Macedonia Name Row "Solvable"

“It is useless to point to the actions of others. Sit at the table and negotiate,” urged the former UN chief in an interview with the state-owned Macedonian Radio-Television, MRTV.

He advised the parties to find a state willing to take over the role of mediator in order to speed up the process of finding a solution.

“There are different mediators that are more interested in finding solutions than discussing the past…  Forget about it. Start from scratch, now,” Ghali said.

Athens and Skopje have been arguing for almost two decades over which state has the right to use the name Macedonia. Athens insists that Skopje has to change its official name, Republic of Macedonia, if it wants Greece to unblock its bids to join NATO and the EU. Greece says the current name implies territorial claims against its own northern province, also called Macedonia.

Currently Europe and the US are urging both countries to find a solution within the framework of the UN mediated name talks. Observers see the end of the Spanish presidency of the European Union in July as an informal deadline for the parties to reach a solution.

The former UN chief pointed out that there were "far more difficult issues" that have been faced around the world than the Geek-Macedonian spat, naming the war in Rwanda, the apartheid in South Africa and the war in El Salvador.

“Time is needed. Negotiations are necessary. While one party points to the other blaming it for something and vice versa, a solution will never be found,” Ghali said.