It's a shame that the internet is a virtual medium, because there are a lot of people out there that I'd like to express my deep feelings of friendship to, and having spent the last two years here in Serbia, I'd like to do it in a truly Serbian way.
Macedonia To Reply To "Name" Proposal Soon
Skopje | 14 July 2009 |
Georgi Ivanov
During his Monday visit to the Croatian capital Zagreb, Ivanov said that a recent statement by Greek officials suggesting preparedness to resolve the issue in line with international laws indicated a possible positive development in the process.
Nimetz visited both Skopje and Athens last week and handed both sides an altered version of his latest October set of ideas for solving the long-running dispute. He sounded optimistic, arguing that the issue could be resolved “within months”.
After receiving Nimetz, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said Athens was prepared for a deal as long as a composite name for Macedonia was found that would contain a geographical prefix and would be for international use.
The relations between the two neighbors soured last year when Athens blocked Skopje’s NATO accession over the row. Greece claims that Macedonia’s formal name implies Skopje’s territorial claims over its own northern province of Macedonia.
In October, media speculated that Nimetz proposed several variations of the name “Northern Macedonia” to both sides. But the details on the span of its use, as well as guarantees for Macedonia’s identity and language, were yet to be determined precisely.
Observers say that if both sides reach an agreement soon, Skopje could hope on a swift NATO entry as of the beginning of next year. This would also mean that Athens would not pose an obstacle to Skopje’s EU accession.
Ivanov’s host, Croatian President Stipe Mesic, in the same context urged Slovenia to restrain from using the bilateral dispute over its border with Croatia to block Zagreb’s EU accession negotiations.
(Reporting by Sinisa-Jakov Marusic)
2009-07-14 14:48:07