The International Court of Justice in Hague announced the dates, on which the case Macedonia vs. Greece will take place. Macedonia will present its arguments on July 20^th, 2009 and Greece will respond on January 20^th 2010. The positions presentations of both countries will be done in written. The international court made a decision about the dates after hearing out the requests of both sides on the first meeting on January 19^th.

The Republic of Macedonia approached the International Court of Justice in Hague on November 17^th 2008 with a complaint that Greece has breached temporary agreement, signed between the two countries during September of 1995, with which Athens is obliged not to be an obstacle in the Euro-Atlantic integration of Skopje under the name of “Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia.” In April of 2008, Greece vetoed and did not allow Macedonia to be invited as a member in NATO.

“This is a new dimension of the argument for the Macedonian name,” comments the spokesman of the Greek Foreign Ministry Giorgios Koumoutzakos. He reminded that Greece has reacted very fast and gathered a team of lawyers, both Greek and foreign, who could represent it in Hague. “The court procedures will be long, I expect it to take at least 2 year,” also said Giorgios Koumoutzakos.