110 HRES 356 IH: Expressing the sense of the House of
U.S. House of Representatives
2007-05-01
text/xml
EN
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Whereas on April 8, 1993, the United Nations General
Assembly admitted as a member the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
(FYROM), under the name the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia
;
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 817
(1993) states that the dispute over the name must be resolved to maintain
peaceful relations between Greece and the FYROM;
Whereas on September 13, 1995, Greece and the FYROM signed
a United Nations-brokered Interim Accord that, among other things, commits them
to not support claims to any part of the territory of the other party or
claims for a change of their existing frontiers
;
Whereas a pre-eminent goal of the United Nations Interim
Accord was to stop the FYROM from utilizing, since its admittance to the United
Nations in 1993, what the Accord calls, propaganda
, including in
school textbooks;
Whereas a television report in recent years showed
students in a state-run school in the FYROM still being taught that parts of
Greece, including Greek Macedonia, are rightfully part of the FYROM;
Whereas some textbooks, including the Military Academy
textbook published in 2004 by the Military Academy General Mihailo
Apostolski
in the FYROM capital city, contain maps showing that a
Greater Macedonia
extends many miles south into Greece to Mount
Olympus and miles east to Mount Pirin in Bulgaria;
Whereas in direct contradiction of the spirit of the
United Nations Interim Accord’s section A
, entitled
Friendly Relations and Confidence Building Measures
, which
attempts to eliminate challenges regarding historic and cultural
patrimony
, the Government of FYROM recently renamed the capital city’s
international airport Alexander the Great
;
Whereas the aforementioned acts constitute a breach of the
FYROM’s international obligations deriving from the spirit of the United
Nations Interim Accord, which provides that FYROM should abstain from any form
of propaganda
against Greece’s historical or cultural
heritage;
Whereas such acts are not compatible with the Article 10
of the United Nations Interim Accord regarding improving understanding
and good neighbourly relations
, as well as with European standards and
values endorsed by European Union member-states; and
Whereas this information, like that exposed in the media
report and elsewhere, being used contrary to the United Nations Interim Accord
instills hostility and a rationale for irredentism in portions of the
population of the FYROM toward Greece and the history of Greece: Now,
therefore, be it
That the House of
Representatives—
(1)urges the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to observe its obligations under Article
7 of the 1995 United Nations-brokered Interim Accord which directs the parties
to promptly take effective measures to prohibit hostile activities or
propaganda by state-controlled agencies and to discourage acts by private
entities likely to incite violence, hatred or hostility
and review the
contents of textbooks, maps, and teaching aids to ensure that such tools are
stating accurate information; and
(2)urges the FYROM to
work within the framework of the United Nations process with Greece to achieve
longstanding United States and United Nations policy goals by reaching a
mutually-acceptable official name for the FYROM.