Post by insomniac on Apr 16, 2009 19:29:37 GMT -5
<!--[endif]--> The people of Macedonia have been urged against travelling to or an unnecessarily prolonged stay in neighbouring Greece ahead of the Orthodox Easter weekend because of ‘safety fears’.
<!--[endif]--> The warning especially goes for stays in the larger Greek cities. According to the Macedonian Foreign Ministry notice, the wave of internal unrest that hit Greece last year is still not completely under control as many reports of violent incidents still endanger the safety and property of many people.
“Moreover, dozens of Macedonian citizens, especially transporters, have notified competent Macedonian authorities in the past few months on problems related to the damage to vehicles during their stay or transit in Greece," reads the recommendation.
In early March, Greece issued similar recommendation warning its citizens to refrain from traveling to Macedonia after Greek tourist buses visiting the country were spray-painted with slogans such as "United Macedonia", "Alexander the Great" and other slogans.
The tourists were then escorted back to Greece under police protection while Skopje replied that Greece overreacted to this hooligan attack by issuing a travel warning.
A series of similar incidents have been reported over the last year as the relations between the two countries deteriorated over the burning name dispute.
Last April Greece blocked Macedonia’s sure entry in to NATO arguing that the country must change its official name first. Athens sees the name Macedonia as Skopje’s intent on making territorial claims on the Greek northern region of the same name.
The UN talks to resolve this issue have so far been in vain and the observers expect a greater initiative in this field after the European Union parliamentary election ends in Greece in June.
Macedonia is suing Greece for the NATO blockade at the International Court of Justice while Greece warns that it could also block Macedonia’s efforts to join the European Union.
In his congratulations letter to the Macedonian President-elect Gjorge Ivanov on
Thursday, the Greek President Karolos Papoulias said he hoped for a quick resolution to the name dispute.
(Reporting by Sinisa-Jakov Marusic)
www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/18182/
<!--[endif]--> The warning especially goes for stays in the larger Greek cities. According to the Macedonian Foreign Ministry notice, the wave of internal unrest that hit Greece last year is still not completely under control as many reports of violent incidents still endanger the safety and property of many people.
“Moreover, dozens of Macedonian citizens, especially transporters, have notified competent Macedonian authorities in the past few months on problems related to the damage to vehicles during their stay or transit in Greece," reads the recommendation.
In early March, Greece issued similar recommendation warning its citizens to refrain from traveling to Macedonia after Greek tourist buses visiting the country were spray-painted with slogans such as "United Macedonia", "Alexander the Great" and other slogans.
The tourists were then escorted back to Greece under police protection while Skopje replied that Greece overreacted to this hooligan attack by issuing a travel warning.
A series of similar incidents have been reported over the last year as the relations between the two countries deteriorated over the burning name dispute.
Last April Greece blocked Macedonia’s sure entry in to NATO arguing that the country must change its official name first. Athens sees the name Macedonia as Skopje’s intent on making territorial claims on the Greek northern region of the same name.
The UN talks to resolve this issue have so far been in vain and the observers expect a greater initiative in this field after the European Union parliamentary election ends in Greece in June.
Macedonia is suing Greece for the NATO blockade at the International Court of Justice while Greece warns that it could also block Macedonia’s efforts to join the European Union.
In his congratulations letter to the Macedonian President-elect Gjorge Ivanov on
Thursday, the Greek President Karolos Papoulias said he hoped for a quick resolution to the name dispute.
(Reporting by Sinisa-Jakov Marusic)
www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/18182/