
The Macedonian government in 2008 rejected German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s pressure, and the Romanian government proposal to accept from the Greek side the offered formulation “The Republic of Skopje (Macedonia)” in return for joining NATO at the Bucharest summit, documents published on WikiLeaks show.
The US administration’s 2008 document describes a meeting between then-Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and former US ambassador to Skopje Julien Milovanovic, shortly after Greece vetoed Macedonia’s NATO membership at the Bucharest summit. In a document bearing confidentiality, Milovanovic points out that at a meeting on April 4, Prime Minister Gruevski expressed gratitude to the US government for its strong support for Macedonia’s accession to NATO, despite the cemented insistence on Greece to veto the unsettled name dispute – writes “Republika”.
He said that in addition to the unsuccessful attempt by German Chancellor Merkel and a similar move by the Romanian government to convince the government of Macedonia to accept the Greek formulation of the new name, it was a pleasure to see how most NATO members made efforts to persuade Greece not to veto, the document says.
Milovanovic, according to the document signed by her, asked Gruevski to continue the negotiations under the auspices of the UN (Nimetz) and to find a solution as soon as possible. Gruevski agreed with her, but voiced doubts that Greece will show flexibility in the near future. He added that the Slovenians told him that Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis explained that the veto was necessary due to the pressure of the Greek public. Moreover, Gruevski expressed suspicion that Athens will become even more rigid in its positions, convinced that it “won” in Bucharest.
WikiLeaks has also published a 2009 document describing a meeting between then-Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou and an American senior official who told him that for Greece, the Republic of Northern Macedonia is an acceptable solution.