The issue of national identity is taken seriously by Balkan people – including the least serious among them.
Milososki-Droutsas Meeting in Athens
Skopje | 01 December 2009 | Sinisa-Jakov Marusic
Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki met with Greece's deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas Tuesday at the sidelines of a meeting held in Athens by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. OSCE.
The meeting did not bring substantial progress in the ongoing Athens-Skopje effort to overcome their long lasting name spat, but was an indicator that both sides are willing to talk.
The talks were a continuation of the recent push to establish warmer relations between the two neighboring countries in the hope of bringing their opposing views over the 18-year old name dispute closer.
The meeting came after the Prime Ministers of Greece and Macedonia, George Papandreou and Nikola Gruevski, met last Friday.
Greece is currently threatening to block a decision by EU member stated meeting on December 7 from giving Macedonia a start date for EU accession negotiations.
Last year Athens blocked Skopje’s NATO accession, insisting that Skopje’s formal name, Republic of Macedonia, implies territorial claims against its own northern province, also called Macedonia.
After the meeting Macedonia's foreign minister said he stressed that a Greek veto will not bring either side closer to an agreement.
On a separate issue, he presented two initiatives aimed at enhancing bilateral relations. The first was to raise the level of diplomatic relations between the two countries, for example by upgrading the Greek liaison office in Skopje to an embassy, the second was for an an agreement for eliminating double taxation, a suggestion which was initiated by Greek investors in Macedonia.
Gteece said it will seriously review the initiatives.
