EU's Fuele: 'Unique Opportunity' for Name Fix

Fuele's visit to Skopje, his first in his new post, has been seen as an effort to help ready the parties for the forthcoming Athens-Skopje “name” talks. Macedonia's EU candidacy bid is dependent upon the successful conclusion of the name dispute.

“There is a unique opportunity to find a solution and it should be utilized. I am fully committed to supporting the talks, which along with the required political will, should lead to a compromise," Fuele told local media on Friday.

He said that he was encouraged by the recent direct meetings between the Greek and Macedonian prime ministers, which was seen as a bid to warm bilateral relations.

While in Skopje, Fuele is scheduled to meet with President Georgi Ivanov, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, and Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanoski. He also plans to speak with the heads of Macedonia’s leading opposition parties.

"External help cannot act as a substitute for political will in Athens and Skopje” for a conclusion to the longstanding name row, Fuele told media in Brussels on Wednesday, noting that “it takes two to tango”.

He reiterated that the countries must use the next few months, which he referred to as a “window of opportunity”, to reach a settlement.

Fuele praised the efforts made by the Spanish EU presidency to help resolve the spat. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos recently told the European Parliament that he believes a solution to the dispute can be reached soon.
 
Fuele’s visit to Macedonia comes a few days before the announced arrival of UN name mediator Matthew Nimetz. Nimetz is set to visit Skopje and Athens next week to launch a fresh round of talks.

Macedonia’s EU entry bid is stalled due to the Greek blockade over the unresolved name issue. In December Athens blocked Skopje from getting a start date for its EU accession talks, arguing that the country's official name, Republic of Macedonia, must be changed as it implies territorial claims against Greece's own northern province, also called Macedonia.

In 2008 Greece blocked Macedonia from entering NATO over the same dispute.