"Greek Prime Minister Karamanlis is opting to block Macedonia's accession to NATO, no matter if such move puts Athens in isolation, cools further the US-Greece relations or prompts more countries to recognize Macedonia as Republic of Macedonia." says todays Naftemboriki.

"Sources close to Premier Karamanlis confirm he does not want to accept a last minute solution, when there is no time to think about it, or to ask for the oppositions' opinion. As a result of this, and because of certainty that Nimetz may not offer another proposal, Karamanlis will use the right of veto" says the Greek daily Naftemboriki.

The US Greece relations has cooled off significantly for the past 30 years. The assassination of Athens' prominent CIA Station Chief, Richard Welch, a brilliant Harvard-educated classicist, who was the first of four US diplomats murdered by the radical Greek leftist organization '17 November' had created a rift between the US and Greece, that continued in this decade, when the US recognized Macedonia under its constitutional name.