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Macedonia may end talks if Greece vetoes NATO bid

Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki threatened to end talks with Greece over the former Yugoslav republic's name if Macedonia's southern neighbor vetoes its bid to join NATO.

Milososki also said on Monday that chances were small that a deal on the name would be reached before next week's NATO summit.

Greece has insisted that Macedonia change its name, which it says implies territorial claims on the province of northern Greece that also is called Macedonia.

UN envoy Matthew Nimetz invited Greek and Macedonian negotiators to New York for talks yesterday. The dispute has simmered for 15 years, but is reaching a crisis ahead of the NATO summit at which Macedonia will be considered for membership in the alliance along with Albania and Croatia.

The three countries will require the unanimous support of the alliance's 26 members to join. Greece has repeatedly threatened a veto should the talks fail to agree on a name for Macedonia.

"There is still a small hope to get a deal done before the summit," Milososki said by telephone from Skopje.

But should a failure lead to a Greek veto, Macedonia will not continue with talks.

"It would be senseless," Milososki said.

Greece refers to its neighbor to the north as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM, the name used by the UN and other international organizations. More than 120 countries, including the US, Russia and Canada, have recognized it as Macedonia.

Macedonian media reported last week that Nimetz proposed three new names for Macedonia in the Vienna talks: "Republic of Upper Macedonia," "New Republic of Macedonia" and "Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)."

But Milososki has called for new ideas.

"We are not prepared to accept any change that will undermine the Macedonian national and linguistic identity," he said.

"The name of Macedonia is not just a name, but we consider it to be a cornerstone of our national identity," he said.

"We will be prepared to consider something that we can consider dignified, reasonable and not undermining our basic rights and identity," Milososki said.
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