US: Name solution must precede NATO accession for FYROM

The United States supports efforts to resolve a disagreement on the name issue between Athens and Skopje and stands by the decision NATO made at its 2008 summit in Bucharest, a Pentagon spokesperson has said after talks in Washington between US Defense Secretary James Mattis and his counterpart from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Radmila Shekerinska.

In a statement summarizing the meeting, Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said Mattis and Shekerinska discussed the pending name issue with Greece, which has prevented FYROM's accession to NATO.

The United States supports efforts to resolve this issue, White said, and stands by the decision NATO made at its 2008 summit in Bucharest, Romania, the statement said.