Home International Greece to Veto Macedonia Entry into NATO

Greece to Veto Macedonia Entry into NATO

By Prensa Latina

Athens : Greece will veto Macedonia’s entry into NATO, because there is no margin for resolving the conflict about the name of the ex Yugoslavian republic, Greek Foreign Affairs Secretary Dora Bakoyani.

That statement was made during a meeting between Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis and Bakoyani, before both departed for Bucharest, where the North Atlantic Treaty organization summit will begin on Wednesday.

The foreign minister referred to her country’s lack of awareness in reference to other nations’ positions in relation to President George W. Bush’s intention to support Macedonia’s entry, with the objective of extending the bloc.

Athens disagreed the past week with a UN proposal to reach an agreement about the name of that country that suggested calling it Macedonia-Skopje.

That time, Caramanlis asserted that the UN mediatory actions are far from a commitment to mutual acceptance and suggested to continue negotiating.

Both nations have been involved in a dispute for years about the ex Yugoslavian republic’s denomination, being its current name that of the ancient Greek homonymous northern region.

For the Hellenic republic, Macedonia is part of its history, and it fears presentations of territorial demands by that nation with Slavic language.