Greece
offers no agreement or guarantees on the issue of Macedonian identity
and we should be aware of that in order not to be taken by surprise in
case someone brings up the matter, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski
stated on Friday.
Till present day regardless of the
governmental structure, Greece hasn't been showing readiness to discuss
the identity issue at all, the PM added.
- It is one of the serious issues, even though at
home we are constantly being convinced that nothing else is important
only if an agreement on the identity is reached. Not only there aren't
any guarantees on the identity, but also Greece is not willing to
discuss it at all, rather may take on it after the 'name'. It is not in its interest, Gruevski told the press
at a celebration marking the 65th anniversary of Skopje's liberation.
Macedonia, he stressed, is prepared to fight for its
strategic and national interests and the people will voice their
support for certain name proposals to come at a referendum.
Commenting a statement by government coalition
partner, DUI leader Ali Ahmeti and president of opposition party SDSM,
Branko Crvenkovski given at a joint meeting on prompt settlement of the
name row, Gruevski said Crvenkovski was not relevant to give lectures
on the matter since he had failed to solve it during his years in the
office. At the moment, no one right now is sure for how long these pretend negotiations will go on. Asked what he thought on SDSM's members meeting with Greek Ambassador and their urging for Macedonia to change the name 'or else', Gruevski added Crvenkovski wont be allowed to create a repeat of 2001, avoiding to comment on their meetings with Greek Officials.
Referring to the visa liberalisation for Macedonia,
PM Gruevski said it was entering in its final stage. - I hope the
process will have a positive ending. The issue is to be discussed at an
EU ministerial meeting on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. I hope the process to be
completed with a positive result, which will enable Macedonian citizens
as of Dec. 19 to travel without visas in Schengen zone countries, PM
Gruevski stated.
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