Greece should have accepted “Slavo-macedonia”

Athens / 16/03/09 / 15:20

Greece in the beginning of the 1990s lost many opportunities to resolve the thorny issue of the name of Macedonia, Greek high-ranking official said Sunday.

Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos made the statement at the two-day conference entitled “Greece-Macedonia: The Causes of the Crisis and Greece’s Position after the Bucharest Summit – Possible Solution, Prospects”, organized by the ruling New Democracy party.

Avramopoulos, a former Athens mayor and career diplomat, stressed that Greece in the beginning of the 1990s should have accepted the name “Slavo-macedonia” for the then newly-emerged state to its immediate north.

“We have lost 10 years,” the Greek Health Minister said at the conference.

Moreover, he stressed that “in case of a referendum not a single Greek citizen would accept the name “Macedonia” as an international recognised name of the country. /end/ nv

Makfax.