Macedonia

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country is holding the presidency of the European Union, thinks the time to solve the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece has come.

The UN mediator in the Athens-Skopje “name” talks, Matthew Nimetz is summoning both sides to a fresh round of talks from 16 to 22 November. The mediator is in permanent contact with both sides to precise the date for the meeting in New York, the UN said.

Macedonian President Gjorgje Ivanov sent an invitation to his Greek counterpart Karopolos Papoulias to visit Macedonia. I’m certain that your visit will help us contribute to our mutual vision and we will definitely give additional impulse for strengthening good-neighborly relations”, said the invitation, which was sent by President Ivanov this …

Deputy Prime Minister of EU Integrations Vasko Naumovski is visiting Hungary. In the frameworks of his visit, Naumovski will meet Hungarian Foreign Minister Petar Balaz as well as State Secretary for European Affairs of the Republic of Hungary Gabor Ivan. Naumovski is scheduled to meet President of Parliamentary Commission for …

The leaders of Macedonia’s two governing parties met Tuesday afternoon to discuss the burning name dispute with Greece. Media speculate the meeting between Prime Minister and leader of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party Nikola Gruevski and Ali Ahmeti, the head of the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, the junior partner in …

Macedonia’s junior government party, the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration, DUI set a deadline of December for its senior ethnic Macedonian partner to solve the ongoing “name” spat with neighboring Greece. In December the country hopes to get a date from the EU council to start EU accession talks, …

Macedonian Premier Nikola Gruevski held a short informal meeting with his new Greek counterpart, George Papandreou, on Thursday in Brussels, the first between leaders of the two countries in several years. Both prime ministers avoided journalists after the 20-minute discussion, which was held on the sidelines of the EU Council …

Macedonian Premier Nikola Gruevski held a short informal meeting with his new Greek counterpart, George Papandreou, on Thursday in Brussels. The parlay, which took place on the sidelines of an EU Council meeting, was expected to focus on the countries’ name dispute, but both leaders left after the meeting without …

European Parliament’s Rapporteur for Macedonia and Slovenian MEP, Zoran Taler, is due to pay a visit to Macedonia on Thursday. According to the agenda, Taler will meet with the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Affairs, Vasko Naumovski. Shortly after the European Commission published the report on Macedonia’s progress, …

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana opposes the holding of referendum on any putative agreement to end the Skopje-Athens name row. “I don’t think [in] parliamentary democracies the referendum is the best solution,” Solana said. “Look at our experience,” he added, referring to the complications the Irish referenda caused for …