Fresh Push Expected in Macedonia "Name" Row

The exact date of the meeting, to be arranged during the assembly in the second half of September, is still being decided.

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Grueski will go to New York at the same time and could meet his Greek counterpart George Papandreou, Macedonian broadcaster A1 TV reported.

The presence of both the Macedonian President and PM is intended to demonstrate Skopje’s will to put an end to the nearly two-decades-long spat with Greece, diplomats said.

The moves follow recent media speculation that Macedonia would make a renewed bid for a breakthrough in the row that has led to Greece blocking Macedonia’s bid to join NATO and the EU.

Athens has long opposed the use of the post-1991 constitutional name of its neighbour, which is the same as that of its adjacent region.

After being silent during the summer, UN Special Representative Matthew Nimetz is to extend a fresh proposal for a compromise name in September, unnamed Macedonian government sources told A1 on Monday.

They said he will also suggest a set of measures that should gradually strengthen the confidence between Greece and Macedonia.

Greek daily Khatimerini last week quoted Greek diplomats as saying that the name spat will be one of the issues discussed in New York, with the aim of settling the problem before the November NATO summit in Lisbon.

Athens and Skopje have so far not revealed any fresh details relating to the talks.

Macedonian PM Nikola Gruevski on Friday only noted his country was in permanent contact with Nimetz.

“But there is nothing new,” he told local reporters.
 
Macedonia expects to be invited to join NATO at the alliance’s summit in Lisbon in November and to be given a start date for its EU accession talks as soon as possible but, without the name spat being resolved, both are unlikely to happen.

In 2008, Greece blocked Macedonia from entering NATO and last autumn prevented the country from getting its desired start date for EU accession talks, despite a positive recommendation from the European Commission.

But UN-brokered bilateral talks for overcoming the dispute have so far been in vain.

UN mediator Nimetz has been silent ever since a June EU summit when EU ministers once again failed to extend the date for Macedonia's accession talks due to a lack of progress on the issue.