The European Union shall continue to refer to EU-applicant Macedonia with its UN-recognised name as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYRM), EU Dutch Presidency Chairman Jan Peter Balkenende announced on Friday.

His statement came amid threats from EU Member state Greece to veto both EU and NATO memberships of Macedonia if the latter was recognised with its constitutional name Republic of Macedonia.

The warning came a day after the United States fully recognized Macedonia under that name, despite strong Greek objections, ahead of a referendum Sunday aimed at granting Macedonia's restive ethnic Albanian minority greater autonomy.

Greek government said Friday it would block neighbouring Macedonia from joining NATO or the European Union unless a name dispute with the Balkan republic is resolved.

Athens has argued that use of the name Macedonia implies territorial claims toward Greece - which has a neighbouring province with the same name - and made a formal complaint to Washington on Thursday.

Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski hailed the US decision as the country's biggest diplomatic victory since it gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and later joined the United Nations under the name "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," or FYRM, to sidestep Greek objections.

Macedonia signed an Agreement for stabilization and association with EU in 2001, and formally applied for EU membership earlier this year.

If Greece blocks Macedonia's entry in EU and NATO, that will mean repeating of history again, because Athens had already blocked UN membership for its northern neighbour in 1994, which lasted less than a year.