macedonia declared independence in 1991,Greece prevented it from joining the United Nations and imposed an economic blockade.

Greece also vetoed Macedonias bid to join NATO last year and is blocking its admission to the European Union until it changes its name. Macedonian officials said they cannot understand why Greece sees their countrys name as a threat or thinks they have a secret plan to annexe northern Greece.

Its laughable, said Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki. The Macedonian military consists of 8,000 troops and a fleet of eight helicopters. In America,you have a good phrase to describe a confusing situation. You say,Its all Greek to me. Sometimes we say its all Greek to us as well.

Greeks complain that the Republic of Macedonia is stealing their historyand Alexander,born in the city of Pella,located in present-day Greece. The Athens government says there is no question that he was Greek.

This practice is bothering Greece a lot, said Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Yannis Valinakis. It demonstrates Skopjes lack of goodwill and respect.

Under a truce brokered in 1995 by former U.S. secretary of state Cyrus Vance,Macedonia was allowed to join the United Nations on the Greek condition that it refer to itself in multinational institutions as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,or FYROM. Macedonians hate the FYROM label. Although 120 countries,including the United States,recognize it as the Republic of Macedonia,it is still forced to go by FYROM at the UN.

Macedonians say the name of the country is crucial to developing their still wobbly national identity. Ethnic Albanians say they would revolt if the Slavic Republic of Macedonia was the new name because they are not Slavs. Almost nobody wants the Republic of Skopje,which ignores everyone outside the capital.

It is not just Macedonias national identity that is at stake. The Greek government does not recognize ethnic minorities within its own borders,including Macedonian-speaking residents of northern Greece.

Lacking the clout to force Greece to budge,Macedonia has intensified its glorification of Alexander and other ancient heroes,a campaign that critics in Skopje deride as antiquisation.

The country has renamed its national stadium for King Philip II,Alexanders father. Officials also like to needle Greeks that the philosopher Aristotle,who tutored the teenage Alexander,was from the kingdom of Macedonia,not Athens.

Pasko Kuzman,the governments director of cultural heritage,is a driving force behind Macedonias interest in the past. The Greeks are sorry that they are called Greece and not Macedonia, he said. What else can I tell you?