Calamos Supports Greece
GreekReporter.comGreek NewsEconomyFYROM Likes Avramopoulos Initiative

FYROM Likes Avramopoulos Initiative


There’s no headway on the name dispute Greece has with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) but a proposal from Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos to break long-standing deadlocks on related issues has gotten an initial nod in Skopje.
FYROM Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki sent a letter to Athens welcoming the ideas Avramopoulos floated a month earlier, according to the website Euractive. The Greek minister had proposed an agreement in which both countries would commit to respecting each other’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity; and renounce any present or future territorial claims.
There was no proposal on the disputed name other than for both sides to continue talking, as they have been for almost 20 years. The letter, reportedly given to Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Kourkoulas, welcomes the Greek intention to move the issue “decisively forward,” the report said. So far, there has been no official response from the Greek government.
FYROM is a candidate for European Union membership, but its progress towards EU and NATO membership has been hindered by a dispute with Greece over the country’s official name, which most United Nations members recognize as the Republic of Macedonia, to ferocious opposition from Greece.
Athens rejects the name “Macedonia,” which it says implies territorial ambitions toward Greece’s own northern province of Macedonia, although the Avramopoulos proposal would mean that FYROM would have to denounce that aspiration.
 
 

See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!



Related Posts