President Crvenkovski in Sofia: Macedonia Will Not Tolerate Greece's Dictates

Politics | February 10, 2009, Tuesday // 00:00
Bulgaria President Crvenkovski in Sofia: Macedonia Will Not Tolerate Greece's Dictates: President Crvenkovski in Sofia: Macedonia Will Not Tolerate Greece's Dictates Macedonia's President Crvenkovski was welcomed by his Bulgarian counterpart Parvanov before the Monument of the Unknown Warrior in downtown Sofia. Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency)

Macedonia's President Branko Crvenkovski declared Tuesday in Bulgaria's capital Sofia that his country was ready to make a compromise in its name dispute with Greece but was not going to put up with Greece's dictates.

Crvenkovski is on an official two-day visit in Bulgaria, which appears to be his last in his capacity as President as he had decided not to run for reelection in the presidential elections on March 22, 2009.

"It is totally logical that if Macedonia wants to join NATO and the EU, it would have to make a compromise in its talks with Greece. Whether a reasonable compromise is possible, is also up to Greece", Crvenkovski said regarding the name dispute because of which Greece vetoed Macedonia's accession to NATO during the Bucharest summit in April, 2008.

Bulgaria's President Georgi Parvanov, who welcomed his Macedonian counterpart and fellow socialist Crvenkovski, stressed that Bulgaria supported Macedonia's goals to join NATO and the EU, and that it had recognized its neighbor with its constitutional name.

Parvanov declined to comment on the recent statements made by the Sofia Mayor and GERB party leader Boyko Borisov in Chicago that Bulgarian businesses should invest heavily in Macedonia in order to wield influence there and make it friendly to Bulgaria, the BGNES news agency reported.

Crvenkovski himself said that the Sofia Mayor's statements did not contribute positively to the development of the bilateral relations.

With respect to the OMO Ilinden party, whose members claim to be representing a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, Parvanov said the Bulgarian Constitutional Court had clearly ruled that the party had not met the criteria for getting registration.

Parvanov also expressed his hopes that a time will come in the Bulgaria-Macedonia relations "when history will unite us rather than divide us".

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