FYROM has called off a summit of Balkan presidents, blaming enduring prejudices in the region, after nearly half the invitees declined to attend.
The 10-nation forum on cooperation in fighting natural disasters and climate change had been scheduled for this weekend at the resort of Ohrid.
But the presidents of Greece, Bulgaria and Croatia said they would not come. They did not say why.
Then Albania's president refused to attend, to protest FYROM's failure to invite his counterpart from Kosovo, which several Balkan countries don't recognize as an independent state. Only Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania and Moldova had been due to attend.
FYROM's President Gjorge Ivanov on Wednesday blamed the fiasco on "old Balkan prejudices."
