Macedonia Relies on New Greek Govt to Fix Name Issue

Bulgaria in EU | November 11, 2011, Friday // 13:26|  views

Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki during his visit in Bulgaria in September. Photo by BGNES

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia hopes that the newly appointed Greek government will be ready to put an end to the longtime dispute over the use of the name Macedonia the two countries have.

"I believe that the new Greek national unity government can undertake a process of unblocking the name dispute," Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki told reporters on Thursday. He added that he relied on a closer cooperation with Athens on resolving the issue that has been blocking his country's EU accession bid.

The notorious name dispute between Macedonia and Greece has been going on since the former declared independence in 1991. Greece is concerned that the recognition of Macedonia's name could allow it to have territorial claims for it since much of northern Greece is also in the geographic region of Macedonia.

Greece and international intermediaries have suggested that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia should adopt a name such as "Republic of Northern Macedonia" or "Republic of Macedonia-Skopje", which have been rejected by the Macedonian authorities.

Even though the geographic region in question includes parts of Bulgaria, too, Bulgaria's authorities have not considered it necessary to join the dispute.

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Tags: name dispute, macedonia, greece, Nikola Poposki, former yugoslav republic of macedonia, Bulgaria, EU

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