ATHENS, Nov 6 (AFP) - About 100 Greek extreme rightwingers demonstrated Saturday in the northern Greek city of Salonika against the decision by the United States to recognise part of the former Yugoslavia under the name of Macedonia.
National television showed the protestors waving Greek flags and a giant banner as they gathered in front of the US consulate. They shouted anti-American slogans and burnt an American and a Macedonian flag.
Greece maintains that "Macedonia" carries territorial claims on the northern Greek province of the same name -- the birthplace of Alexander the Great -- and has fought to prevent its neighbor from being recognized as anything but the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (FYROM).
The US decision infuriated Athens which has formally protested against the move and on Friday a government spokesman said Greece would veto Macedonia's possible entry into the EU and NATO if the dispute is not resolved.
11/06/2004 19:17 GMT - AFP