Greek MEPs expressed satisfaction after succeeding in getting a European Union progress report on Macedonia amended to call for the dispute over Macedonia’s name to be resolved before EU accession talks with Macedonia.

Greek daily Kathimerini reported on April 24 that after much lobbying, a clause that originally read only that the name dispute “should not pose a barrier” to Macedonian membership of international organisations, was strengthened.

“Although the European Parliament has only an advisory role in the Macedonia name dispute, Greek deputies were concerned that the original message conveyed by the report would turn public opinion in Europe against Greece,” the newspaper said.

At the April 2008 Nato summit in Bucharest, Greece won backing to prevent Macedonia being given an invitation to join the alliance. Greece rejects Macedonia using that name and refers to it only as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Athens holds that acceptance of the name “Macedonia” could be used to support purported territorial claims in northern Greece by the Skopje government.

The report, as adopted by the European Parliament, calls on Greece and Macedonia to immediately restart talks on the name dispute.

Macedonian news agency Makfax reported on April 22 that Greek defence minister Evangelos Meimarakis had said that Athens was expecting a goodwill gesture from Skopje to resolve the name issue. Greece wanted all its neighbours to become Nato members. Good neighbourly relations between the two countries would be possible only if the name dispute was resolved, Meimarakis said.

In an interview with Athens-headquartered news agency ANA, Meimarakis was quoted as saying : “(Greek) prime minister (Costas) Karamanlis is a Macedonian himself and the fact that he accepts a composite name with a geographic qualifier for FYROM is an immense contribution to the region's stability and peace, which should not be regarded as a concession”.

At a hearing by the US house of representatives foreign relations committee on April 23, US assistant secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs said that the US would continue to support UN negotiator Matt Nimetz to help Macedonia and Greece find a mutually acceptable solution to the name dispute as quickly as possible.

“The United States is working with Greece, other Allies and with Macedonia to support this process,” Fried told the committee.

He repeated US backing for Macedonia joining Nato, as stated by US president George Bush at the Bucharest Nato summit.

“Allies also determined that Macedonia meets Nato’s performance-based standards and will receive an invitation as soon as the dispute with Greece over its name is resolved,” Fried said.