Macedonia Should Have a Journalist at the State Department

If Greece really had a veto, as to whether Macedonia joins Nato or not, then negotiations with Nato would not begin until Macedonia agreed to Greece's terms. The statement below regarding Macedonia's Nato membership is just a way of playing for time until the US/EU can pressure Greece to accommodate Macedonia. So don't get your shorts in a knot, and lets fall off that bridge when we come to it.

US State Department Daily Press Briefing -- February 5:

"QUESTION: Yes. Mr. McCormack, on FYROM. Last Thursday, in answer to a question of mine regarding the land dispute between Greece and FYROM, inter alia, you stated, 'Greece and Macedonia need to come to sort of accommodation or understanding as to what Greece will refer to Macedonia as.' What do you mean with this since that reflects exactly the position of FYROM?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, you asked a question about membership in NATO. That's how this whole question came about. Macedonia is part of the Membership Action Plan, MAP, so there is some interaction ongoing between NATO as an organization, its individual member-states and Macedonia. We ourselves have made a decision with respect to the name of Macedonia.

Now, eventually, as we have said, that NATO has an open door and we clearly have -- are engaged in discussions with other non-member states right now about the potential for membership down the road, one of those issues between Macedonia and Greece would have to be the name issue. And in -- if you were ever to -- if you were ever to get to membership for Macedonia in NATO, you would have to get all member NATO states agreeing that Macedonia should enter. So it was a reference to the fact that if you ever do get to that point, it's an issue that would need to be resolved between Macedonia and Greece since NATO is"