NATO chief said here on Monday that the alliance still has the desire to embrace Macedonia, urging the country to wrap up name talks with Greece as soon as possible.
"Next year NATO will mark its 60th anniversary and we do not wish to celebrate without you," Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said after meeting with Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski in Skopje.
NATO leaders invited Albania and Croatia to join the alliance at its Bucharest summit early this month, but the membership bid of Macedonia was blocked by Greece amid their row over the right to the name Macedonia.
Athens opposes to the name of "Republic of Macedonia," arguing that it might lead Macedonia to make territorial claims over its own northern province which is also called the same name.
The NATO Secretary General, who is on a short visit to Macedonia, hoped the name dispute can be resolved on time to allow Macedonia to join Albania and Croatia in launching NATO accession talks on 9 July.
"I would like to see that Albania and Croatia will be joined bya third nation -- that is yours, at the table, when they sign the NATO accession protocol on July 9," de Hoop Scheffer told Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki in their earlier meeting.
Source:Xinhua
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