The Macedonian naming dispute is quickly becoming a major issue between Greece and the USA, with foreign diplomatic sources telling To Vima in anonymity that the USA has refused the Greek request for Skopje to participate under its provisional name FYROM (which is recognized by the UN) at the summit talks on violent extremism that are being held in New York on Tuesday.
According to the diplomatic sources, the neighboring country has been invited as “Republic of Macedonia”, a name that the USA recognized in 2004, despite Greek complaints. This is the second time that the Greek government’s request has been ignored by American authorities. In December 2014 FYROM was identified as “Republic of Macedonia” in a joint communiqué on the formation of a coalition against the so-called ‘Islamic State’. The Foreign Affairs Minister at the time, Evangelos Venizelos had made an official complaint to his US counterpart John Kerry and decided to not participate in the meeting.
The diplomatic sources explain that in both cases, the resistance to the Greek requests came from the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State Victoria Nuland. Mrs. Nuland is said to have addressed the Greek ambassador in Washington Christos Panagopoulos rather directly on the subject, when he visited her to find a solution to satisfy both sides.
The matter is further complicated by the fact the at while Greece was invited to attend the Tuesday meeting, it will be as an observer, as it did not participate in last year’s, first meeting and does not face any problems with violence extremism. As such, Athens does not have the right to speak or file a complaint. It remains unknown if Greece will be represented at the meeting. In case Greece is represented though, it is uncertain who will attend, as the idea of Mr. Tsipras has been rejected.
In its statement regarding the talks on violent extremism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs argues that it provide an opportunity to further coordinate the international community and other alliance members against the so-called ‘Islamic State’, as part of providing a solution to the Syrian problem and stabilizing to the greater region.
