Skopje. “The problem that Skopje has with Greece is much smaller than the one with Bulgaria over the “artificial national identity,” Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos said speaking before the French Senate, Deutsche Welle reported in its programme for Macedonia.
According to Evangelos Venizelos, Athens was prepared for a compromise.
Asked by a French senator about the relations with Macedonia and whether people in Macedonia spoke Greek, Minister Venizelos said, as follows: “The Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) should find a solution for the name of the country, since there are already other territories with the names Central Macedonia, with capital city Thessaloniki, Western Macedonia, Bulgarian Macedonia and Albanian Macedonia. We propose a compromise for wide use.”
In minister’s words, there are inter-ethnic problems in the country.
Venizelos commented further that another problem concerned the “pseudo-Macedonian language, which according to the Bulgarian government and the Bulgarian scientific circles is Bulgarian”.
The other problem is ideological, the minister remarked.
“There is an ideological problem between Skopje and Sofia about the artificial national identity,” Venizelos said.
In his words, the problem with Greece is much smaller than the one with Bulgaria.
“Our name row is a small issue compared with the big language and historical issues between the Slavic minorities. No one speaks Greek in FYROM,” the minister said.
