Reps. Bilirakis, Maloney introduce resolution urging FYROM to resolve name dispute

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Issues, introduced a resolution that urges the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to work within the framework of the United Nations process with Greece to achieve longstanding United States and United Nations policy goals of resolving the name dispute and encourages the United States to work with its NATO allies to uphold previous NATO Summits decisions, with regard to the enlargement issue.

"To uphold the integrity of the alliance, long-held NATO rulings and agreements should be honored and should not be allowed to be circumvented," Bilirakis said. "As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, I can tell you first hand that this is a very important issue. The United States, as a NATO member, needs to consider expansion cohesively and within the framework of the alliance."

"This resolution sends an important signal that the United States strongly supports a solution to the name issue and continues to encourage Skopje and Athens to reach a mutually acceptable solution as soon as possible," said Maloney. "As the United States and its NATO allies consider the future of NATO and possible changes in membership, it is particularly important that we reiterate the decisions reached at previous NATO Summits to extend an invitation to the FYROM as soon as a mutually-acceptable solution to the name issue has been reached."

A copy of the resolution may be viewed by clicking here.