Greece invited to FYROM talks
Macedonian President George Ivanov Wednesday invited his Greek counterpart, Karolos Papoulias, to make a first official visit for talks to resolve an 18-year dispute with Greece over his country’s name.
“In relations between Macedonia and Greece, there are more things that link us and get us closer to each other than those that divide us,” Ivanov said in a letter to Papoulias.
“I am deeply convinced that as heads of two neighboring states, we will definitely provide an additional impulse to strengthening of friendly relations in the interest of our citizens and our two countries,” Ivanov said, according to a statement from his press office.
If it takes place, the visit would be the first since Macedonia proclaimed independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.
The two countries have been at loggerheads over the right to the name Macedonia–which is shared by a northern Greek province–since Macedonia decided to secede from Serbia.
United Nations-led negotiations on the issue have proved fruitless ever since, and Greece has used its veto to prevent Macedonia becoming a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
The name issue has also slowed Macedonia’s integration into the European Union.
Macedonia was granted EU candidate status in 2005 but it wasn’t invited to start accession negotiation talks until last month.
Greece has threatened to veto the beginning of the talks if a solution isn’t found for the issue.
AFP
November 04, 2009
They are not Macedonians. They are Slavs, Bulgars, Albanians, etc. They need to just change the name and move on.
Macedonia is Serbia, Tito just carved out some roundom boarder in south SErbia, so he could divide it up ( the people). As well he gave them the name Macedoinas so that possiable there could be a fight between Greeks and Serbs ( Macedonians) ( ORTHODOX BROTHER!!!)……its all planed out.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) must change its name by removing the word “Macedonia,” in order to prevent confusion and hostility with a bordering northern province in Greece called Macedonia.
I believe that the reason FYROM is using the term “Macedonia” is so that people will think that Alexander the Great was from FYROM instead of the Greek northern province of Macedonia. The fact that FYROM is making a huge statue of Alexander the Great, to be placed in its capitol of Skopje soon, illustrates the validity of this reasoning. Nontheless, history has proven that Alexander the Great was Greek, not Yugoslavian.
FYROM is being punished by both NATO and the European Union by not being allowed to join either organization until it removes the word “Macedonian” from its name. Consequently, it would behoove FYROM to change its name by removing the word “Macedonian” — and the sooner the better for FYROM!
I agree with George Patsourakos.
Makedonia is Greece, just as Kosovo is Serbia. The FYROM should think of another name.