Macedonia name issue talks intensify as deadline looms

14:15 Tue 25 Mar 2008 - Alex Bivol

Macedonia and Greece will step up talks to settle their protracted dispute over the former Yugoslav republic's name as Nato's summit in Bucharest looms ever closer.

Matthew Nimetz, the United Nations special envoy on the "name issue", will meet with Greek ambassador to the UN Adamantios Vassilakis and Macedonian counterpart Nikola Dimitrov at the UN headquarters in New York on March 25.

Nimetz is expected to brief the media on the progress of negotiations after the meeting, Michèle Montas, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, told reporters a day earlier in comments published on the UN website.

The encounter comes hot on the heels of last week's face-to-face meeting between Greek foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis and her Macedonian counterpart Antonio Milososki in Brussels, attended by United States deputy secretary of state Daniel Fried.

The two ministers are expected to hold their next round of talks later this week, during the informal meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brdo, held on March 28/29.

Macedonia, which Greece and UN call the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia (FYROM), hopes to be invited to join Nato at the Bucharest summit on April 2/4. Greece has threatened to veto Skopje's application unless the name issue is settled.

Comments

Comments by Peter - 00:13 31 Mar 2008
	Macedonians in Greece have no right to express themselfs in their own language, is this all about EU human rights in Greece? If Macedonia joines the EU ca they do to its minority the same? Most liberal country of Europe on human rights is Macedonia, they will never behave like Greece.I wonder if NATO is worth it for Macedonia. Greece running scared because they will be uncovered about their human rights of their citizens like macedonians, albanians,vlahs and turkish minorities.Macedonia has the right to call themselfs Republic of Macedonia.Greek part of Macedonia is occupied by Greece since August 1913 not before. I know , I am macedonian from so called northern Greece.Republic of Macedonia only name for our identity period.