Percorso:ANSA > Nuova Europa > Macedonia > Macedonia: flag burnt in Thessaloniki, Skopje condemns

Macedonia: flag burnt in Thessaloniki, Skopje condemns

Large rally in Greek city rally on name dispute

22 January, 13:36
(ANSA) - SKOPJE, JAN 22 - Macedonia's government condemned today what they called 'isolated incidents' which occurred yesterday in a large anti-Macedonian demonstration in Thessaloniki. During the rally, a flag of Macedonia was burnt. Tens of thousands of people, urged by right-wing and nationalist organizations, demonstrated in the northern Greek city against the hypothesis that the term 'Macedonia' is used in the new name for the former Yugoslavian country.

'Macedonia was, is and will remain Greece', was the focus of the protest in Thessaloniki, which is the capital of the northern Greek region known as Macedonia. In recent weeks, considerable diplomatic efforts have been made to resolve the long-standing dispute between Skopje and Athens on the name of Macedonia. Greece has long blocked Skopje's path towards integration into the EU and Nato fearing territorial claims on its northern region and claiming that the term 'Macedonia' is the exclusive heritage of Hellenic historical and cultural tradition. This is why Macedonia was welcomed at the UN in 1993 with the acronym Fyrom - Former Yugoslavian republic of Macedonia. Today Macedonia's government, condemning yesterday's ethnical intemperance in Thessaloniki, has at the same time expressed the will to continue on the path of dialogue and moderation, in order to strengthen mutual trust with Athens and find an agreed dispute settlement, ''in the best interest of the peoples of both countries''.

© Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved