World Court Rules Against Greece in FYROM Case

The Associated Press

AP Photo/Peter Dejong
Greece's ambassador Georges Savvaides, left, agent Maria Telalian, second left, and professor of international law James Crawford, third from left, rise as presiding judge Hisashi Owada, far right, enters the Great Hall of Justice where the International Court of Justice delivered its ruling in a dispute between Greece and Macedonia over Athens' veto of Macedonia's bid for NATO membership in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Dec. 5, 2011.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The world court ruled Monday that Greece was wrong to block FYROM's bid to join NATO in 2008 because of a long-running dispute over the fledgling country's use of the name 'Macedonia.'

In a 15-1 ruling, the court found that Greece's veto breached a 1995 deal under which Greece had agreed not to block FYROM's membership in international organizations if it used the name "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," or FYROM, while the matter was submitted to further negotiations. More than 15 years later, mediation over the name is still unresolved.

Although the question of FYROM's name is sometimes seen as superficial by outsiders, it is a matter of deep concern for both sides. The young country has used the name in one form or another since shortly after World War II, when it was a province of Yugoslavia, but Greece considers it a Greek term and Macedonia was recognized as a Hellenic state in the days of Alexander the Great in the fourth century B.C.

Already a subscriber?
Sign in to read full article.
Not a subscriber?
Subscribe now and get full access!

December 05, 2011

Save article


1. Niko Seretis wrote on December 05, 2011 5:05 PM	Very dissapointing that the court ruled in favor of Fyrom. The issue was handled wrong from the start and we can thank Mitsotakis for that. He was clueless and was caught napping, like most politicians in Greece. Samaras was the only hard liner at the time who understood the situation better than Mitsotakis but he was removed from his position and the embargo was soon lifted.

2. Philip Vorgias wrote on December 05, 2011 8:19 PM	The World Court has ruled, now Greece should ignore it.

3. Dionysios Markopoulos wrote on December 05, 2011 11:12 PM	Lol! Exactly.

4. Niko Seretis wrote on December 06, 2011 12:34 AM	If the Turks can do it why can't we?

5. Philip Vorgias wrote on December 06, 2011 11:27 AM	To hell with the World Court, what have the done to get the Turks out of Cyprus for 38 years? A Court that allows political considerations to get in the way of Justice is no Court I want to have anything to do with!
You must sign in in order to post a comment.

Thursday, May 17, 2012 Last Update: 6:41 AM ET