NATO's secretary general said Monday that Macedonia's effort to become a member could be blocked if it failed to resolve a longstanding dispute over its name with Greece, a longtime NATO member.
Macedonia, a former Yugoslav republic, hopes to win NATO's invitation to join the 26-member military alliance at a meeting of leaders in Bucharest, Romania, in April.
But Greece has threatened to block those plans if Macedonia does not relinquish its name, which Greece contends is its exclusively. Greece says that using the name implies a claim to the northern Greek province of the same name.
“There is no certainty that invitations will be issued to aspiring nations,” said the secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, following talks in Athens with the Greek foreign minister, Dora Bakoyannis. “A solution to this dispute will be a big plus for us, but it has to be made possible.”
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