Skopje Prepares for Fresh Round of Name Talks

Macedonian President Georgi Ivanov, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki and Deputy Prime Minister Abdilaqim Ademi are to discuss their expectations for the upcoming round of talks.

Depending on what is put on the table during meetings with Nimetz, Gruevski on Sunday said he would later consider summoning the opposition leaders to inform them as well.

“It all depends on whether Nimetz presents concrete ideas that could lead to a settlement of the name row or whether he is coming only for consultations. Our further steps will depend on that,” stated Gruevski.

Gruevski said that both Skopje and Athens feel pressure from the international community.

“In Macedonia it is easier [to extend pressure], because Greece is a member of the EU and NATO and the country is bigger and more powerful,” he explained.

After Skopje Nimetz is scheduled to travel directly to Athens.
 
The two neighbours are locked in a longstanding spat over the use of the name Macedonia. Athens, an EU and NATO member, conditions Skopje’s entry into these organisations on a change to its neighbour's official name, Republic of Macedonia. Greece argues that the name implies territorial claims against Greece's own northern province, also called Macedonia.

In December Greece blocked Macedonia from obtaining a date for the start of its EU accession talks. In 2008, Greece blocked Macedonia from entering NATO over the same row.

EU leaders and the USA have urged for a settlement to be reached soon, preferably in the first half of this year. Media speculate that some form of the name Macedonia, with the inclusion of a geographical qualifier like Northern to distinguish the state from the Greek province, could potentially satisfy both sides.