NATO urges FYROM to sort out naming dispute with Greece

[Truth Bearer]

NATO urges FYROM to sort out naming dispute with Greece


www.chinaview.cn 2008-01-24 03:44:14

BRUSSELS, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- NATO asked Macedonia on Wednesday to find a quick solution to a naming dispute with Greece.

There were lots of pleas from NATO member states for a solution of long-standing problem, said NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

Greece is concerned that the constitutional name of Macedonia --the Republic of Macedonia -- presages a territorial claim on the Greek coastal region of Macedonia.

Like many other international organizations, NATO currently refers to the country as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski visited NATO and had a meeting with the decision-making North Atlantic Council to make a final push for his country's NATO membership.

"Euro-Atlantic integration also demands and requires good neighborly relations," de Hoop Scheffer told reporters after the meeting.

But he said NATO is not playing a role in the name issue.

NATO spokesman James Appathurai said on Wednesday the issue could have impacts on Macedonia's bid for NATO membership as enlargement requires unanimity of alliance member states.

Macedonia, Croatia and Albania are trying to get invitation to join NATO at the alliance's summit in Bucharest, capital of Romania in early April.

Appathurai said discussions between the two countries and within the United Nations are taking place in a positive spirit, in a spirit of compromise.

Gruevski promised to intensify the negotiations. He admitted that the dispute is not an easy one as it has lingered for 17 years.

At the North Atlantic Council meeting, NATO allies congratulated Macedonia for progress made in implementing political, economic and military reforms. But they cautioned that reforms have to continue, de Hoop Scheffer told reporters.

"It is now very important to keep up the pace ... so that the reforms are irreversible," said the NATO chief.


Editor: Mu Xuequan

[Petros Houhoulis]

Originally Posted by Truth Bearer

NATO urges FYROM to sort out naming dispute with Greece


www.chinaview.cn 2008-01-24 03:44:14

BRUSSELS, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- NATO asked Macedonia on Wednesday to find a quick solution to a naming dispute with Greece.

There were lots of pleas from NATO member states for a solution of long-standing problem, said NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

Greece is concerned that the constitutional name of Macedonia --the Republic of Macedonia -- presages a territorial claim on the Greek coastal region of Macedonia.

Like many other international organizations, NATO currently refers to the country as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski visited NATO and had a meeting with the decision-making North Atlantic Council to make a final push for his country's NATO membership.

"Euro-Atlantic integration also demands and requires good neighborly relations," de Hoop Scheffer told reporters after the meeting.

But he said NATO is not playing a role in the name issue.

NATO spokesman James Appathurai said on Wednesday the issue could have impacts on Macedonia's bid for NATO membership as enlargement requires unanimity of alliance member states.

Macedonia, Croatia and Albania are trying to get invitation to join NATO at the alliance's summit in Bucharest, capital of Romania in early April.

Appathurai said discussions between the two countries and within the United Nations are taking place in a positive spirit, in a spirit of compromise.

Gruevski promised to intensify the negotiations. He admitted that the dispute is not an easy one as it has lingered for 17 years.

At the North Atlantic Council meeting, NATO allies congratulated Macedonia for progress made in implementing political, economic and military reforms. But they cautioned that reforms have to continue, de Hoop Scheffer told reporters.

"It is now very important to keep up the pace ... so that the reforms are irreversible," said the NATO chief.


Editor: Mu Xuequan

Quite true. Interestingly, Gruevski did not show his usual recklessness in NATO. All of the ambassadors who mentioned the issue urged him to compromise, none accepted the view that the issue is bilateral.

After their loss at the Council of Europe, they do not have much of a choice. It is obvious that they have a success in bilateral agreements, but when the ball is passing in international organizations like the Council of Europe (where they are members) and NATO (where they are not members) they lose the ball...