WORLD> Europe
US reiterates support for Macedonia's NATO bid
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-29 09:35

TIRANA -- A senior US official said on Tuesday that the United States strongly supports Macedonia's NATO bid, news reaching here from Skopje reported.

"The US position is clear. We are supporting Macedonia's accession to NATO," Stuart E. Jones, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, said after his meeting with Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.

Jones, who is on a two-day visit to the tiny western Balkan country, also urged Macedonia to quickly solve a long-running name dispute with Greece to clear the obstacle on its road to NATO.

Macedonia's NATO bid was thwarted at the alliance's April summit in Bucharest by Greece over the 17-year-long name dispute between the two neighbors.

Athens has been opposed to its neighbor being called the "Republic of Macedonia," arguing it implies a territorial claim over a Greek northern province also called Macedonia.