[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 2883]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  REINTRODUCING LEGISLATION TO ADDRESS THE DISPUTE BETWEEN THE FORMER 
               YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA AND GREECE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 11, 2014

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to 
reintroduce legislation to address the long-standing name dispute 
between the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Greece. 
This House 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.
  As founder and co-Chair of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic 
Issues, this is of tremendous importance to me. I believe the United 
States must send a strong message, supporting a solution to the name 
issue and to encourage the FYROM and Greece to reach a mutually 
acceptable solution as soon as possible.
  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.
  Both NATO and the White House have repeatedly emphasized their 
support for the unanimous decision made at the NATO Bucharest Summit in 
2008 (and reiterated at NATO Summits in Strasbourg/Kehl in 2009 and 
Lisbon in 2010) that an invitation would be extended once a mutually 
acceptable solution to the name dispute has been reached. As the United 
States and its NATO allies consider the future of NATO and possible 
changes in membership, the United States must abide by this decision. 
Otherwise, any move by the United States that shows support for 
extending NATO membership to the FYROM, before a resolution is reached 
in the name dispute, might be misinterpreted by the government in 
Skopje as a sign for further intransigence. This would eventually 
derail the ongoing negotiations, thus undermining U.S. interests in the 
Western Balkan region.
  This resolution urges the FYROM to work within the framework of the 
United Nations process and in good faith with Greece to achieve 
longstanding United States and United Nations policy goals of resolving 
the name dispute. The resolution also 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.

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