Hillary Clinton on Macedonia name dispute
The United States is urging a resolution to the name dispute between Athens and Skopje over the use of the name Macedonia, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said.
Speaking on May 22 2009 at a ceremony at which she received an award from the Greek community in the US, Clinton said in reply to a question that she had spoken about the need to resolve the "name issue" in a way acceptable to both parties.
Greece objects to the former Yugoslav republic being known as Macedonian, saying that this is historically inappropriate and could be used to back Skopje’s territorial claims in Greece. The prolonged dispute has defied United Nations attempts to broker a compromise.
Clinton said that US deputy secretary of state Steinberg recently had been in the region making the case for finding a solution acceptable to both parties.
"We have picked up this issue with a lot of commitment early on in our administration," Clinton said.
"Obviously, this has to be resolved by the parties themselves, but we are urging that resolution. We think it is in everyone’s best interest. As you said, it would open the way for movement toward another nation joining the European Union, which we think promotes stability in the region, so we are very committed to doing what the United States can to facilitate that," she said.
On May 23, quoting ANT, Bulgarian news agency Focus said that 19 members of the US congress had presented a resolution on the name dispute, criticising Skopje for "anti-Greek rhetoric" which was sabotaging good neighbourly relations with Greece.
The resolution called on Skopje to co-operate with Athens on finding a name solution with a geographical dimension acceptable to everyone, the report said.
However, Skopje recently indicated that it would not accept changing its name to one used internationally that had a geographical element.
Speaking on May 22 2009 at a ceremony at which she received an award from the Greek community in the US, Clinton said in reply to a question that she had spoken about the need to resolve the "name issue" in a way acceptable to both parties.
Greece objects to the former Yugoslav republic being known as Macedonian, saying that this is historically inappropriate and could be used to back Skopje’s territorial claims in Greece. The prolonged dispute has defied United Nations attempts to broker a compromise.
Clinton said that US deputy secretary of state Steinberg recently had been in the region making the case for finding a solution acceptable to both parties.
"We have picked up this issue with a lot of commitment early on in our administration," Clinton said.
"Obviously, this has to be resolved by the parties themselves, but we are urging that resolution. We think it is in everyone’s best interest. As you said, it would open the way for movement toward another nation joining the European Union, which we think promotes stability in the region, so we are very committed to doing what the United States can to facilitate that," she said.
On May 23, quoting ANT, Bulgarian news agency Focus said that 19 members of the US congress had presented a resolution on the name dispute, criticising Skopje for "anti-Greek rhetoric" which was sabotaging good neighbourly relations with Greece.
The resolution called on Skopje to co-operate with Athens on finding a name solution with a geographical dimension acceptable to everyone, the report said.
However, Skopje recently indicated that it would not accept changing its name to one used internationally that had a geographical element.