EU's Fuele Hope for Results in New Name Talks

“It is my wish to start accession talks with this country this year,” Fuele said in Brussels.

Fule, who took office as enlargement commissioner several weeks ago, stated that he is confident in the open dialogue in Skopje.

“I am encouraged by the idea that there is window of opportunity within the next few months to resolve one remaining hurdle in starting the accession process,” Fule said.

The UN mediator in the Athens-Skopje name dispute, Matthew Nimetz, is meeting with Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski Wednesday in Skopje. Upon his arrival in the Macedonian capital yesterday, Nimetz talked with Macedonian President Georgi Ivanov and Foreign Affairs Minister Antonio Milososki.
 
Nimetz's visit to Skopje comes after a seven-month pause in negotiations between the two sides. After meeting Macedonian leaders, he is heading to Athens.

Both neighbors are locked in a longstanding spat over the use of the name Macedonia. Athens, an EU and NATO member, conditions Skopje’s entry into these organisations on changes to the country's official name, Republic of Macedonia. Greece argues that the name implies territorial claims against its own northern province, also called Macedonia.

In December, Greece blocked Macedonia from getting a date for the start of its EU accession talks. In 2008, Greece blocked Macedonia from entering NATO over the same row.

The EU is now pushing for a solution to be reached in the first half of this year. Stefan Fuele repeated the message that he already gave during his first visit to Macedonia.

“What they heard from me were the words of encouragement to find such a solution with Greece sooner rather than later,” Fuele said.