Nimetz: Optimistic over FYROM name dispute
- Written by E.Tsiliopoulos
Ahead of new talks next week, UN mediator in the name conflict between Greece and FYROM Matthew Nimetz is optimistic about the 20 year old conflict.
“This time I expect substantial progress at the meetings with the leaders in Skopje and Athens,” UN mediator Nimetz was quoted as saying in an interview for “Voice of the People,” a FYROM TV magazine.
Nimetz will visit Skopje on Monday and Tuesday to meet FYROM leaders, after which he will travel to Athens, a UN press release explained. The visit comes ahead of a NATO summit in September in Cardiff where it is unclear whether there will be much progress on enlargement with any of the four would-be members: FYROM, Montenegro, Bosnia and Georgia.
The last round of UN-sponsored name talks took place in April in New York, when Nimetz conceded that no significant progress was made. Greece insists that FYROM’s name implies territorial claims to its own northern province, also called Macedonia. FYROM obtained EU candidate status back in December 2005 and European Commission reports have recommended a start to membership talks each year since 2009.
