THE HAGUE, The Netherlands -- Greece on Thursday (March 24th) reiterated its opposition to Macedonia's EU and NATO accession unless the long-standing name dispute between the two countries is solved. Presenting her country's case over the dispute at The Hague-based International Court of Justice, Greek Foreign Ministry Legal Adviser Maria Telalian accused Skopje of harboring ambitions to take over territories of Greece. Macedonia brought the case, hoping the court would rule that Athens illegally vetoed Macedonia's NATO applications in 2008 over the name dispute, in violation of an agreement struck in 1995 to support Skopje's membership in international organisations under the name of "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia."
In other news Thursday, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and Macedonian counterpart Nikola Gruevski discussed the name dispute in Brussels, on the sidelines of an EU summit. The quarrel was also a central topic during Gruevski's short meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. (Vecer, Dnevnik, Kathimerini, Zougla - 25/03/11; Ta Nea, Nafthemporiki, Kathimerini, Inews, Ethnos - 24/03/11)
Source: SETimes.com
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