Why did the EU countries block the Former yugo. slavic macedonia from joining?

Question

I feel sorry for them ... this will be very difficult economically.. wont it .. they will struggle and suffer too much...

I hope they realize that Europe finally understands that they are trying to steal Greek idienty, and history...

They can not deny Greek Macedonians right to have their language and identity.....

I hope they change their name so they can be let into Europe and nato..

What do you think?

Answer 1

Maybe the economy of these countries wasn't strong enough and the EU was afraid the whole EU economy will suffer because of it if they accepted them. It is just like Turkey, Turkey wants to be included as well. However, Turkey is under consideration by the EU.

Answer 2

Letting Skopje (what you call Macedonia) join the EU would cause outrage in Greece.

It's like letting Turkey join the EU without them admitting to the 3 Million Armenians they burnt, or without having equal rights for women, bearing in mind that i am not a feminist!

Greek Barbie....Marry me?

Answer 3

After looking through the answers already given I wasn't really surprised at the anger and dare I say it hatred in some of them. Why can,t the citizens of a country whether it be Greece or                                                      Fyrom get on with their lives and ignore the propaganda that's thrown at them by their governments.This whole thing is getting out of hand spilling over into sports and other areas of life where politics have no place!

Answer 4

check out this article:

Macedonia told must solve name row for EU talks

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union told Macedonia on Friday it must resolve a row with EU member Greece over its name to get a date to start membership talks, but did not rule out new steps this year towards entry.

"Maintaining good neighbourly relations, including a negotiated and mutually acceptable solution on the name issue, remains essential," said a draft final statement from a meeting of EU leaders.

The draft, obtained by Reuters, said further steps "are possible by the end of this year" if all conditions are met.

Macedonia, which split from Yugoslavia in 1991, has the same name as Greece's most northerly province. Athens says Skopje must use a compound name such as "New" or "Upper" Macedonia and already blocked Macedonia's bid at a NATO summit in April to be invited to join the defence alliance.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said late on Thursday resolving the name dispute was also key to advancing ties with the EU.

"What I can say for certain is that Macedonia will be given a date to resume negotiations as soon as all conditions are fulfilled," he said after the first day of talks.

"There are some conditions that need to be met which are not completely in the remit of the EU institutions," he said, citing "the issue of the name."

Gunfights and fraud during Macedonia's June 1 elections did not help Skopje's case. In the summit draft, the EU called on Macedonia to ensure that elections due next year would be free and fair, and to crack down on corruption and organised crime.

(Reporting by Mark John and Ingrid Melander; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

I think that the world has finally opened their eyes and has seen the TRUE nature of the FYROM and now the must face the TRUTH... but they won't like it and start crying again playing the part of the victim while they in reality are the agressors...

The jig is up!!!

Quite frankly I hope they continue to be stupid and their goverment will collapse and they will be absobed by surrounding nations.... they way they are acting right now they do not deserve to succeed because they are trying to steal another nation's legacy instead of establishing their own identity.

Answer 5

They were blocked from NATO not the EU and the Greeks are the ones that vetoed them,

We didnt pick the fight they started it - we have out own history they have theirs i dont see the problem

Answer 6

they block them because in order to join EU you must have a good neighbourhooding relationships

puting a swastiga in the place of the cross in Greece's flag,and where the goverment did take no action,is a sign of good relationship????

after that,when their pseudo-archibishop claiming about thessaloniki is their pat,is a sign of good relationship???

(in that case,their prime minister,not only disacosiated the goverment from this statement but also agreed)

this had also terrority claims

teaching them in schools that GREEK parts belong to them,this is also a sign of good neighborhood relationship???

smells to me like propaganda and terrority claims......

(thats only some of the good things they did as good neighbors)

to end it,a country that puts their police officers to kill ethnic albanians in order not to vote ....well how to say this.....hm...has nothing to do with democracy.......:)

edit to tayjlakcresvski:

i lived from 1984 to 1999 at Serres,Thessaloniki and Chalikidiki and i never met or saw a fyromian..

so stop taking drugs and have such illusions

Answer 7

FYROM'S last elections  and actions towards its neighbors showed that these people don't have the stability as a country

that can be taken serious as to join world organizations such as NATO and the EU. They should realized that they leave in a world of democracy and they need to act as democrats rather than act as country of anarchists who are usually proud of their actions  but do not take in consideration the consequences that can follow in the future. To prosper in Democracy is to have respect for yourself and your neighbors.  These people need to change the way of thinking if they want to be accepted by the world organizations or they could be classified as a third world country than other nations could feel sorry for them.

If these Fyromians want  to be called Macedonians they should change their language to Greek and then to try to be part of Greece because real Macedonians spoke Greek and they always were part of the Greek nation.

Answer 8

The European Union and NATO has several rules in order to join and maintain their membership, one of those rules is that no country which is a member of these Unions/Organizations can have any conflict whatsoever with another member, both sides can claim the other side started this, but if we can be civilized and diplomatic about these issues, then there will not be any problems left without a solution.

Greece adapted in order to join, unfortunately there can not be an exception for any country, even if they invent the story that Jesus Christ was originally from their grounds.