President Stephanopoulos stresses importance of unity in these difficult days, as reactions to US recognition of FYROM as 'Macedonia' continue

   

   

    President of the Republic Costis Stephanopoulos on Sunday stressed the importance of unity in "these difficult days" the country was facing, as reactions to the US decision last week to recognise FYROM under its disputed constitutional name of 'Macedonia' continued in Greece and Greek communities abroad.

    Speaking at the unveiling of a bust of the late Greek statesman Eleftherios Venizelos in the municipality of Nea Smyrni, Stephanopoulos said the event provided the opportunity "for us to think, in these difficult days -- difficult due to the circumstances we are all aware of -- how important unity is for our people".

    Stephanopoulos, who was earlier presented with the gold medal of the city following a unanimous decision of the Nea Smyrni municipal council, expressed the wish that "our country will overcome the big problems it still faces, and prosper even more", but also that it will "continue its course of prestige it has commenced in the Balkan region and prove that Hellas knows how to act like a democratic state, a state that fights for the prosperity of the people but at the same time also for regional prosperity and cooperation among all the Balkan countries".

    Meanwhile, some 2,000 people turned out in Thessaloniki for a demonstration called by the Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) party to protest the US decision on FYROM, chanting slogans such as "we don't sell our name, we don't submit to Bush" and "Macedonia is Greek". The rally was addressed by LAOS leader and Europarliamentarian George Karatzaferis, who called on the government and the political leadership to "stand up against" Bush's provocations. He clarified, however, that the blame for the development lay on Washington, and that the Greeks were "not runing against the people of the neighbouring country". Approximately 100 protestors affiliated with right-wing organisations held a similar protest in downtown Thessaloniki on Saturday night, and marched to the US Consulate, where they burned US and FYROM flags.

    Also, in Kastoria, the town's municipal council voted that a Square named after WWII US general James Alward Van Fleet of the US Army Group, which was part of the US Mission for Aid to Greece (Van Fleet Square) be renamed as "Plateia Makedonomachon" (Macedonian fighters' Square).

    At the same time, Athens mayor Dora Bakoyanni said the US' recognition of FYROM with the name 'Republic of Macedonia' was a "wrong decision at the wrong time", and called that "Greece does not involve itself again in a blind-alley discussion characterised by populism and demagogy".

    "The mistakes in the handling of the FYROM name issue were consecutive, and therefore, engaging in frank self-criticism, all the political forces must enter a new page that can and should be more successful than the previous ones," she said.

    "Foreign policy needs realism, seriousness, responsibility and national unanimity," Bakoyanni said, and expressed hope that there would be substantive cooperation among all the political forces so that the national interests would prevail.

    Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece, who officiated at a liturgy in Veria on Sunday, also called for unity among the Greek people in order to "avert the falsification of the name Macedonia".

    In Hania, former parliament president (PASOK) Apostolos Kaklamanis said the recognition of FYROM as 'Macedonia' was a "cynical, arrogant and insulting action against our country first of all -- as an ally of the US -- and against our partners in the EU, and the United Nations".

    He said that the US action "in effect undermined the efforts being made, under UN auspices, to find a mutually acceptable solution to this problem (FYROM name)", and it also was an insult to the Greeks of the US "the majority of whom voted for Mr. Bush, and this decision was the thank you to them immediately after the polls closed".

    Kaklamanis called for cooperation among all the political forces in the country to agree on effective steps, such as vetoing the commencement of FYROM accession talks with the EU or NATO.

    Also, world-renowned Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis also called for unity as Hellenism was entering a difficult, critical and dangerous period that left no room for petty-political clashes.

    "The surprise US gesture to Skopje, with its anti-Greek spearhead, should cormpise a 'warning bell' that calls us to unity, vigilance and contemplation as Hellenism is entering a very difficult, critical and dangerous period that leaves no margins for clashes of a petty political nature," Theodorakis said in a statement.

    "We must look clearly at the present and future correlation of powers, where it appears that our country, and Cyprus with it, are the target of the superpower (US)," he said, and proposed the forging of a national policy of common acceptance to confront the difficulties, at the same time stressing the importance of Greece's allies in Europe, the Arab world, Russia and the Balkans in that direction.

    Specifically regarding the problem of FYROM and Albania, he proposed that it be made clear that the interests of the neighbouring countries lay in the direction of good relations with Greece.

    Theodorakis further clarified that Greece's objection to the name 'Republic of Macedonia' was naturally "not with the words butwhat some quarters visibly signal behind those words, namely the irredentist claims against our country's (territorial) integrity".

    "This is something that unfortunately was not made sufficiently known, with the well-known results. It is, therefore, today, time to resoundingly shout in every direction, and chiefly to Skopje itself, so that there will be no delusion regarding our future stance -- which in every instance will be what it always has been whenever our national integrity faced dangers," he said.

    Finally, regarding Greek-Turkish relations, Theodorakis noted that Turkey's domestic problems had not been definitively resolved, and stressed that "peaceful coexistence" of the two peoples was the only way, warning that any other path would be truly devastating.

    In New York, Greece's deputy foreign minister for Greeks Abroad affairs Panayotis Skandalakis on Saturday briefed Archbishop Demetrios of America on the Athens government's actions over the FYROM issue.

    He told reporters after the meeting that he had also briefed the Archbishop on his own own talks and contacts with leaders of the Greek American community.

    Archbishop Demetrios, who has sent a letter to US president Bush calling on him to recall the US decision to recognise FYROM with the name 'Republic of Macedonia', called the decision a "clear, particularly negative and unpleasant development that will be followed by justified reactions and mobilisations by the Greek side".

    He said that Greece was a country that "always contributes but is frequently wronged", and welcomed the statement by the UN spokesman that the United Nations recognised only the name 'FYROM', as well as a similar statement by the European Union.

    In Skopje, FYROM president Branko Crvenkovski said Saturday night that his country had been waiting a long time for this moment, but also sent a message to the Greek government and people.

    Addressing celebrations in Skopje over the US decision, Crvenkovski said that Greece "is a friendly country country...We extend a hand of friendship and assure that we desire the continuation of our cooperation and good-neighbour relations".

   

   

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