Macedonia has no problem with Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis's statement in Strasbourg that he and another 2.5 million people in Greece are Macedonians. Macedonia's politicians respect his right to declare himself as whatever he likes. But they expect the same thing from Greece.

President Branko Crvenkovski's position is that the Republic of Macedonia never insisted on having exclusive right to the term Macedonia and the historical heritage of the ancient Macedonians. Thus, it respects every person's right to declare him or herself Macedonian, if this is how they feel, Crvenkovski said.

"If Greek Prime Minister Karamanlis feels as a Macedonian, we will respect this. But we expect the same thing from Greece as regards the Macedonian people's feelings," President Crvenkovski said yesterday.