Macedonian Journalists Accused of Helping Greece

Ivanov said this on Tuesday, approximately at the same time when Greece presented its memorandum containing its counter arguments to the Macedonian suit at the ICJ.

“I hear many of the arguments will be from our journalists who gave statements, spread speculations and gave false information, which the Greek side is using to their advantage,” Ivanov stated.

In its memorandum, Greece utterly rejects Macedonian claims that it vetoed Skopje’s NATO accession in 2008, arguing that the failure to invite Macedonia to the block at the Bucharest summit of the alliance was due to a lack of consensus, according to the Greek Foreign Ministry.

The Ministry said the memorandum included legal, political and historical arguments that fully refute Skopje's claims.

Macedonian authorities last year filed legal proceedings against Greece for blocking its NATO entry. They claim this violated the 1995 UN Interim Accord that obliged Greece not to block Macedonia from entering international organizations as long as it uses its UN provisional name, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, FYROM.
 
Athens, for its part, argues that Macedonia was the one that broke the UN-sponsored agreement first by renaming important infrastructure after heroes from Greek history, such as ancient warrior king Alexander the Great.

Athens and Skopje are locked in an 18 year-long dispute over the use of the name Macedonia. Greece insists that its neighbour’s official name, the Republic of Macedonia, must be changed, as it implies territorial claims over its own northern province also called Macedonia

In 2008, Athens blocked Skopje from entering NATO by using its rule that new member states must be approved by consensus by all members of the alliance. Similarily, in December 2009, Greece prevented the EU from extending a start date for Macedonia’s EU accession talks. In both cases, Athens cited the unresolved name spat as reason.

Legal experts warn that the case could drag on for years, and that court decisions are not legally binding.

UN-led name talks have so far failed to produce a compromise between Athens and Skopje.