[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 7 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
104th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. CON. RES. 7
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the President should not have
granted diplomatic recognition to the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 15 (legislative day, January 30), 1995
Ms. Snowe submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the President should not have
granted diplomatic recognition to the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia.
Whereas the United States has strong and enduring economic, political, and
strategic ties with the Hellenic Republic of Greece;
Whereas Greece has been a strategic ally of the United States in the Eastern
Mediterranean during every major conflict in this century;
Whereas historical and archaeological evidence demonstrates that the ancient
Macedonians were Greek;
Whereas Macedonia is a Greek name that has designated the northern area of
Greece for over 2,000 years;
Whereas in 1944 the United States opposed the changing of the name of the Skopje
region of Yugoslavia by Marshall Tito from Vardar Banovina to Macedonia
as part of a campaign to gain control of the Greek province of
Macedonia, and the major port city of Salonika;
Whereas the regime in Skopje has persisted in inflaming tensions between it and
Greece through a sustained propaganda campaign and the continued use of
an ancient Greek symbol, the Star of Vergina, in its flag;
Whereas the Skopje regime has refused to remove paragraph 49 from its
constitution, a reference to the 1994 declaration by the then communist
regime calling for the ``unification'' of neighboring territories in
Greece and Bulgaria with the ``Macedonian Republic'';
Whereas Greece has no claim on the territory of the former Yugoslav republic of
Macedonia and has repeatedly reaffirmed the inviolability of all borders
in the area of the two countries; and
Whereas it is in the best interest of the United States to oppose any
expansionist or irredentist policies in order to promote peace and
stability in the area: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
(1) the President should not have extended diplomatic
recognition to the Skopje regime that insists on using the
Greek name of Macedonia; and
(2) the President should reconsider this decision and
withdraw diplomatic recognition until such time as the Skopje
regime renounces its use of the name Macedonia, removes
objectionable language in paragraph 49 of its constitution,
removes symbols which imply territorial expansion such as the
Star of Vergina in its flag, ceases propaganda against Greece,
and adheres fully to Conference on Security and Cooperation in
Europe norms and principles.
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