Washington: Greece's ambassador to Washington warned that Macedonia's hopes of joining NATO could be damaged by billboards displayed in Macedonia's capital by a private group, which has the cross on the Greek flag replaced with a swastika.
Greece already has threatened to veto Macedonia's membership bid at the NATO summit this week because of a dispute over Macedonia's name.
Athens argues the name Macedonia implies territorial claims on the adjoining Greek province of the same name. Macedonia rejects the argument.
Approval of membership for Macedonia, as well as Croatia and Albania, is a high priority for US President George W Bush at the three-day summit in Bucharest, Romania.
UN-mediated talks on the name issue have failed to produce agreement, but the United States has been pushing hard for a compromise. Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis reiterated yesterday that Greece would veto Macedonia should the name dispute not be resolved. The alliance requires unanimous consent to admit new members.
The defaced Greek flags in Skopje now threaten to stiffen Greek resistance in Bucharest. Yesterday, the Greek ambassador in Washington, Alexandros Mallias, complained about the issue in a letter to Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, US lawmakers and Jewish organisations.
"The picture of the Greek flag defaced by the Nazi swastika replacing the cross is deeply offensive and insulting to the patriots and heroes, Greeks and Americans alike, who gave their lives fighting Nazism and Fascism during World War II," he wrote in his letter, which he released to The Associated Press.
