Macedonia Press Review ' December 18

DNEVNIK

Although refraining from official comment, Skopje is aware that Javier Solana is slated to be the European Union’s mediator in the Athens-Skopje name row, a high ranking unnamed Macedonian diplomat told the daily. With Solana's involvement, the diplomat said, there is a chance for progress.   

UTRINSKI VESNIK

Yesterday’s brief informal meeting in Copenhagen between Macedonian President Georgi Ivanov and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou brought a certain amount of hope for reviving the bilateral dialog between Skopje and Athens. The meeting took place 10 days after the EU postponed a decision on a date for Macedonia’s accession talks due to Greek pressure.

VREME

Whether there will soon be new snap polls in the country largely depends on the junior government partner, the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, the daily says. The party should hold its congress on Saturday and decide whether it will stay in the government led by the centre-right VMRO DPMNE party.