Amid a drama in the Idomeni refugee camp on the Greece-Macedonia border, the media in Macedonia are reporting on EC President Jean Claude Juncker's "gaffe."
It concerns Juncker "angering the Greeks by using the constitutional name of Macedonia" during a press conference.
For days now, about 10,000 migrants have been stranded at the border, with more people arriving to Greece. Macedonians have been intermittently opening and closing their border with Greece, as the migrant pressure on the Balkan route is growing.
And while Europe is trying to implement mechanisms to reduce the refugee wave and put the solving of the crisis to the forefront, Macedonia's Sitel broadcaster has published a piece of news under the headline, "Jucker angers Greeks by using Macedonia's constitutional name in Brussels."
Speaking about the refugee crisis, Juncker said that European Council President Donald Tusk will be touring countries on the Balkan route, "Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey."
According to the Skopje-based TV station, the fact Jucker said "Macedonia" - instead of "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)" - was "noted by all European media, with Italian Nova agency reporting that the EU leader had made a gaffe," to that effect.
In what has been known as "the name dispute", Greece has been blocking Macedonia's membership in NATO and the EU for years. Skopje became a member of the UN under the name FYROM - until the dispute has been settled.
Greece is also accusing its northern neighbor of appropriating important symbols of Hellenic culture in order to build an identity of the predominantly Slavic country, including the sun symbol used for the flag, and the naming the airport in Skopje after Alexander the Great.
And while Europe is trying to implement mechanisms to reduce the refugee wave and put the solving of the crisis to the forefront, Macedonia's Sitel broadcaster has published a piece of news under the headline, "Jucker angers Greeks by using Macedonia's constitutional name in Brussels."
Speaking about the refugee crisis, Juncker said that European Council President Donald Tusk will be touring countries on the Balkan route, "Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey."
According to the Skopje-based TV station, the fact Jucker said "Macedonia" - instead of "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)" - was "noted by all European media, with Italian Nova agency reporting that the EU leader had made a gaffe," to that effect.
In what has been known as "the name dispute", Greece has been blocking Macedonia's membership in NATO and the EU for years. Skopje became a member of the UN under the name FYROM - until the dispute has been settled.
Greece is also accusing its northern neighbor of appropriating important symbols of Hellenic culture in order to build an identity of the predominantly Slavic country, including the sun symbol used for the flag, and the naming the airport in Skopje after Alexander the Great.
