Bush regrets Macedonia not invited to join NATO

BUCHAREST, April 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush said Thursday he regretted that Macedonia had not been invited to joint NATO during the alliance's summit in Bucharest.

The issue related to the country's name should be solved quickly, to allow it to join NATO, said Bush.

The name of the country Macedonia is disputed by Greece, which has a northern region called Macedonia.

The Greek government has also said it is not that much bothered by the name Macedonia, but by the fact that Macedonian authorities ground their entire state politics in claiming the cultural heritage of the Old Macedonia.

The North Atlantic Council decided Thursday to invite Albania and Croatia into the Alliance, while Macedonia was put on the back-burner, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said at a press conference Thursday afternoon.

Scheffer said he did not want to comment on "the allies' individual positions," thus refusing to specify the countries that had opposed Macedonia joining NATO.

France, Spain and Luxembourg Thursday sided with Greece on not inviting Macedonia to accede to NATO, according to the official Rompres news agency citing official sources with the delegations.