A foreign ministry spokesman reiterated Greece's long-standing and steadfast desire to resolve the issue of the name of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) through negotiations, as foreseen by UNSC resolutions. Spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras referred to recent high-profile statements by the prime minister of the neighbouring country, Nikola Gruevski, who claimed that Athens is exercising a policy of "political genocide".
Achieving a mutually acceptable solution will release the potential in our bilateral relations and provide an impetus for the European and Euro-Atlantic prospects of the neighboring country," Delavekouras said, while cautioning that a self-evident condition for the above is the cultivation of good-neighborly relations.
The foreign ministry spokesman referred directly to what he called "offensive and wild extremes" by officials of the Skopje government, which, he pointed out, come in the wake of a new Greek government assuming power. He warned that such comments are not conducive for the creation of a suitable climate towards achieving a mutually acceptable solution to the 'name issue'.
"On the contrary, they undermine bilateral relations and fuel the systematic negative government propaganda that aims to turn the public opinion of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia against Greece," he said. (AMNA)