Greece, FYROM to continue name talks on May 12
United Nations mediator Matthew Nimetz will visit Athens on May 12 to continue ongoing talks with the foreign ministers of Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on the long-running name dispute, Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias announced on Friday.
The meeting will be held at the end of a summit of Balkan countries on May 11-12 in Sounio, near Athens.
Speaking to journalists after the end of a trilateral ministerial meeting between Greece, Albania, Bulgaria and FYROM in Thessaloniki, Kotzias said he discussed “many alternatives” with his FYROM counterpart Nikola Dimitrov, without specifying which issues they concern.
“We have done so much work, my friend Dimitrov and I, in the last few months that it would be a pity [for the efforts] not to bear fruit,” he said, responding to a question on whether there might be a deal.
Talks have stalled over Greece's demand that the name that Skopje will use as part of a deal will be erga omnes – meaning that it will be used domestically and internationally – and requests that FYROM changes its constitution.
