Macedonia sues Greece over NATO bid

SKOPJE, Macedonia, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Macedonia says it has filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice in The Hague accusing Greece of breaching a bilateral agreement.

Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki says Greece broke the terms of a U.N.-sponsored accord between the countries by vetoing Skopje's bid to join NATO at the alliance's meeting in April, the Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini reported Tuesday.

"We hope this action might encourage Greece to bring its actions into compliance with its international legal obligations and that it might also encourage … a final settlement on outstanding issues in the spirit of good-neighborliness envisaged by the Interim Accord," Milososki told reporters.

Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman George Koumoutsakos said Macedonia's appeal to the ICC proved that it wasn't willing to seriously discuss bilateral issues, such as Greece's opposition to the former Yugoslavian state taking the name "the Republic of Macedonia."