The former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia walked out the Nato summit in Bucharest today after Greece blocked accession talks because of its name.

“We are here today to announce that we are leaving the summit. We feel necessary to be with our people today,” Antonio Milososki, Foreign Minister, told reporters.

The former Yugoslav republic had been told by Nato that it met the strict criteria laid down for membership, which include civilian control of its armed forces, social reforms and appropriate defence spending.

But the Greeks objected to it using the name Macedonia because it is the same as Alexander the Great's birthplace, the northernmost province of Greece. No compromise could be found to assuage Greece in its determination to veto the country membership of Nato.

Speaking to The Times, Nikola Dimitrov, security adviser to the Macedonian Prime Minister, said: "We are not being punished because we have failed to meet the standards demanded by Nato for membership of the alliance, we are being punished because of who we are and because we're Macedonians."

Mr Dimitrov said the compromise name of Republic of Macedonia (Skopje) had been offered, but Greece would have none of it. "The disappointment is huge," Mr Dimitrov said.

He gave warning that the failure of his country to join the alliance would encourage the radical elements in the Balkans and undermine the stability that had been achieved after years of civil war. "There's no sustainable stabilisation for the Balkans unless Macedonia is a member. We thought we had turned the page, now we're afraid that it will also affect our hopes of joining the European Union," Mr Dimitrov said.

The country joined the United Nations in 1993 under the provisional name Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) pending resolution of its name dispute with Greece.

Mr Dimitrov accused Greece of breaching a bilateral agreement that Athens would not block the country's entry into political and economic organisations if it used the name FYROM.

"We have troops serving with Nato forces in Afghanistan, fighting for freedom, but now our own freedom is being threatened," he said.

"Greece wants us to change our name and our constitution and even our language. They want us to stop using Macedonian as an adjective, it's a hell of a position," he said.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato Secretary-General, admitted it was a disappointment for FYROM but said negotiations would continue to try and resolve the dilemma as quickly as possible.

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