Meeting senior representatives of Athens and Skopje in New York on October 8 2008, United Nations mediator Matthew Nimetz proposed a compromise name for Macedonia - according to some media reports, the proposal is "Republic of Northern Macedonia" - and asked the two sides in the name dispute to consider it, without setting a deadline for a response.

The two countries are at odds over Skopje's use of the name "Macedonia" for the country. Greece objects to this name for the former Yugoslav republic, saying that it could be used to reinforce Skopje's territorial claims in northern Greece. Earlier in 2008, the name dispute moved Greece to block Macedonia's hopes of getting an invitation at a Nato summit to join the military alliance.

In spite of earlier media reports that Nimetz's proposal would be a "final" one after a prolonged series of exchanges in the mediation process, he told reporters that "I don't think that a mediator is in a position to throw down an ultimatum" and that he had given no deadline for a response.

"My ideas are based on a lot of thought and consideration of what might be a reasonable settlement and they do, in my view, represent an honorable, dignified, workable proposal for a settlement," news agency Reuters quoted Nimetz as telling reporters. Other media reports noted that Nimetz avoided using the word "proposal" and said that he had offered a "package of ideas".

Macedonian daily Dnevnik, quoting diplomatic sources, said that the proposal was that "Republic of Northern Macedonia" be for international use. The country's language would be labelled Macedonian and its people as citizens of Northern Macedonia.

In New York, Greek representative Adamantios Vasilakis said that Greece did not want the people of the former Yugoslav republic to be called Macedonian because that was the name of people living in northern Greece.

Macedonian newspaper Vecer said on October 9 2008 that Greece would, as it had blocked Macedonia's Nato aspirations, also block its attempts to join the European Union.

On October 8, it was reported by Greek daily To Vima that Greek prime minister Costas Karamanlis and foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis were drawing up a strategy on the name issue, local daily To Vima. The daily said that Karamanlis was likely to assume full responsibility for eventual rejection of Nimetz' proposal if it did not suit Greece's interests. If the Greek government rejected Nimetz's proposal, it was almost certain that Karamanlis would veto Macedonia's bid to start EU accession talks in December, To Vima said.

US defence secretary Robert Gates visited Ohrid in Macedonia on October 8 for a regional meeting of defence ministers. The US is keen for the name dispute to be resolved so that progress can be made with getting Macedonia into Nato.

On October 6, Macedonia's leaders clashed on what the country's position should be on the name dispute. Prime minister Nikola Gruevski has called for a "double name" solution that would see one name for international use and another in engagements with Greece, but Macedonian president Branko Crvenkovski insisted that further concessions were needed before a deal could be achieved. Crvenkovski said he that would accept a name with a geographical adjective that would not jeopardise Macedonia's national interests.