Greek FM: FYROM's road to NATO hinges on name dispute

[Draco]

Greek FM: FYROM's road to NATO hinges on name dispute (http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/newsbriefs/2007/10/08/nb-01)

08/10/2007

ATHENS, Greece -- Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis told the daily Eleftherotypia on Sunday (October 7th) that she expects UN envoy Matthew Nimitz to launch initiatives to settle the name dispute between FYROM and Greece. "Greece is ready to look for a mutually acceptable solution that will be in the interest of the region's stability and prosperity. Now is the time for it," Bakoyannis told Eleftherotypia. "FYROM road to NATO passes through an agreement with Greece over its name."

In addition, Bakoyannis noted that Greece sees an opening in efforts to settle the country's differences with Turkey. "Greece and Turkey have two new governments, and currently face a great opportunity to resolve their problems," she said. (MIA, Eleftherotypia, Focus - 07/10/07)
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com

[Vasiliye]

Hopefully Greece shall block FYROM.Frankly, I would like that not only it is a just way to exercise pressure on this statelet in order for to correct its policy of usurpation of foreign people's cultural memory, symbols and land but because faced with internal security crises it may reorientate itself towards Russia a little bit.That would improve ties with Serbia and at the same time FYROM could seek to improve its relationships with Bulgaria, outside NATO/EU on a one-to-one basis.

For the most radical change, i.e. the internal revolt against the ideology of Pseudomacedonism, it will take larger efforts and more sustained pressure, over years, or perhaps couple of decades.

[Draco]

Frankly, I don't care whose history they claim. Albanians claim Greek history as well (the Molossians and King Pyrrhus for example), there is freedom of speech, this is not a problem in my opinion.

Unlike Albania however, FYROM is rewriting history to make territorial claims they for bizarre reasons seem to believe in. When they call their airports St Paul and Alexander the Great for example, it implies that those people had some immediate connection with FYROM or FYROM's territory. They did not however, they did have a connection with Macedonia (the part in Greece), so when FYROM uses their names how else can one understand it but as a claim to Alexander's birthplace or the places in Macedonia St Paul actually visited (a subtle assertion that those places ought to be part of FYROM). It could have been overlooked if it were just one of the two names, but while I believe in coincidences, I'm not stupid.