Govt Hires Man Opposed to Macedonia�s Use of Its Name

24 January 2006

Walter Schwimer, former Secretary General of the Council of Europe, who in March 2004 recommended to the CoE to use �Slavic� instead of �Macedonian�, arrived to Skopje yesterday, but not to apologize, but as an advisor to the Prime Minister.

For an undisclosed fee, Schwimer will advise Prime Minister Buckovski on the EU accession and promote Macedonia to the Austrian business community.

Walther Schwimer

His internal instructions of March 2004, obligating the CoE to use �Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia� and denotation �citizens of FYROM� for the Macedonians, provoked a series of protest notes and letters to the Council of Europe, while the NGO sector started a mass campaign named Don�t You FYROM Me.

�I don�t understand this decision by Buckovski to name Schwimer as his advisor�, said Vladimir Milcin, Director of the FOSIM and organizer of the Don�t You FYROM Me campaign.

Milcin added that, in his view, were it adamant to have an Austrian advisor, having in mind the Austrian presidency of the EU, Johannes Svoboda would have been much better choice. He couldn�t see how Schwimer would promote Macedonian interests.