FYROM cautions Greece...........

[Astoria]

MUNICH, Germany:

Macedonia's president cautioned Greece on Saturday not to block his country's entry into NATO, warning a veto would risk further destabilizing the Balkans.

"If something like that happens it would mean abusing the principle of allied solidarity and imposing the narrow national interest over the collective interest of the organization," President Banko Crvenkovski told an international security conference.

"Even more, it will be a risky undertaking, in the region whose security stabilization is not yet definitely over."

Athens objects to the name of the republic that broke away from Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, arguing it could imply territorial claims on the northern Greek province also called Macedonia.

Greece has threatened to block Macedonia's entry into NATO unless ongoing U.N.-backed talks to resolve the name dispute are successful.

Despite the dispute, Crvenkovski said he was optimistic Macedonia would receive an invitation to join NATO along with Albania and Croatia at an alliance summit in April.

In recent talks Greece has indicated it could accept a "composite" name that would include the word Macedonia plus a geographic term, but Crvenkovski rejected that offer.

"It is not a step forward," he told the conference.

He said the Greek offer was no better than the name Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which has been used by international organizations for 15 years under a temporary agreement.

[PhiliptheUniterchaeronea]

Offesnsive rhetoric. The Greek compromise and the Slav arrogance is what will de-stabalize the region. Hasn't history taught us anything?

[Makedonia22]

Originally Posted by Astoria

MUNICH, Germany:

Macedonia's president cautioned Greece on Saturday not to block his country's entry into NATO, warning a veto would risk further destabilizing the Balkans.

"If something like that happens it would mean abusing the principle of allied solidarity and imposing the narrow national interest over the collective interest of the organization," President Banko Crvenkovski told an international security conference.

"Even more, it will be a risky undertaking, in the region whose security stabilization is not yet definitely over."

Athens objects to the name of the republic that broke away from Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, arguing it could imply territorial claims on the northern Greek province also called Macedonia.

http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/for...html#post52169