Report: Macedonian PM Gets 'Name' Deadline

At their most recent meeting, the leader of the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, Ali Ahmeti, reportedly insisted to the prime minister and head of the main ruling VMRO DPMNE party, Nikola Gruevski, that he wants a solution to be found quickly.

Unnamed sources from the junior coalition partner told daily Untrinski Vesnik that Ahmeti was given the impression from the PM that the name talks with Greece were moving in the right direction.

According to sources from the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, Gruevski explained that he expects a new, “concrete proposal that is much more favorable than the last ones” for a compromise solution with Greece at the forthcoming meetings with the UN mediator, Matthew Nimetz, expected for this month.

Exactly what a “more favorable solution” would mean was not disclosed.

The DUI last year promised its voters that a name solution that would open the country’s doors to NATO and EU membership would be reached quickly. Local media speculate that the party might leave the government coalition if that does not happen.

This move would most certainly cause a political crisis and early elections, which according to various recent opinion polls would result in another election victory for the ruling VMRO DPMNE. Gruevski's party enjoys unmatched popularity among voters.

The EU has also been pressing both countries to reach a compromise to the nearly two decade long name spat by June.

Skopje and Athens are locked in a dispute over the use of the name Macedonia. Athens argues that Skopje’s official name, Republic of Macedonia, implies territorial claims against its own northern province, which is also called Macedonia.
 
In December Athens citing the bilateral row as the reason it blocked Skopje from getting the desired start date for its EU accession talks. In 2008 Athens prevented Skopje from entering NATO over the same spat.

The last round of UN talks was held last month. Media have been speculating that some form of the name Northern Macedonia is currently on the negotiating table as a possible basis for compromise.