SUBJECT: Macedonia urges Greece to address ethnic Macedonian issue

SUBJECT: Macedonia urges Greece to address ethnic Macedonian issue
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Macedonia urges Greece to address ethnic Macedonian issue


www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-15 02:36:23 Print

TIRANA, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has written to his Greek counterpart Costas Karamanlis, asking for the recognition of the Macedonian minority in Greece and the return of property to Macedonian refugees who were forced to flee.

Gruevski called Greece to recognize the existence of the Macedonian minority on its territory and to grant them the right to education in their own language as well as the right to foster their culture and traditions, news reaching here from Skopje reported on Monday.

In the letter Gruevski also touched on the issue of the exodus of Macedonians who fled northern Greece during the 1946-1949 Greek Civil War. He urged Athens to allow them to acquire the property they left behind in Greece.

"These people were born in Greece and now are citizens of Macedonia. But they cannot reclaim their assets in Greece; they face serious obstacles when entering Greece; and they can't acquire a Greek citizenship," Gruevski said in the letter.

"Both you and I are not able to change history and the past. But with good will, we can right many injustices from the past and certainly we can establish a much better future for our citizens," Gruevski said.

Macedonia and Greece have been at loggerheads with each other for the past 17 years. Athens opposes Skopje being called the Republic of Macedonia. It argues that the name of Macedonia implies territorial claim over its northern province of the same name.

The running name dispute has cost Macedonia dearly. Greece vetoed Macedonia's NATO bid in April at the alliance's summit in Bucharest, Romania, because they couldn't find a mutually accepted solution to this issue.


Editor: Yan Liang

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