" Greece will appear at the International Justice Court in Hague with self-confidence and determination," said spokesman of the Greek Foreign Ministry, Giorgos Koumoutsakos regarding the decision of the Macedonian government to bring the case to the International Justice Court in Hague. Skopje accuses Athens in violating article 11 of the Temporary Agreement between the two sides, signed in 1995, which obliges Greece not to interfere into Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic integration.

“Gruevsky’s government was the first one to reject the last offer of the personal delegate to the UN’s General Secretary, ambassador Nimic and continuing to prolong everything it turned to the International Justice Court in Hague,” says the statement of the Greek Foreign Ministry. According to Giorgos Koumoutsakos, the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia systematically violates not only the clauses of the Temporary Agreement but also the basic principals of good neighborly relations. “By bringing the case to the International Justice Court in Hague, the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia once again proved that it doesn’t look for a quick solution of its differences with Greece, regarding the name as the UN’s Security Council decision says – number 845 from 1993,” also said the Greek Foreign Ministry’s spokesman.

“The government finds out such important for our national security actions from the press,” this is how oppositional PASOK accused the ones governing and asked for a meeting of the National Foreign Policy Council. On the other hand, the Macedonian foreign minister Antonio Miloshevsky stated that his country thought about this decision very carefully and decided this was the only way to find their rights. He also specified that taking this to the Hague court has nothing to do with the need to find a solution about the name fight with Greece. Towards the same direction is also a statement made by the international mediator for solving the fight between Greece and Macedonia, Mathew Nimic, who said that he was officially informed of the decision of the Macedonian government, and also that the Macedonian government assured him that it will appoint a new negotiator very soon to substitute Nikola Dimitrov.

Meanwhile, Macedonian President Branko Cervenkovsky also remonstrated against the decision made by the Macedonian government to take the case up to Hague, because Prime-minister Nikola Gruevsky did not consult with him beforehand.