Senator Voinovich, Dr. Babamov, Mr. Kochovski, Mr. Stojkovski, and Mr. Veljanovski, at the Senator's office 

May 17, 2002, Cleveland, Ohio. Representatives of the Macedonian American Friendship Association met with Senator George Voinovich at his Cleveland office on May 17 prior to his departure for the Balkans. Senator Voinovich is leading the US Senate delegation to the NATO's parliamentary assembly in Sofia, Bulgaria and visiting Macedonia.  The Senator initiated this meeting in order to get an update on the views of the Macedonian Americans on the situation in Macedonia and their concerns that need to be addressed.

The representatives of  the Association communicated to the Senator their concern with the activities in Kosovo regarding the Serbian-Macedonian border over the last couple of months. They focused on the latest declaration of the Kosovo parliament on the border issue and the attacks from Kosovo on Macedonian border posts and patrols.  They reminded the Senator that the terrorist attacks in Macedonian started last Spring with incidents related to the signing of the Macedonian-Serbian border agreement and that the activities about the border in Kosovo look very much like a prelude to additional unrest. While both the US and the responsible UN agencies have strongly condemned the actions of the Kosovo government they have not undertaken any concrete retaliatory or punitive measures and have done little to ensure that this destabilizing acts are stopped  have not implemented any concrete decisive punitive measures.

They also brought up again, as they have at every meeting with the Senator before,  the issue of continuing lack of recognition of Macedonia by the United States by it constitutional names and the continuing problems that this fact is causing for Macedonia.  The Association representatives  stressed he fact that over 80 countries including Russia, China, Turkey  and nearly all Macedonia's neighbors recognize Macedonia by its name and that it is precisely the lack of recognition by the US that is slowing down recognition by the countries that traditionally follow the US lead. 

The Association representatives also informed the Senator about the frustration of the Macedonian Americans with the slow return of the ethnic Macedonian refugees – victims of ethnic cleansing to their homes in the ethnic Albanian dominated areas of the country.  The expressed their fears that the familiar pattern seen in Kosovo is emerging again.  While the international community protects the right of the ethnic Albanians it does little to protect the ethnic Macedonians in  the Albanian dominated areas, just as it failed to effectively protect the ethnic Serbs in Kosovo. 

Representatives of the Macedonian American Friendship Association has held several meeting with senator Voinovich since the start of the Albanian hostilities in Macedonia last spring. Senator Voinovich is the only Senator in the US with descent from the countries of the former Yugoslavia and has been a long time friend and supporter of Macedonia.  In the early nineties when senator Voinovich was Governor of Ohio when he initiated a large shipment of medical aid for Macedonia from the State of Ohio.