Pavlopoulos calls on FYROM to avoid name with irredentist claims

In comments made during a televised exchange on Monday with Israel's President Reuven Rivlin, Greece's Prokopis Pavlopoulos declared that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will be unable to join NATO as long as there are signs of irredentism.

Greece wants FYROM to join NATO, Pavlopoulos said. This can only happen, however, if the name chosen to resolve a dispute between Greece and FYROM over the latter's name leaves no scope for irredentist claims, he said.

He added that FYROM will have to make the required amendments to its Constitution.

Separately, Pavlopoulos also warned against the resurgence of Nazism on the occasion of Rivlin's visit which comes two days after International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Rivlin, for his part, stressed the growing importance of Greek-Israeli cooperation in view of energy reserves in the rgion.

He also expressed his appreciation for Greece's creation of a Holocaust museum in Thessaloniki, the site of which he is to visit on Tuesday.