Brussels, 05/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - The United Nations' International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled, on Monday 5 December, that Greece was not in line with its obligations when opposing the membership of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) on the pretext that a suitable name for the former Yugoslav republic had not yet been found. However, the Court did not deem it necessary to order Greece to abstain from opposing FYROM's future membership of other international organisations, although that is what FYROM had requested. After the judgement had been announced, the Greek foreign minister specified that his country was studying the decision “with full respect for the ICJ as the principal judicial body of the United Nations”. He underlined that the important thing was for the Court to ensure that the two parties continue negotiations in order to find a solution on the name of FYROM. The Court's judgement does not resolve the problem of the country's name, a dispute that should be settled within the framework of UN Security Council resolutions and under the auspices of the United Nations, the Greek press release states.
FYROM had referred the matter to the International Court of Justice on 17 November 2008 as it reproached Greece for being in breach of an interim agreement concluded in 1995 by placing its veto on FYROM's membership of NATO in April 2008, when the agreement stated that Athens would not oppose Skopje's membership to an international organisation if this were done using the name of the “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”. The name question is also blocking the opening of the country's talks for membership of the EU. (CG/transl.jl)