Macedonia's EU bid in danger as Greece row escalates 

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski sent a letter to his Greek counterpart Costas Karamanlis on 14 July, asking for recognition of the Macedonian minority in Greece and the return of property to Macedonian refugees who were forced to flee during the 1946-1949 Greek civil war. 

Some historians estimate that more than 100,000 ethnic Macedonians in northern Greece fled the country as the war between the right-wing monarchist government and the Democratic Army of Greece, a branch of the Communist Party, took hold. 

"Large parts of these people, most of them ethnic Macedonians born in Greece, came to live in the then Socialist Yugoslavia, or in parts of today's Republic of Macedonia to be exact," Gruevski writes. "They have stayed here ever since, probably influenced by the fact that they spoke the same language and felt as part of the same people, the Macedonians." 

Athens does not recognise those who fled as Macedonians and refuses to issue citizenship to them or their descendants. 

In addition, Gruevski urged Athens to recognise the existence of the Macedonian minority on its territory and grant them the right to education in their own language as well as to foster their culture and traditions. 

Greece immediately reacted. In response to Gruevski's letter, Greek Foreigh Minister Dora Bakoyiannis said on Tuesday that the extreme nationalism from Skopje "sows the wind, but reaps whirlwind". 

A Greek government spokesperson claimed that with this move, Skopje is deliberately disrupting the ongoing UN-sponsored talks on the name dispute between the two countries. 

Speaking in the European Parliament on 15 July, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner made it plain that France, which holds the EU Presidency, supports fellow member state Greece in its disputes with Macedonia. "We show solidarity with Greece," Kouchner stated.