MEPs Urge EU Accession Talks for Macedonia

The initiative, led by Slovenian MEP Zoran Thaler, who is the EP Special Rapporteur for Macedonia, gathered representatives from eight member states and four political groups, Macedonian MIA news agency reported.

In the letter, addressed to the European Council, EU foreign ministers and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, the MEPs encourage Greece not to block its smaller neighbour's EU accession process as it did before. They urge Athens to endorse the start of the talks for Skopje, arguing that such a move would further strengthen Greece’s positive role in the Balkans.

"This is expected from Greece, in a period when bilateral blockades to the European integration process are condemned, and in a time of great solidarity due to the economic crisis," reads the letter.

The MEPs added that in autumn last year the EC recommended issuing a start date for Macedonia as a reward for achieving convincing process in the implementation of crucial reforms.

However, due to the Greek refusal to let Macedonia move forward with the accession process before it changes its official name, the European Council later the same year failed to reach a decision to offer the start date.

The EU then said that the issue would be re-assessed at this week’s European Council summit, with the hope that there would be a breakthrough in the bilateral name spat between Athens and Skopje by then.

MEPs say that a fresh delay in the decision, which is expected as the dispute remains unresolved, could undermine the credibility of Europe's foreign policy towards the Western Balkans.

They claim that this move would also jeopardize the fragile stability in this region.

Macedonia and Greece have been quarreling about the use of the name Macedonia for 18 years. Athens insists that Skopje’s official name, Republic of Macedonia, implies territorial claims against its own northern province which is also called Macedonia.
 
The row escalated in 2008 when Athens blocked Skopje’s invitation to join NATO. The subsequent UN sponsored talks for resolving the row have so far failed to produce tangible results.