Non-invitation
An invitation to join the Alliance was not extended to the Republic of Macedonia. Greece had threatened on several occasions to veto the country's NATO bid due to the longstanding naming dispute over the latter's name. The last UN proposal before the summit was the name "Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)", which was rejected by Greece. Athens argues that use of the name "Macedonia" implies territorial claims on its own region of Macedonia. Skopje denies this, citing constitutional amendments that specifically exclude "territorial pretensions". NATO officials said the country could begin talks on joining the alliance as soon as it had resolved its dispute with Greece.
While under the terms of the Interim Accord, signed between the two parties in 1995, Athens agreed not to block "membership in international, multilateral and regional organizations and institutions" under the FYROM acronym, Greece expected that the country would immediately request recognition by its constitutional name once it gained entry into the organization. According to politicians in Skopje, Athens has directly breached the Interim Accord.
The governments that supported its membership bid argued that the country had completed the necessary reforms for membership, and that regional stability would be challenged if it did not join NATO. Conversely, Athens contends that although Skopje rejects territorial claims officially, in practice there have been numerous irredentist provocations by high government officials, schoolbooks, and other governmental publications. Senior officials in Skopje asserted that the country had fulfilled NATO requirements to join and was being "punished" for its identity.
After an application for ruling submitted after this Summit by the Republic of Macedonia against Greece on this matter before the International Court of Justice, on 5 December 2011 the Court ruled that Greece had indeed breached the accords and was wrong to do so.
Read more about this topic: 2008 Bucharest Summit