EU urges solution to Macedonia-Greece name row
(SKOPJE) - Now is the time for Athens and Skopje to resolve their 19-year old dispute over the use of the name Macedonia, EU enlargement chief Stefan Fuele said Friday.
"The leaders have a huge responsibility and a fantastic opportunity to make a lasting contribution to a wider regional stability and prosperity," said Fuele during a visit to Skopje.
"We have a window of opportunity and in the months to come, we had better use it," Fuele told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and other Macedonian officials.
The two neighbours have long been at loggerheads over the name Macedonia.
Macedonia the country was a part of Yugoslavia before independence in 1991, while Greece -- which has a northern province called Macedonia -- considers the name to be part of its heritage.
Macedonia joined the United Nations in 1993 under the provisional name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), but UN-led negotiations have yet to resolve the dispute.
The European Commission is to discuss the timeline for opening EU membership negotiations with Macedonia next month, but a decision to go ahead hinges on approval from by all EU member states -- including Greece.
Fule's visit -- his first to Skopje since becoming EU enlargement commissioner -- also came a week before a visit to Skopje and Athens by the UN chief mediator in the name dispute, Matthew Niemetz.
Macedonia's prime minister Gruevski said Friday that Skopje "remains devoted to finding a solution to overcome the dispute".
Macedonia -- an official candidate for EU membership since December 2005 -- "expects the dispute to be overcome in order for the state to be able to become a member of the EU and NATO, which is our strategic aim," he added.
Fyrom