The Macedonian-Greek name issue was one of the principal talking points at the meeting of heads of state of Central Europe with US President Barack Obama in Warsaw, Poland. Macedonian President GjoRge Ivanov tabled the Macedonian issue, adding that Macedonia demonstrated its constructiveness in Bucharest by accepting Nimetz’s proposal “Republic of Macedonia (Skopje).”
“We meet all criteria and we must not be left out of the two most powerful political alliances for an irrational and absurd dispute,” President Ivanov said.
An additional reason, he went on, is that with the Ohrid Agreement Macedonia produces stability in the entire region.
“As a country we did all we could. We met all conditions to join NATO and to continue our integration into the EU. The Republic of Macedonia was the only country that broke away from the former federation without conflicts and wars,” the Macedonian president emphasized.
The Republic of Macedonia wants a solution. Macedonia demonstrated its constructiveness immediately before the summit in Bucharest. Today Prime Minister Papandreou should be helped to make a step ahead, Ivanov said.
US President Obama said he was upset by the fact that each time he met the Macedonian president they talked about the same problem – the name issue – and promised Ivanov he would talk to Papandreou once again.
“Central and Eastern Europe achieved a remarkable success that you should be proud of. Macedonia is the perfect example. But whenever I meet the Macedonian president, we discuss only the name issue. That frustrates me. I promise you, President Ivanov, that I will talk to Papandreou once again. I assure you that he too wants a solution and is ready for it,” President Obama said.
At the meeting President Obama gave assurances to his European counterparts that their talks would bear fruit and bring about positive results yet problems and differences should be resolved in a peaceful way with a dialogue and through institutions.
Following the positive signals from President Obama, President Ivanov said in Sofia Sunday that there could be changes in the region. He took the opportunity to reiterate that Europe was incomplete without the Balkans and that although just ten years ago the Balkans got out of a trauma, most Balkan countries are members of NATO and are either members or candidate members of the EU.
President Ivanov met his Bulgarian counterpart Georgi Parvanov in Sofia Sunday. Parvanov confirmed that Bulgaria supported Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic integration. At Parvanov’s initiative, the two presidents discussed also the name issue. Ivanov stressed that Macedonia and its citizens expected support from the neighbor in the resolution of the dispute.
