Greece has a Strong Case on the Name Issue

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was briefed yesterday on Foreign Yugoslav’s Republic of Macedonia’s decision to lodge an appeal with the International Court of Justice in The Hague, claiming that Greece violated the 1995 bilateral interim accord during last year’s NATO Bucharest summit.

Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis stressed that Greece has a strong case, which will support before the Court, putting forward its arguments by January 2010.  “It will be a long process but Greece has strong defense arguments, which will prove that the real problem lies in Skopje‘s intransigence”. She further called on Skopje to enter the name negotiations in good faith in order to fund a mutually acceptable name. 

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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.  

New Round on Name Issue of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)    A new reiterated in Brussels round of UN-sponsored talks between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on the latter’s “name issue” begins in Vienna today. Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis has has Greece’s position regarding the issue saying that a composite name for the land-locked republic containing a geographic marker could put an end to a nagging problem that has had a negative impact on regional stability and cooperation.

Name Issue of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)  Referring to to the neighbouring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and the possibility of failure to resolve the thorny “name issue“, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis warned on Friday that “no solution means no invitation”. This would mean that should the issue not be resolved, FYROM is not to receive an invitation for membership in NATO and the EU, where Greece is a veto-wielding member. 
“Without a mutually acceptable solution, there can be no relations like allies; there can be no invitation to the neighbouring country for participation in the same alliance,” Karamanlis stated in Parliament.
UN mediator Matthew Nimetz is expected to invite both parties for a new round of talks, soon.