Senator Murphy: US's Lack of Interest in the Balkans Made Greece Comfortable Regarding the Name Issue

US Senator Chris Murphy, who recently served as chairman of the US Senate Subcommittee on European Affairs, said the Balkan countries have the feeling the US is not withdrawing from the region, and that it was time Washington to dedicate greater attention to the Balkan issues.

According to Murphy, one of the matters the American administration should dedicate more attention is the name dispute, which as he said, was understandable that Macedonia is losing its patience, while another issue would be Montenegro's support for its entrance to NATO.

On the possible relation of the new Greek government to Macedonia, Murphy assessed that precisely the feeling that the US, NATO and the European Union have lost interest in the region is one of the key factor that Greece is less interested to solve the name row.

"This will be an interesting time for Greece, which got a new government, and has the prospect of quantitative easement by the European Central Bank. This is the reason the US must remain involved in regional matters, but it is difficult to succeed in resolving some of the disputes, if there is a feeling that the EU and NATO are closing themselves for the region. Greece can only stand aside and think that there is no reason to solve the name dispute, once the EU and NATO have sent signals they are not open for enlargement. That is why we have to keep NATO's door open, accept new members and help the opening of new applications for EU membership if we want to be in the position to find possibilities to solve the row with the new Greek government," said Senator Murphy, who chaired the Senate's Subcommittee on European Affairs until his Democratic Party was defeated.

Regarding Macedonia's readiness to become a NATO member, Murphy said the country was ready, but admitted the existence of strong frustration from the current delay.

"Macedonia is ready to become a NATO member, maybe even more than Montenegro, but we all understand that if the name dispute is not solved, it is little probably that its membership will take place. The danger from leaving such disputes unsolved for a longer period of time is that Macedonia, which was successful in the region and saw a solid progress in the area of the rule of law and the commitment to the freedom of expression, also saw a certain regress in the past few years. The patience is not without a deadline in this region, and we have to pressure Macedonians to go back on the old road, but we need to also try to put a bigger accent on Greece with the US leadership," said Senator Murphy.

He said he would continue to advise the administration of President Barack Obama and the new republican leadership of the Senate, to ensure and offer an economical perspective for the region, in which the US had exerted its pressure over the Russian energy project South Stream, but Washington should now offer its own alternative involving the transport of larger amounts of American liquefied gas.




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