Greek Foreign Minister refused to attend the ministerial meeting of NATO because of Macedonia. Evangelos Venizelos withdrew from the meeting for the discussion of measures against ISIS because in the Joint Declaration of the meeting, Macedonia was registered and signed under its constitutional name. Greek Minister briefed US Secretary of State John Kerry on the situation.
Representatives of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed that Venizelos withdrew from the meeting because USA did not respect the rules and decisions of the United Nations. “The reason for the absence of Venizelos was, even despite frequent correspondences and protest notes sent to the United States, which scheduled the summit, that the rules and practice of the UN regarding the way the participating countries were named weren’t honored. Specifically, although FYROM participated at the Summit with its temporary name, in the Joint Declaration of the countries that are part of the Alliance, it was signed under its constitutional name,” reads the statement from the Greek Ministry. Because of the signature, Greece submitted a statement in which it reminds on the decisions of the Security Council of the UN, stressing that Greece doesn’t recognize Macedonian under its constitutional name.
“Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Venizelos also sent a relevant note to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United States, John Kerry,” it is added in the statement of the ministry.
Greek Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Greece to NATO, Michalis Damesis, attended the Summit instead of Venizelos.
