Foreign press on the Macedonian issue

[Astoria]

ERT: Greece receives support from Bulgaria on naming dispute with FYROM shortly before NATO meeting

2 April 2008 | 21:37 | FOCUS News Agency

Athens. Greece received the support of Bulgaria for the naming dispute with the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia /FYROM/ shortly before the start of the NATO summit in Bucharest, the Greek TV channel ERT reports.
Both Greece and Bulgaria support the accession of FYROM to NATO, but at certain conditions, the TV channel notes.

[Astoria]

Greece to veto Macedonia Nato bid

By Malcolm Brabant
BBC News, Athens

Greece says it is almost certain to veto FYROMacedonia's bid to join Nato, following Macedonian portrayals of the Greek prime minister as a Nazi.

The two countries are also in dispute over the name "Macedonia" for Greece's northern neighbour.

Time is running out for a solution before the Nato summit in Bucharest, which opens on Wednesday evening.

US President George W Bush had hoped to invite FYROMacedonia to join Nato, along with Albania and Croatia.

Athens is deeply offended by posters that have appeared in Skopje, which have the swastika superimposed on the Greek flag, as well as a magazine cover which depicts Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis as an SS officer.

And the Greeks feel insulted by recent images of their neighbour's prime minister laying a wreath by a flag showing a map of Greater Macedonia, which includes parts of Northern Greece.


Territorial claims

Greece's foreign minister, Dora Bakoyannis, says the dispute is not just over a name.

She says the government in Skopje regards the Greek province of Macedonia as occupied territory and has refused to remove such claims from textbooks speeches, maps and national documents.

Athens and Skopje have failed to reach an agreement on a new name for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Greece's stance remains - no deal, no invitation.

Greece is under huge pressure to back down.

The Americans say a dispute over who are the descendants of Macedonia's legendary king Alexander the Great cannot be allowed to derail Nato's expansion.

Other Nato allies are worried that closing the door on Skopje could lead to the break up of the country along ethnic lines between Slav Macedonians and the Albanian minority.

But compromising on what most Greeks regard as an unsatisfactory name would be political suicide for the Conservative government of Mr Karamanlis, and so the use of Greece's veto looks inevitable.

[TirAlb]

Macedonia NATO delay would fuel radicals: Albania

By David Brunnstrom

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - A delay in inviting Macedonia to join NATO could encourage radicals and fuel instability in the Balkans, Albania's prime minister said, urging compromise to allow a last-minute deal at an alliance summit on Wednesday.

Greece stood by its threat on Wednesday to veto NATO membership for ethnically mixed Macedonia despite pressure from U.S. President George W. Bush to resolve a name dispute.

NATO was due to consider Macedonia's membership invitation along with that of Adriatic neighbors Croatia and Albania at a NATO summit dinner in Bucharest on Wednesday night.

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha told Reuters he was "very confident" Albania would get an invitation and hoped a compromise could be reached between Greece and Macedonia.

He said a delay for Macedonia would be "a very serious problem" for the whole Balkans region.

"The stability of this neighbor is very crucial for Albania, for Kosovo, for Greece, to Bulgaria, to all its neighbors," he said in an interview.

"My fear is that radicals from all ethnicities there (in Macedonia) could be strengthened," he said. "Both sides have to compromise. I am convinced both countries have some reason to compromise. I hope that they will find a compromise."

Athens has said it will prevent Skopje joining unless it changes its constitutional name, which is the same as Greece's northernmost province, birthplace of Alexander the Great.

Macedonia uses its chosen name in bilateral ties with many states but is called "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" at the United Nations, and by NATO and the European Union.

U.N. negotiators have suggested a compromise, Republic of Macedonia (Skopje), but it was not accepted by Greece. Athens would accept a name such as Republic of New Macedonia or one with a geographical distinction.

GUARANTEE OF FREEDOMS

NATO urgently wants a solution for the sake of stability in the Balkans, already threatened by Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia on February 17.

Balkans experts told a conference in Bucharest there was a risk Macedonia could unravel if it did not get NATO membership and warned of knock-on effects in Kosovo and Albania.

NATO and EU reconciliation efforts pulled Macedonia from the brink of all-out ethnic war in 2001, ending a six-month Albanian insurgency with the promise of greater rights for the country's 25-percent Albanian minority.

Analysts say the worry is that the ethnic compromises could unravel if the anchor provided by the prospect of NATO and eventual EU membership were not there.

Berisha said NATO would be a guarantee of freedoms for Albania, a country that was until the collapse of the communist regime of Enver Hoxha, the last Stalinist state in Europe.

"This for Albania means the most important decision after its independence," he said.

"Being in NATO, it's a guarantee for freedoms. Having a guarantee for freedoms, you have a guarantee for the future."

He said Albania had shown itself to be a reliable ally for NATO, providing troops for missions from Afghanistan to the Balkans, and would help secure Europe's southeastern flank.

"Together with Greece and Italy, Albania, Macedonia and Croatia bring a new dimension to the NATO security," he said.


reuters

[Draco]

NATO to admit Croatia, Albania, delays Macedonia | Reuters

[Slayer]

NATO hopes of Macedonia, Georgia and Ukraine suffer setback



BRUSSELS (AFP) - Greece stood firm Thursday in refusing to allow Macedonia to join the world's biggest military alliance NATO until a row over its name, which has festered for more than 17 years, is resolved.

The aspirations of Georgia and Ukraine, whose attempts to join NATO are vehemently opposed by Russia, were also set back with allies unable to agree on whether to accelerate their entry.

As NATO foreign ministers considered whether to hand membership invitations to Macedonia, Albania and Croatia at a summit next month, Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said Greece could only back two of the candidates.

"Greece supports the candidacy of Albania and Croatia," she said, but added that "issues which are intertwined do not allow us to take the same position" for Macedonia.

"Greece will continue to work in a constructive spirit for a mutually acceptable solution," she told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels.


According to NATO officials and diplomats, the so-called Adriatic Three have largely met the technical criteria to join, but Greece is blocking Macedonia because its name is the same as a northern Greek province.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer underscored that the alliance works on unanimity, and that Greece would always be right, as a member nation.

"There's an ally, Greece, and a non ally, Macedonia," he said.

"I hope that between now and Bucharest we will find a solution," he said, referring to the Romanian capital where NATO's April 2-4 summit will be held.

Macedonia's name has inflamed emotions in Greece, which refuses to recognise the former Yugoslav republic with the same name as its province. Athens worries that recognising Macedonia's name could imply a claim on its territory.

More than 10,000 people protested in northern Greece on the eve of the meeting, some holding Greek flags and yelling: "Macedonia is Greek".

Macedonia's constitutional name is "Republic of Macedonia", and Skopje wants this used in international relations, except with Athens, where a name acceptable to both parties could be used.

Albania, Croatia and Macedonia are members of NATO's Membership Action Plan (MAP), which helps aspiring countries meet NATO standards and prepare for membership.

"Even though we believe that the aspirants must sprint to the finish, there was a general view that they have made a lot of progress," said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"We would hope that Greece and Macedonia will be able to accept a way forward," she said.

One diplomat said she had urged the ministers not to "force Greece to commit political suicide", as ceding over the issue could provoke nationalists, and add to tensions with Turkey and elsewhere in the Balkans.

The ministers also discussed the cases of Ukraine and Georgia, which have applied to join the MAP programme, but officials said "a broad spectrum of views" arose at the meeting.

According to another diplomat, Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain expressed scepticism about their candidatures.

Ukraine's leaders support rapprochement with NATO but there is little public support for the move.

The Georgian public is largely in favour, but NATO nations were disturbed by the state of emergency it imposed in December to end opposition protests.

Above all, Russia has reacted angrily to the NATO ambitions of its ex-Soviet allies, with Russian officials saying their country is being surrounded.

But Scheffer said: "NATO's door is open and who finally passes through that door is decided by the NATO allies, only by them and not by any other nation."

However Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said: "We have a new president in Russia and the European Union would want to start things on a new footing."

"We have to take also the interests of others, not only those who are members of NATO, into account."

http://au.news.yahoo.com/080306/19/162f1.html

[Tsontos]

Good job Astoria. I like the practice of putting the press agency's name in your post titles. It always helps to no the source up front in a simple way like that.

[Astoria]

FYROMacedonia to get NATO invite when name flap resolved: official
3 April 2008 | 13:52 | FOCUS News Agency

Bucharest. FYROMacedonia will be invited to start talks to join NATO once a row with Greece over its name is resolved, a NATO official said at the ongoing summit of the transatlantic alliance, cited by AFP.
"An invitation will be extended as soon as a mutually acceptable solution is reached," she told reporters at the Bucharest summit where formal invitations were to go out to two other former communist states: Albania and Croatia.
FYROMacedonia wants to be known in international forums as the Republic of Macedonia, but Greece is opposed, arguing that that would imply a territorial claim on its own northern region of Macedonia.

[Astoria]

Croatia and Albania Are Invited, but a Decision Is Postponed on FYROMacedonia
BUCHAREST, April 3 (Reuters) - NATO confirmed it would on Thursday issue formal invitations to Balkan neighbours Croatia and Albania to join the alliance after postponing an invitation to FYROMacedonia because of Greek opposition.

A NATO official said the invitations had been confirmed and that the step would be formalised later on Thursday when Croatian and Albanian leaders attended a special session with their NATO counterparts.

Albania's prime minister told Reuters on Wednesday NATO would guarantee freedoms for Albania but said a delay in inviting FYROMacedonia could encourage radicals and fuel instability in the Balkans.

Greece has vetoed FYROMacedonia's entry until the former Yugoslav republic resolves a row over the use of the name Macedonia, shared with the most northerly Greek province.

[Astoria]

Official: FYROMacedonia NATO Invite When Name Row Resolved- AFP
BUCHAREST (AFP)--FYROMacedonia will be invited to start talks to join NATO once a row with Greece over its name is resolved, a NATO official said at the ongoing summit of the transatlantic alliance.

"An invitation will be extended as soon as a mutually acceptable solution is reached," she told reporters at the Bucharest summit where formal invitations were to go out to two other former communist states: Albania and Croatia.

FYROMacedonia wants to be known in international forums as the Republic of Macedonia, but Greece is opposed, arguing that that would imply a territorial claim on its own northern region of Macedonia.

[Astoria]

FYROMacedonia Remains Out of NATO Because of Greek Veto over Name Dispute


During its ongoing Summit in Bucharest NATO decided not to extend a membership invitation to FYROMacedonia for the time being because Greece vetoed the move after the dispute over the name of the former Yugoslav republic remained unresolved.

Nikola Dimitrov, FYROMacedonia's negotiator with Greece in the name dispute, who made the announcement, also said the NATO leaders had agreed to extend a membership invitation to his country as soon as the name issue with Greece is resolved, the Bulgarian Information Agency BTA reported.

Dimitrov complained his country was punished not because of it had failed to fulfill NATO accession criteria but because it had been trying to defend its national identity.

He described the news that FYROMacedonia's invitation to join the Alliance had been made conditional on the outcome of its name dispute with Greece as a great disappointment

Meanwhile, the FYROMacedonian journalists left the press center of the NATO Summit in Bucharest as a sign of protest against the decision of the Alliance not to invite their country to join, the Bulgarian private Darik Radio reported.

NATO representatives have confirmed that the organization was going invite officially the other two countries of the Adriatic troika - Albania and Croatia - to become full members at a special meeting later on Thursday.

No membership invitations have been extended to the Ukraine and Georgia. NATO's enlargement with the two former Soviet republics has been a matter of tension within the Alliance as the US supported it but some of the key western European members opposed it over fears of Russia's potential reaction.