Athens , 29 August 2006

Replying to a journalists question regarding statements made by the new Foreign Minister of FYROM, Mr. Antonio Milososki, as well as by FYROMs representative at the New York talks on the name issue, according to which the negotiations do not concern the international name of this country, but simply a bilateral issue with Greece positions for which the foreign minister of the neighboring country expressed understanding Foreign Minister Ms. D. Bakoyannis stated the following:

I want to remind to my colleague from FYROM that the talks in New York, under the auspices of the UN, regard the international name of his country, with which Greece maintains and seeks to maintain the best possible neighbourly, political and economic relations. 

Given the fact that the minister understands, as he stated, the Greek positions, it is obvious that he also sees that the Hellenic Parliament, under any composition, will not ratify the accession of the neighbouring country to the EU and NATO if the name issue is not resolved beforehand.