[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 57 (Thursday, April 19, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




URGING THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA (FYROM) TO WORK WITHIN 
  THE FRAMEWORK OF THE UNITED NATIONS PROCESS WITH GREECE TO ACHIEVE 
LONGSTANDING UNITED STATES AND UNITED NATIONS POLICY GOALS OF RESOLVING 
                            THE NAME DISPUTE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 19, 2012

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, today I am reintroducing legislation 
urging the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to work within 
the framework of the United Nations process with Greece to achieve 
longstanding United States and United Nations policy goals of resolving 
the name dispute and encourages the United States to work with its NATO 
allies to uphold previous NATO Summits decisions, with regard to the 
enlargement issue.
  Negotiations are ongoing between Greece and the FYROM to resolve the 
name dispute. Historical and archaeological evidence shows that the 
ancient Macedonians were Greek. Macedonia is a Greek name that has 
designated the northern area of Greece for 2,500 years. In 1944, the 
name of the Skopje region was changed to Macedonia as part of Tito's 
imperialist campaign to gain control of the Greek province of 
Macedonia.
  NATO's Heads of State and Government unanimously agreed in Bucharest 
(April 3, 2008) that ``. . . within the framework of the UN, many 
actors have worked hard to resolve the name issue, but the Alliance has 
noted with regret that these talks have not produced a successful 
outcome. Therefore we agreed that an invitation to the former Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia will be extended as soon as a mutually acceptable 
solution to the name issue has been reached. We encourage the 
negotiations to be resumed without delay and expect them to be 
concluded as soon as possible''--an agreement for which the heads of 
State and Government participating in the NATO Summit meetings in 
Strasbourg/Kehl (April 4, 2009), as well as in Lisbon (November 20, 
2010) reiterated their support.
  This resolution 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 of resolving the name dispute 
and encourages the United States to work with its NATO allies to uphold 
previous NATO Summits decisions, with regard to the enlargement issue 
and extend an invitation to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 
as soon as a mutually acceptable solution to the name issue has been 
reached.

                          ____________________