NATO Summit: A Friendly Message to Neighbours

GREEK NEWS AGENDA)    Greece invited the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) last night to return to the negotiating table and settle once and for all the long standing dispute on the name issue between the two countries, after NATO postponed extending an invitation to FYROM to begin accession talks to join the Alliance until the issue of the name is resolved. “We agreed that an invitation to FYROM will be extended as soon as a mutually accepted solution to the name issue has been reached. We encourage the negotiations to be resumed without delay and expect them to be concluded as soon as possible,” the Bucharest Summit Declaration says.  

In a nationally televised public address from Bucharest last night, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis underlined: “I would like to tell our neighbours that our aim is not to humiliate them but to strengthen them. In our differences, we are not looking for winners and losers. We are seeking understanding. We are seeking a solution that takes into account everyone’s sensitivities and which strengthens stability in the region.” Addressing the Greek people, the Greek premier said: “United, believing in our strength, we battled hard but successfully. With resolve and determination, we are moving along the right lines so that we can achieve the final national goal: a solution to the (name) problem.”

Athens News Agency: PM addresses Greeks from NATO Summit; Kathimerini daily: Greece blocks FYROM but still wants to talk; See also: SAE ad on the FYROM name issue in newspapers worldwide 

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