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Official name of Macedonia creates Balkan tensions

Balkan antagonism surfaced over a shortening of the official name used to introduce the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which is a member of the UN.

Greece's mission to the UN hastily organized a press conference on Tuesday to declare as "unacceptable" the General Assembly president's shortening the name to Macedonia when he introduced the nation's president, Branko Crvenkovski.

Srgjan Kerim, the president of the 62nd session of the General Assembly, is the former foreign minister and UN ambassador of the Balkan nation -- a connection that was not overlooked by Greece.

"Mr. Kerim, with his action today, and acting under instructions from his government, has irreparably damaged for the duration of his term, his standing and credibility as president of the General Assembly of the United Nations," Greece's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"This unacceptable action of Mr. Kerim reaffirms the provocative and uncompromising position of the government of Skjope," it said, avoiding altogether the country's name by referring to the capital.

Ever since the country gained independence after the breakup of the six-member Yugoslav federation in 1991, Athens has maintained the name Macedonia belongs to a Greek province and not to the new republic.

Due to Greek opposition, most international bodies -- including the UN, the EU and NATO -- use the acronym FYROM, for Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

But the US and many other countries have recognized the country as Macedonia. Last week, Canada became the latest to officially discard the FYROM acronym.

Despite the name dispute, the two neighboring nations enjoy close political and trade relations.
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