Macedonia President: Greece Protracts Name Dispute Like Cyprus Question

World | May 24, 2010, Monday // 14:43|  views

Macedonian President Ivanov has accussed Greece of dragging the settlement of the name dispute. Photo by BGNES

The unresolved dispute about the name of Macedonia is the fault of Greece, according to Macedonia’s President George Ivanov.

Ivanov declared Monday that Greece is obviously not in a hurry to resolve the notorious name conflict between the two states, applying tactics similar to what it does regarding the Cyprus conflict.

“We are the ones that need the resolving of the dispute. Greece does not need that, and does not feel like doing something to resolve it soon,” Ivanov said on the Macedonian channel of Radio Free Europe.

“Greece probably adopted the same strategy as in Cyprus – postponing the problem and creating the impression that this situation has to continue until there are conditions allowing a solution that serves its interests,” the President of Macedonia declared.

In his words, Macedonia is trying everything possible to reach a mutually acceptable settlement under the aegis of UN envoy, Matthew Nemitz.

“However, we cannot accept as mutually acceptable the options put forth by Greece,” Ivanov said adding there were politicians in Greece using Cold War rhetoric in order to instill fear that Macedonia threatened the territorial integrity and identity of the people in Greece,”

“It is superficial to raise such questions and to benefit from that in the 21st century,” Macedonian President has concluded.

Greece and Macedonia have been tangled in a dispute about the name of the latter as an administrative region in Northern Greece is also called Macedonia allowing the country to fear that its territorial integrity might be compromised. Greece has already blocked Macedonia’s accession to NATO and the EU over the name dispute.

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Tags: FYROM, macedonia, George Ivanov, name dispute, Cyrpus

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