US: Skopje-Athens Meeting Crucial

Philip Reeker

He said that it is important for the two statesmen to break the ice and start discussing this issue.

“We are looking forward to this meeting, which is crucial for name talks,” Reeker told local media. “We believe that Macedonia and Greece can find an acceptable solution,” he added.

When asked whether the USA supports solving name issue in stages, Reeker pointed out that “it’s important both countries to come to an acceptable solution”.

Media speculate that the two prime ministers will first try to find a mutually acceptable name for Macedonia, and will leave other issues such as the identity of Macedonia's citizens, and the scope of the use of the name for a later date.

The two will meet on Friday at the sidelines of a trilateral climate change meeting between Albania, Macedonia and Greece which will take place on Greek territory near the Prespa Lake.

After the trilateral meeting, Papandreou and Gruevski will have a tête-à-tête to try to find a modality to overcome their differences on the name issue.

Greek Interim Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas has repeated that a veto is possible, and ruled out EU entry talks for Skopje without a prior resolution of the name row. "There cannot be a start of EU accession negotiations without a prior resolution of the name issue," read Droutsas' remarks on the Greek foreign ministry's website.

Last year Athens blocked Skopje’s NATO accession arguing that the country’s constitutional name, Republic of Macedonia implies territorial claims towards its own northern province which is also called Macedonia.

The European Commission last month gave Macedonia an added incentive to resolve the name dispute by recommending the EU gives Skopje a start date for accession negotiations into the bloc, but left the decision on the date for member states who meet on 7 December.