Report: Skopje Likely To Ask For EU Mediation

The reasoning behind such a request is that Skopje thinks this will help it deal with the significant number of demands made by the Greek side, the source told daily Utrinski Vesnik.

That does not mean that Skopje is displeased with the work of the UN mediator, Matthew Nimetz. “We highly appreciate Nimetz’s contribution but we will ask for a representative from an EU country to be included in the negotiations as well,” the source was quoted as saying.

According to the official, Greece’s demands are maximalist. He noted that Athens asks not only for changes to the country’s constitutional name, Republic of Macedonia, but also for the alteration of the references describing the Macedonian identity and language.

Several countries recently offered to help in the negotiations process, including Slovenia, Serbia and Austria. Macedonia’s FM Antonio Milososoki earlier seemed to be against the idea, indicating that too much interference could be counterproductive.

Media now speculate that Macedonian PM Nikola Gruevski might have changed his mind, faced with  increasing pressure to solve the name row.

Although in diplomatic circles June is often cited as the informal deadline for reaching a settlement, media speculate that the junior ruling party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, has a green light from EU officials to leave the government led by centre-right VMRO-DPMNE if the problem is not settled by November. This would very likely result in early elections, which could endanger Gruevski’s ruling position.

Athens argues that its neighbor's name, the Republic of Macedonia, implies territorial claims on Greece's own northern province, also called Macedonia. In December Athens blocked Skopje from obtaining a date for the start of its accession talks. In 2008 the same dispute prevented Skopje from entering NATO.

Nimetz is expected to visit both countries at the end of the month to launch a fresh round of negotiations.