UN envoy launches name talks with FYROM officials
A United Nations envoy has started talks with the leadership of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) over ending a long-running dispute with neighboring Greece over the country's name.
Matthew Nimetz met FYROM's president Gjorge Ivanov in Skopje on Thursday and will also see government officials and party leaders.
Greece says the country's name implies claims on its own province of Macedonia – home of ancient Greek warrior-king Alexander the Great – and wants it changed. That charge is denied by the FYROM government.
NATO member Greece has blocked FYROM's accession to the alliance until a solution on the name is found.
Nimetz, who has already met with Greek officials in Athens, says there appears to be momentum for solving the dispute that has poisoned the two countries' relations since FYROM won independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.
[AP]
