From Slavic macedoniadaily.org
National.
'Macedonia's' delegation walked out of a NATO summit in Bucharest on Thursday after Greece refused to let it join the alliance. "The 'Macedonian' delegation will leave because we feel the need to be with our people ... Greece's irrelevant argument won over the serious needs of the (Western Balkan) region," Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said.
"Today marks the day of defeat of the NATO's principles of freedom, democracy and open-doors policy. The defeat did not took place on the field, where the 'Macedonian' soldiers participate in the Alliance's missions shoulder to shoulder with the troops of the other NATO members, but at a table in Bucharest," Milososki added.
According to him, 'Macedonia' will re-evaluate the Interim Accord with Greece, which is seriously violated by the veto.
The NATO debacle now threatens to derail the negotiating process, with Milososki saying that the Greek veto is a "direct breach" of an interim accord signed between the sides in September 1995, and the 'Macedonian' government "will have to reconsider" its entire approach to the name negotiations.
"Our country is the Republic of 'Macedonia', and it will remain so for ever," he said.
That appears to leave little room for compromise, or for a rapid NATO accession for 'Macedonia', since Greece is already a member of the body and therefore has veto rights over its future membership.
"All NATO countries except Greece are favourable and supportive" of 'Macedonia's' accession, but the question of how the alliance should act now "is a matter for NATO," Milososki said.
MD: This is a black day for 'Macedonia' but also for NATO and the Balkans, good thing the Macedonians left the summit and did not bend in front of the Greeks and their pressure! Greek media are celebrating the decision, writing "Karamanlis triumph" in the headlines.
astelor angel
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