New Faces of the Balkan Left: Tsipras and Zaev Show the Way for Other Politicians

By Haris Ljevo

Greece and Macedonia, or rather the prime ministers of these countries Alexis Tsipras and Zoran Zaev, reached an agreement on the name of Macedonia on Tuesday after a 27-year dispute. The new name will be the Republic of North Macedonia.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras previously announced that an agreement had been reached with Macedonia on the name of the former Yugoslav republic, and a little later his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev announced that the new name of the country is “Republic of North Macedonia”.

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said in an address to the nation that a final solution had been reached after a decades-long dispute. The agreement will be formalized this weekend, most likely on Saturday.

The dispute over the name Macedonia had been a stumbling block in the relations between the two countries since 1991 when Macedonia seceded from the former Yugoslavia, declaring independence under the name the Republic of Macedonia.

The dispute hindered Macedonia’s attempts to join the European Union and NATO in a region where the two organizations are vying for influence with Russia.

The very rise to power of these two politicians of a younger generation, unburdened by the past, ready to seriously tackle all challenges and problems, heralded some better days on the Balkan political scene.

It was already clear last year that relations in the region would improve when Zoran Zaev paid an official visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Zaev’s visit to Sarajevo showed that a change of government in one country can mean a huge step forward for a country’s progress and the creation of good relations between two countries.

Although Macedonia and BiH shared a common political, cultural, economic, sports, and all other destinies for many years during the former Yugoslavia, cooperation between the two countries has been minimal since gaining independence. It seems that things are starting to move in an upward direction only with Zaev coming to power in Macedonia.

And it is not just about the relationship between Macedonia and BiH, but about the overall relations in the region among all former Yugoslav republics. Macedonia, unlike other countries formed after the breakup of Yugoslavia, did not have a “real war”; it had conflicts with Albanian separatists in 2001, but since gaining independence, it has gone through all the same transitional problems as other former Yugoslav republics.

Macedonia, especially during the rule of Nikola Gruevski, faced rising nationalism in the country, tensions were constantly high, problems with its neighbor Greece over the disputed name of the country, interference from foreign factors, namely Russia, related to Macedonia’s entry into the EU and NATO, and scandals involving wiretapping journalists and opposition members, all culminating in the riots in April last year in the Sobranie building, where Zoran Zaev himself was injured.

However, with the departure of Nikola Gruevski’s nationalist government and the rise to power of social democrat Zoran Zaev, things have improved for Macedonia and its citizens in a very short time, especially for the numerous national minorities living in the country.

Zaev’s government today includes ministers from Albanian national parties, and immediately after taking office as prime minister, Zaev established relations with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, also a socialist, with the aim of establishing friendly relations with its closest neighbor. European media at the time wrote that if Zaev and Tsipras had come to power in their countries twenty years ago, there would be no open issues between Greeks and Macedonians today, and the issue of Macedonia’s name would have been resolved long ago.

Zaev, in many ways, is reminiscent of the Greek prime minister who was once considered a true European political star, especially among the younger European population, due to his sincere fight for the rights of ordinary workers and his clashes with representatives of the IMF, world banks, and other financial institutions.

Unlike former Greek Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis, who socialized with Karadžić and Slobodan Milošević in Pale during the war, Alexis Tsipras publicly condemned the fascist behavior of Greek fans two years ago after their chants of “Knife, wire, Srebrenica” during a match between Greece and BiH.

A similar parallel can be drawn between Nikola Gruevski and Zoran Zaev. One represents the dark past, while the other undoubtedly represents a bright future. A future from which not only Macedonia but the entire region could benefit. Regardless of whether it concerns friendly or economic ties.

Zaev and Tsipras are doing a good job, at least so far, but for a better future and overall progress on the political map of the Balkans, and even the wider region of Southeast Europe, several more young and capable people like them need to emerge.

For years, politicians from Western Europe have lectured people in the Balkans on democracy, often considering them inferior to themselves. Times are clearly changing. Western Europe is currently facing a serious rise in the right and nationalism, Islamophobia is also seriously increasing, and the attitude towards refugees has never been worse...

On the other hand, Balkan countries, especially Greece, have passed a serious maturity test when it comes to their attitude towards refugees. If the right-wing were in power in Greece instead of Tsipras, as in some other European countries, the attitude towards refugees, especially in the difficult economic situation Greece finds itself in, would undoubtedly be the same as in Croatia, Hungary, or some other countries.

Despite all the problems faced by the current left in most European countries, their attitude towards fundamental life issues and human rights is what distinguishes the left from the right.

Zaev and Tsipras are the best examples of this claim.