EU Urges Macedonia Name Talks

“Six months are ahead of us and it is important to use each day,” the ambassador, Erwan Fouere, said. He encouraged both countries to remain optimistic and good spirited about finding common ground during the Spanish EU presidency.

Athens and Skopje are locked in an 18 year-long name dispute over the use of the name Macedonia. Athens says that Skopje’s official name, Republic of Macedonia, implies territorial claims against its own northern province also called Macedonia.

Last December Greece prevented the EU from extending a date to Macedonia for the start of its accession talks, citing the unresolved name row. The EU ministers said they would discuss the issue once again in the first half of this year, during the Spanish EU presidency, with the hope that the row will be solved by then.

Spain will look to achieve progress regarding Macedonia accession talks as soon as the name dispute between Skopje and Athens is resolved, Spain's Foreign Minister and EU Council of Ministers' Chairman Miguel Angel Moratinos said recently in an interview for Serbian daily "Vecernje Novosti".

He added that his country is optimistic about a settlement being reached during its presidency.

In a bid to improve bilateral relations after several years of tense relations, Macedonian President George Ivanov today congratulated his Greek counterpart, Karolos Papoulias, on his re-election as head of state. Ivanov expressed his preparedness for sincere cooperation and hoped for a meeting to be agreed upon soon.

In November, Ivanov invited Paopuglias to visit Skopje but he refused the offer, saying it would not be appropriate before a name deal was reached.

Meanwhile Macedonian PM Nikola Gruevski and Greece’s premier, George Papandreou, held several brief meetings at which nothing substantial about the name talks was agreed.

Skopje and Athens are awaiting the arrival of a UN mediator, Matthew Nimetz, who will visit both states by the end of this month and launch a fresh round of negotiations.