SKOPJE (AP) -- NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer urged Macedonia on Monday to resolve its dispute with neighboring Greece in time to join the alliance along with Albania and Croatia.

Macedonia had hoped to be invited to join NATO with Albania and Croatia at the alliance's summit in Bucharest, Romania, earlier this month. But Athens blocked the invitation to protest Macedonia's name, saying it implies a claim to a northern region of Greece also called Macedonia.
""My personal ambition is to see your country into NATO. I hope it would be possible soon,"" de Hoop Scheffer said.
Athens says it will not allow Macedonia to join NATO or the EU until the name issue is resolved.
During a brief visit to Skopje on Monday, de Hoop Scheffer urged the government to resolve the issue before Albania and Croatia sign accession agreements with NATO on July 9. Those pacts pave the way for the two to join NATO after they have been ratified by all 26 NATO nations.
De Hoop Scheffer said on July 9 he would like to have ""a third nation, yours, at the NATO table.""
""It would be your opportunity which you have now until July 9 to see if the solution for the name issue can be found,"" the alliance chief told reporters after meeting with Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski and Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki.
Macedonia's failure to receive an invitation to join NATO in Bucharest contributed to a domestic political crisis that has seen early parliamentary elections called for June 1.
""I can understand that the (Bucharest summit) has left a bitter feeling of disappointment here,"" de Hoop Scheffer said. ""I have two things to say - you can look back in anger, but you can also look ahead. I have come here to talk with the government to see how we can bring the process forward.""
Macedonia is officially referred to as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM, at the United Nations and other international bodies. But more than 100 countries - including the U.S., Russia and Canada - have recognized it as Macedonia.
Government spokesman Ivica Bocevski said Skopje is committed to continuing talks with Greece over the dispute.
""Macedonia remains active in the process. We want to join NATO. But we need our national dignity to be preserved and not to have a red line crossed,"" he said.
On Monday, Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski wrote to UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon, to protest Greece's blocking of his country's NATO bid.
In separate move, Macedonia's Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki criticized a reported statement by his Greek counterpart, Dora Bakoyannis, that linked a solution of the name dispute with financial aid to Macedonia.
""We are not traders,"" Milososki said Monday. ""We are and we will remain Macedonians, and it does not depend on Greek money.""