Name dispute threatens EU Balkan strategy

BRUSSELS, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- A disagreement with Greece regarding Macedonia's choice of official name jeopardizes EU and NATO stability strategies for the western Balkans, a report said.

The name dispute escalated last year when Greece blocked Macedonia's NATO bid, the EU Observer reported Monday.

Officials in Athens claimed that use of the name Macedonia implies territorial claims over the Greek northern province of the same name.

"The main NATO-EU strategy for stabilizing Macedonia and the region via enlargement was derailed in 2008," the International Crisis Group said in a report.

"This is more than a bilateral dispute between Skopje (the Macedonian capital) and Athens. It risks derailing the main strategy of both NATO and the EU for stabilizing Macedonia and the region, based on enlargement and integration," said Donald Steinberg, the NGO's deputy president.