Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras arrives at the European Council summit in Brussels on March 22. (Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
ARGUMENT
Alexis Tsipras Deserves the Nobel Peace Prize
Greece's prime minister, together with his partner in Macedonia, has created a model for solving identity clashes across the globe.
BY EDWARD P. JOSEPH | JUNE 15, 2018, 3:06 PM
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras arrives at the European Council summit in Brussels on March 22. (Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras arrives at the European Council summit in Brussels on March 22. (Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
The two leaders who deserve the Nobel Peace Prize did not meet this week in Singapore. Instead, they will meet Sunday on the banks of a clear, freshwater lake that borders Greece, Macedonia, and Albania. Prime Ministers Alexis Tsipras of Greece and Zoran Zaev of Macedonia — a country on track to be known formally as North Macedonia — will sign an agreement to resolve the bitter decades-long conflict over Macedonia’s name.
In fact, the deal does much more than that. It creates a model for addressing identity clashes that drive conflict not only in the Balkans but across the globe. A stinging rebuke to Russia and to its populist cronies in Europe, the agreement injects a timely boost of confidence in the European Union and the entire Western project for the Balkans. The agreement still faces stiff opposition from nationalists in both countries who have assailed their respective leader as a traitor. To avoid that outcome, it’s urgent that Tsipras and Zaev gain not just support, but worldwide acclaim.
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