Macedonia PM: Greek Positions "Radical"

Gruevski made his comments after an interview with Droutsas appeared in the local Dnevnik daily on Tuesday.

“I haven't read the interview. His stances are generally known. They are radical in terms of the issue and I won't comment on them,” Macedonian MIA news agency quoted Gruevski as saying.

In the interview Droutsas said that a solution to the long standing Athens Skopje naming dispute could be reached very soon if there is political will on both sides. He noted that Athens has that will.

He said that a name with a geographic qualifier, as Athens has proposed, would distinguish the Greek province of Macedonia from the neighboring state with the same name and could mean a “win-win” situation for both countries.

The two countries have been locked in the name row for nearly two decades. Athens has blocked Skopje’s entry into NATO and in December prevented the country from starting its EU accession talks because of the dispute.

Athens insists that Skopje’s official name, Republic of Macedonia, implies territorial claims on Greece's own northern province, also called Macedonia.

The latest remarks come after last week’s visit of the UN mediator in the name talks, Matthew Nimetz, to both countries. Nimetz remained tight-lipped regarding the content of his talks, only mentioning that several of his ideas for resolving the spat are on the table.

US and EU officials have been pushing for a deal to be reached in the first half of this year.