The United States urged on Tuesday Greece and Macedonia to resolve a name dispute that prevents the latter from joining the North Atlantic Treat Organization (NATO).
Macedonia should be invited to join the military alliance along with Croatia and Albania at a NATO summit next month, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Daniel Fried told a hearing of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.
Along with Kosovo's independence, the admission of the three states "helps us take the Balkans into the 21st century," Fried said.
He made the marks after Greece refused last week to invite its neighbor Macedonia to join NATO due to a decades-old name dispute.
Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also urged Greece and Macedonia to reach a "reasonable compromise" on the name dispute.
Together with Croatia and Albania, Macedonia is one of the hopefuls to be invited to join NATO at the military alliance's summit next month in Bucharest, capital of Romania, but its bid has been overshadowed by the issue of the country's name.
Greece has long argued that Macedonia implies territorial claim to a northern Greek province which bears the same name as Macedonia.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article