Greece And Macedonia Underline Will to Solve Name Row

[Harold Schiffman]

March 21, 2008
Greece And Macedonia Underline Will to Solve Name Row
By REUTERS
Filed at 11:39 a.m. ET

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The Greek and Macedonian foreign ministers
underlined their commitment on Friday to resolve a dispute over
Macedonia's name that has threatened to hold up the latter's entry
into NATO and the European Union. Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio
Milososki and Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyanni said they would
study new ideas to resolve the row put forward at talks in Brussels
hosted by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried. Greece has
threatened to veto Macedonia's NATO entry unless it changes its name,
which is the same as Greece's northernmost province. "The two
ministers underlined the commitment of the two governments to reach a
solution," a statement from the Greek Foreign Ministry said. It said
the two sides looked forward to meeting U.N. envoy Matthew Nimetz in
New York on Tuesday.

Milososki said Macedonia would remain "constructively involved." "Our
aim is, because we have fulfilled all relevant criteria, that
Macedonia should be part of NATO," he told reporters. Macedonia hopes
for a resolution to the row in time for an April 2-4 NATO summit in
Bucharest to invite it to join the 26-member military alliance
alongside Croatia and Albania, whose invitations were agreed in
principle in March. NATO and the European Union are eager to see a
solution to the row for the sake of stability in the Balkans.

Milososki said the new ideas had been put forward by Fried but neither
side gave details.

Bakoyanni told a briefing she did not know if it would be possible to
reach an agreement in New York, but Greece "has the will to be
constructive and to work towards a solution."

GREECE "NEITHER OPTIMISTIC NOR PESSIMISTIC"

"We are looking for a mutually acceptable solution. We believe that we
can find it if the goodwill is there," she said.

"We want a name that will make the difference between the whole
geographical Macedonia and what the former republic of Macedonia today
covers. I think this is fair and clear and it is important for
regional stability."

Skopje uses the name Macedonia in bilateral ties with the United
States, Russia, China and Canada but at the United Nations it is
called "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia." NATO and the EU
also use the acronym FYROM.

Bakoyanni said she was "neither optimistic nor pessimistic" about an
agreement by the summit. Asked if there was increased will, she said:
"I think it is an important issue for both our people and I think that
the will is there."

NATO diplomats say they expect the issue to go down to the wire in
Bucharest, and possibly be resolved only after the opening dinner on
April 2.

The Macedonians have said they would be willing to use a hybrid name
with Greece but not internationally, internally or in bilateral
dealings with other states, a NATO diplomat said.

The Greeks have said they do not mind if Macedonia uses the name of
its choice internally but it must use a hybrid name internationally,
the source said.

One NATO diplomat said a fall-back option being considered was to give
Macedonia a conditional NATO invitation, making clear that
ratification of its accession would be subject to prior resolution of
the name issue.

Macedonia has been hoping for a green light later this year to open EU
membership negotiations.

(http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-macedonia-greece.html?pagewanted=print

-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of
the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a
message are encouraged to post a rebuttal. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)
*******************************************