( Xinhua ) - Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski wrote on Monday to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to protest against Greece's blocking of the NATO bid of the western Balkan country.
Macedonia's NATO membership was blocked by Greece over a 17-year-long name dispute between the two countries earlier this month at a NATO summit in Romania.
Athens has been opposed to its neighbor being called the " Republic of Macedonia," arguing it implies a territorial claim over a Greek northern province also called Macedonia.
" Greece has violated the 1995 accord when it vetoed Macedonia's membership to NATO at the Bucharest Summit," news reaching here from Skopje quoted Crvenkovski as saying in the letter.
Under the accord, Greece shall not block Macedonia's admittance in international organizations if the country is using the temporary name of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, FYROM, in short.
"However, Greece objected to Macedonia's membership invitation by setting a pre-condition of reaching a mutually acceptable solution to the differences over Macedonia's name," the president protested in the letter.