FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 7, 2008

Ottawa, ON – Lui Temelkovski, Member of Parliament for Oak Ridges-Markham, today joins the tens of thousands of Canadians of Macedonian descent lamenting the Republic of Macedonia’s exclusion from membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

At the summit in Bucharest, Romania, NATO extended invitations to Croatia and Albania, while Macedonia’s was postponed. All three countries of the Adriatic Charter group were expected to join the organization.

Long-time member Greece chose to veto Macedonia’s accession to NATO owing to an ongoing name dispute. NATO decisions are made by consensus and Greece objects to its neighbour’s use of “Macedonia.”

MP Temelkovski was saddened by the news of a Greek veto. “I have met with officials from Macedonia and several NATO countries who expressed their support of Macedonia’s NATO membership. Macedonian soldiers fight alongside Canadians in Afghanistan, and I have seen first-hand Macedonia’s many achievements toward democracy, security, and peace.”

MP Temelkovski also defended Macedonia’s decision not to compromise on its historical and constitutional name. “As I said last year when I introduced my bill to recognize Macedonia before the House of Commons: No country has the right to rename another country.”

Canada formally recognized Macedonia by its legal name in September 2007.

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For more information:
Please contact Steve Vasilevski

(905) 294-0004
http://www.luitemelkovski.ca/

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