US says name dispute must not hamper Macedonia's NATO accession

15/08/2008

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday (August 14th) that Macedonia should join NATO, regardless of its long-standing name dispute with Greece. "I hope the name dispute will be resolved soon. That must not be an obstacle to Macedonia's NATO accession, and we are working on that," she said in an interview with the Voice of America's Macedonian service. "One of the purposes of the NATO membership action plan and eventually, the admission in NATO, is to help countries overcome long-standing problems, differences and conflicts," Rice added. (Dnevnik, Vreme, Kathimerini - 15/08/08; Voice of America, Makfax, A1, Mina - 14/08/08)