Macedonia wages propaganda war against Greece

MACEDONIA: MACEDONIA TOOK out full-page ads in the western press yesterday to complain that its neighbour, Greece, is unjustly blocking the path to membership of Nato because Macedonia refuses to change its name.

It said Macedonia had already made concessions to Athens, including a constitutional amendment denying any territorial aspirations to the Macedonian provinces of northern Greece.

There had been no security incidents since the former Yugoslav republic declared independence in 1991, one ad said. Skopje and Athens have had diplomatic ties since 1995. Greek companies are the major investors and the atmosphere is friendly.

"Despite this co-operation, Greece announced that it will veto the accession of the Republic of Macedonia to Nato [ and] is asking for support for this stance from the other Nato members."

A second advertisement topped by a photograph of Macedonian troops under Nato command in Afghanistan ticks off 30 reasons why "Macedonia deserves Nato membership", because it has met all democratic, economic and military standards.

"Where is the principle here? Where is the justice?" asks the government. "Not to be able to be and call yourself what you have been for centuries - is that freedom and justice?"

Greece and Macedonia signed an interim pact in 1995 to cool the name dispute, which had triggered a Greek economic embargo in the early years of the republic. But the row has dragged on, with Greece denouncing Macedonia's "irredentist, nationalistic intransigence".

United Nations special envoy Matthew Nimetz, who has the task of shuttling between the feuding neighbours, said on Thursday that Skopje was showing "intense interest" in solving the dispute before Nato's April 2nd-4th summit in Romania.

© 2008 Reuters

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times