Greek PM sees window for solution to name dispute with FYROM in 2018

by Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told a cabinet meeting in Athens on Monday that there was a window of opportunity for the solution in 2018 to the decades-old name dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) over the Balkan state's name.

"We have a window for solution as long as the shift made by our neighbors proves to be sincere. If achieved this solution will be for the benefit of peace and cooperation in the Balkans," the Greek premier said according to an emailed press release.

Athens is going into the negotiations with FYROM on the name issue with the same position presented in 2007-2008, which calls for a compound name with a geographical qualifier for use in relations to everyone, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said during the cabinet meeting, according to Greek national news agency AMNA citing sources.

Kotzias will receive FYROM's Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bujar Osmani on Tuesday in Athens ahead of a new round of talks between diplomats of both sides in New York next week with UN special mediator Matthew Nimetz.

The intensified contacts between the two countries in recent months and the statements made by officials in Athens, Skopje and Nimetz have fuelled hope that the UN-mediated dialogue this time may end successful.

FYROM Prime Minister Zoran Zaev expressed optimism that a solution can be found by the end of the first semester of 2018, speaking during an interview aired on Greek Alpha television on late Sunday.

Zaev spent the New Year holidays in the northern Greece city port of Thessaloniki invited by the local Mayor.

The longstanding dispute between the two neighbors started when FYROM declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and chose the name Macedonia which is also the name of a northern Greek province.

Following last year's elections at FYROM Zaev has said that his government intends to solve the name dispute in order to open the way for the country's accession to NATO and the European Union. Enditem