Written reply of Greece to the question put by Judge Bennouna at the public sitting held on 30 March 2011

HELLENIC REPUBLIC

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Application oftlze Interim Accord of 13 September 1995 (former Yugoslav Republic of

Macedonia v Greece)

Question of Judge Bennouna

Reply of Greece

1. On 30 March 2011, Judge Bennouna addressed the following question to Greece:

"In the period preceding and during the NATO Summit in Bucharest from 2-4
April 2008, what was the position expressed by Greece in its contacts with the

other members of the organization as regards the admission of the former
Yugoslav Republic ofMacedonia?" 1

2. The consultations regarding the NATO Bucharest enlargement in question covered

not only the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia but the two other candidate countries

namely Albania and Croatia. Greece participated fully as all the other NATO members both

in the consultation process as well as in the consensus achieved in Bucharest collectively and
2
which is embodied in the decisions taken for all three candidate countries •

The position expressed by Greece in its contacts with the other member States of

NATO before and in the period 2-4 April 2008 was that the Applicant, to be eligible for the

invitation of the Alliance to accede to its membership, must satisfy the criteria and

requirements agreed by the Alliance and indicated in its communiqués and related

communications concerning the enlargement process. Consequently and because of

continuing difficulties with the Applicant, including but not limited to the failure to resolve

the name issue, the Applicant was not so eligible.

CR 2011/12 p 67 (Judge Bennouna).
2 "Our Foreign Ministers convened in Brussels early March, reviewed progress made so far by the three
MAP countries with respect to their bid to join NATO and proceeded, accordingly, to an open and :frank
exchange of views on the treatment of the respective candidacies. The final decision was of course left to the

NATO summit" (Letter dated 31 March 2008 :fromthe Prime Minister of Greece, Kostas Karamanlis, as sent to '
ail NATO Member Countries, p. 1 :Reply, Annex 6).3. In the present proceedings before the Court, the Parties have introduced into evidence
NATO communiqués and other communications concerning enlargement; and statements of

Greece on its contacts with the other member States in the period indicated:

NATO documents on enlargement Statements of Greece

NATO Enlargement Study adopted at the NATO Aide Memoire to NATO Member States:
Summit (Brussels September 3, 1995), NATO Memorial, Annex 129
Handbook Documentation, NATO Office of
Information 1999, pp. 335-369: Counter­
Memorial, Annex 19

''NATO Beyond Enlargement," Remarks by the Letter dated 31 March 2008 from the Prime
Secretary-General of NATO, Dr Javier Solana, to Minister of Greece, Kostas Karamanlis, as sentto
the UK Atlantic Council, 19 November 1997: all NATO Member Countries: Reply, Annex 6
Rejoinder, Annex 52

Membership Action Plan, Chapter I para 2c, 24
April 1999, Press Release NAC-S(99)66:

Counter-Memorial,Annex 21

Riga Summit Declaration, para 28, 29 November
2006, NATO Press Release (2006) 150, Riga
SummitDeclaration, Issued by the Heads of State
and Govemment participating in the meeting of
the North Atlantic Council in Riga on 29

November 2006:Counter-Memorial, Annex 23

Brussels Final Communiqué, 2 December 2007,
para 14, NATO Press Release (2007) 130, Final
Communiqué. Ministerial meeting of the North
Atlantic Council, 7 December 2007: Counter­
Memorial,Annex 25

Joint Press Point with NATO Secretary-General
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and the Prime Minister of
the Applicant, Nikola Gruevski, 23 January 2008:
Counter-Memorial,Annex 26

Brussels Final Communiqué, 3 December 2008,

para 17, NATO Press Release (2008) 153, Final
Communiqué. Meeting of the North Atlantic
Council at the levez of Foreign Ministers held at
NATO Headquarters, Brussels, 3 December
2008: Counter-Memorial,Annex 32

Strasbourg/Kehl Declaration, 4 April 2008, para

22, NATO Press Release (2009) 044,
Strasbourg/Kehl Summit Declaration Issued by
the Heads of State and Governmentparticipating
in the meeting of the North Atlantic Council in
Strasbourg/Kehl on 4 April 2009: Counter­

Memorial, Annex 35

24. Greece's statements within the NATO consultation process recalled the specific

requirements which the Alliance by consensus had adopted in respect of the Applicant's

candidacy for NATO membership. For example, the Aide Memoire circulated by Greece to

NATO Member States stated as follows:

"[W]e wish full normalization of bilateral relations with [the Applicant],
strengthening of regional co-operation and an unhindered Euro-atlantic course

for it, as for all other countries of the Western Balkans, provided that the
candidates fulfil all the criteria. [TheApplicant], in particular, must prove that
it adopts and implements a true policy of good neigb.bourly relations,
abandoning and rectifying actions and policies expressing hostile and

irredentist feelings towards more than one member of NATO and the EU.
Most of all [the Applicant] must honour its commitment to engage, with good
will, in meaningful negotiations aiming at reaching a mutually acceptable
3
solution for a definitive, internationalerga omnes, name."

5. Thus, in consultation with its Allies, Greece informed them of developments in its

bilateral relations with the Applicant in light of the enlargement criteria. In Greece's view,

the Applicant did not fulfil the criteria and requirements of good neigb.bourlinessand the

needto work towards achieving mutually agreed solutions to all outstanding issues, as should

any NATO candidate. Furthermore, Greece emphasized that accession of the Applicant to
NATO without a prior resolution of the name issue which, pursuant to Security Council

Resolution 817 (1993) was considered to be a threat to regional peace and stability, "will also

create insurmountable difficulties to the day-to-day operation of the A1liance" Greece drew

attention in particular to the difficulties which the Applicant's conduct had presented for the

negotiations which it had committed to pursue as the exclusive mechanism for resolving the

outstanding issue of the difference concerning its name. For example, the Prime Minister of

Greece observed in a communication of 31 March 2008 to NATO Member States that

"[e]fforts to reach a mutually acceptable solution on the name issue as mandated by the UN

Security Council have proven fruitless so far, due to Skopje's intransigence and lack of
politicalwill to arrive at an outcome which couldbe awin-win situation for all." 5

3 Aide Memoire to NATO Member States p. 3: Memorial, Annex 129
4 Aide Memoire to NATO Member States p. 3: Memorial, Annex 129. On the principles of consultation
within NATO, see Text of the Report of the Committee of Three on Non Milita1y Cooperation in NATO:
approved by the North Atlantic Council, Brussels, 13 December 1956, republished in NATO Handbook
Documentation (NATO Office of Information, 1999, p 166); Counter-Memorial Annex 19; and sumrnary at
Counter-Memorialp. 73 para 5.12.
5 Letter dated 31 March 2008 from the Prime Minister of Greece, Kostas Karamanlis, as sent to all
NATO Member Countries p. 2: Reply, Annex 6.

36. Greece recalls that the Applicant, during its participation in the NATO Membership
Action Plan (MAP), had acknowledged that its invitation to accession was dependent upon

reaching a solution to the name difference. Ljubuco Georgievski, as Prime Minister of the

Applicant, stated in 1999 that "[w]e are fully aware that the upgrading of our relations with

the European Union and NATO aiming at the integration ofmy country to both organizations
6
depends at a large extent on... the solution of pending issues."The Prime Minister in the

same communication said that "[t]he only existing bilateral difference between our countries
7
is referred to Article 5 of the [futerim] Accord." Moreover, the Applicant's current Prime
Minister Nikola Gruevksi admitted that, duringbis meeting with the North Atlantic Council

members of 23 January 2008, "the main issue that many of the Ambassadors mentioned is

potential risks and the issue that has to be solved is the name issue with Greece where many

ofthem said that it's necessary to intensify the discussions".

5 April 2011

=z:=_=-
Georges Savvaides Maria Telalian

Agents of the Hellenic Republic

6 Letter from the Prime Minister of the Applicant to the Minister of Foreign Affairs ofGreece, dated 21
January 1999: Counter-Memorial, Annex 39.
7
8 Ibid.
Joint Press Point with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and the Prime Minister of the
Applicant, Nikola Gruevski, 23 January 2008: Counter-Memorial, Annex 26

4