Macedonia's Albanians back compromise in name row

By Benet Koleka

TIRANA (Reuters) - Ethnic Albanians in Macedonia are urging the Macedonian government to reach a deal with Greece on the country's name to avoid losing an invitation to join NATO, according to senior politicians.

Ethnic Albanians make up a quarter of Macedonia's 2 million people and feel that a future in NATO will not only help Macedonia progress, but also advance their own bid for more rights as equal partners in its multi-ethnic society.

They believe the best bet against Macedonia breaking up in ethnic conflict, as it nearly did in 2001 during a six-month Albanian insurgency, is NATO and European Union membership.

"The Albanians are in a very delicate position about this because if we offer a compromise we could be misunderstood by the Macedonians as being ready to sell their identity," Menduh Thaci, head of the Democratic Party of Albanians, said during a visit to Tirana.

His party quit the ruling coalition last week in a row over Albanian minority rights, plunging Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's 18-month-old government into crisis.

"Their identity is very important for them but the road towards European and NATO is much more important for us," Thaci said. "We have backed the Macedonian position on the condition of reaching a compromise for the sake of an invitation to NATO."

European Union and NATO member Greece objects to the name of Macedonia because it is the same as its northern region, birthplace of ancient Greek hero Alexander the Great.

Macedonia has been officially referred to as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM, since 1991.