The EU is now united on the FYROM issue - confirmed

[Mygdonia]

Solana: EU solidarity with Athens on 'name issue'

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Monday promised that Greece will enjoy the European Union's full solidarity with respect to the difference with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) over the thorny "name issue", following his meeting in Luxembourg with Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis.

The EU's High Representative for a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) made the statement after meeting Bakoyannis on the sidelines of EU General Affairs Council in Luxembourg.

Commenting on the meeting, Solana said he very constructive talks with the Greek foreign minister and stressed that things have now reached a stage when, in his view, "the time has come to find a solution" to the "name issue".

He forecast that there would be developments in the near future and that the time had come to undertake all efforts in this direction, adding that he would be in contact with the United Nations and its special envoy for the Greece-FYROM dispute.

The top EU official said he would also be having "frank" talks on the name issue with the government in Skopje, in order to make the situation and its urgent nature clear and to outline the time frame that the EU envisaged.

Bakoyannis said she had presented Solana with the "very clear Greek positions" regarding the name issue, while expressing confidence that "all efforts on the part of the EU and Mr. Solana will be made so that there is a solution to the problem that exists with Skopje". She also noted that Greece was counting on the Union's solidarity.

Conversely, she declined to comment on statements made earlier the same day by her FYROM counterpart, Antonio Milososki, while she stressed that "our country's messages in every direction are positive".

Also on Bakoyannis' agenda while in Luxembourg is a meeting with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin and EU Commissioner for enlargement Olli Rehn.

Greece objects to the use of the name 'Macedonia' by FYROM on the grounds that it conceals irredentist ambitions against the large northern Greek province of the same name, Macedonia, which shares a border with FYROM and has access to the northern Aegean Sea. Greeks also object to what they view as historically misleading attempts by FYROM authorities to establish a connection to ancient Macedon and Alexander the Great, through moves such as featuring, at one point, the Vergina Sun as the country's symbol or renaming Skopje airport after Alexander, among others.

Gov't spokesman

Meanwhile, in Athens, government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said the government's position over the 'name issue' is standing and well-known, reminding that the re-elected Karamanlis government received a vote of confidence in Parliament just last month.

Additionally, asked if a specific proposal regarding a "composite name" was on the negotiating table, Roussopoulos merely noted that "two and a half years ago, in response to a then proposal by Mr. (Matthew) Nimetz (the UN mediator), we had outlined what the government's limits were, and we had accepted, as a basis for discussion, a proposal made at the time by Mr. Nimetz ? It is up to the other side to say what its views are".



Caption: A file photo dated Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 shows Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis (L) shaking hands with EU's High Representative for a Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana during a meeting in Brussels. ANA-MPA / A. DOUKAS.

Solana: EU solidarity with Athens on 'name issue'

[Tsontos]

omws ti akrivws ton wthhse na to pei?

Bakoyannis said she had presented Solana with the "very clear Greek positions" regarding the name issue

kai ti einai oi 8eseis autes? elpizw na mhn apoteloun prodosia

[Truth Bearer]

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said yesterday that Greece has the “full solidarity” of the 27-nation bloc in its name dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Solana made the comment after meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis in Luxembourg to discuss the matter.

“The time has come to find a solution,” said the Spanish diplomat, who incurred Athens’s ire earlier this month when he said he did not like the idea of Greece threatening to veto FYROM’s bid to join the EU and NATO.

However, Solana said yesterday that he would soon be holding “frank” talks with the government in Skopje and would make the “urgent nature” of the situation clear.

NATO is expected to decide on FYROM’s accession in April while the EU will also have to draw up next year a membership framework for the neighboring country.

Bakoyannis made a point of underlining that Greece is expecting the EU’s backing on the issue.

In an interview with Sunday’s Kathimerini, the Greek foreign minister said the onus was on FYROM to solve the dispute but her counterpart in Skopje, Antonio Milososki, denied this was the case.

“The fact that this sort of reaction only comes from Athens means that no other country in the world has a problem with the constitutional name of our country [Republic of Macedonia].”

ekathimerini.com | Solana supports Greece on name

[Truth Bearer]

Leftist leader on FYROM name issue



Greece should try to achieve a solution based on a composite name through UN-brokered negotiations over the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), the leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) grouping, Alekos Alavanos, said on Tuesday.

This name should contain the term 'Macedonia' and be mutually acceptable to the two sides, he added, while noting that the issue of FYROM's name was not a central foreign policy issue for Greece.

On domestic issues, meanwhile, he expressed his party's support for subsidised heating oil for low-income wage-earners and pensioners, especially residents in many areas of northern Greece.

[Truth Bearer]

Solana: EU solidarity with Athens on 'name issue'

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Monday promised that Greece will enjoy the European Union's full solidarity with respect to the difference with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) over the thorny "name issue", following his meeting in Luxembourg with Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis.

The EU's High Representative for a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) made the statement after meeting Bakoyannis on the sidelines of EU General Affairs Council in Luxembourg.

Commenting on the meeting, Solana said he very constructive talks with the Greek foreign minister and stressed that things have now reached a stage when, in his view, "the time has come to find a solution" to the "name issue".

He forecast that there would be developments in the near future and that the time had come to undertake all efforts in this direction, adding that he would be in contact with the United Nations and its special envoy for the Greece-FYROM dispute.

The top EU official said he would also be having "frank" talks on the name issue with the government in Skopje, in order to make the situation and its urgent nature clear and to outline the time frame that the EU envisaged.

Bakoyannis said she had presented Solana with the "very clear Greek positions" regarding the name issue, while expressing confidence that "all efforts on the part of the EU and Mr. Solana will be made so that there is a solution to the problem that exists with Skopje". She also noted that Greece was counting on the Union's solidarity.

Conversely, she declined to comment on statements made earlier the same day by her FYROM counterpart, Antonio Milososki, while she stressed that "our country's messages in every direction are positive".

Also on Bakoyannis' agenda while in Luxembourg is a meeting with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivaylo Kalfin and EU Commissioner for enlargement Olli Rehn.

Greece objects to the use of the name 'Macedonia' by FYROM on the grounds that it conceals irredentist ambitions against the large northern Greek province of the same name, Macedonia, which shares a border with FYROM and has access to the northern Aegean Sea. Greeks also object to what they view as historically misleading attempts by FYROM authorities to establish a connection to ancient Macedon and Alexander the Great, through moves such as featuring, at one point, the Vergina Sun as the country's symbol or renaming Skopje airport after Alexander, among others.

Gov't spokesman

Meanwhile, in Athens, government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said the government's position over the 'name issue' is standing and well-known, reminding that the re-elected Karamanlis government received a vote of confidence in Parliament just last month.

Additionally, asked if a specific proposal regarding a "composite name" was on the negotiating table, Roussopoulos merely noted that "two and a half years ago, in response to a then proposal by Mr. (Matthew) Nimetz (the UN mediator), we had outlined what the government's limits were, and we had accepted, as a basis for discussion, a proposal made at the time by Mr. Nimetz ? It is up to the other side to say what its views are".



Caption: A file photo dated Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2006 shows Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis (L) shaking hands with EU's High Representative for a Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana during a meeting in Brussels. ANA-MPA / A. DOUKAS.

[Truth Bearer]

The Republic of Novamakedonija welcome to the civilised world!!!