Greece, Macedonia near to compromise over name

The Macedonian MIA news agency reported the two countries’ Foreign Ministers Nikola Dimitrov and Nikos Kotsias “agreed on the framework of a compromise over the name” at their meeting in Brussels.

Dimitrov is quoted as saying that the meeting with his Greek counterpart was productive, He said that a framework exists now and needs to be further developed by the two ministries’ teams of lawyers working in Athens. “An important meeting is being planned at prime ministerial level. Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev will meet with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras mid-week when, I hope, they will resolve some important issues covering the options on the table. I think we should leave it up to the prime ministers,” Dimitrov said.

Greek media have reported that two prime ministers have spoken on the telephone over the past few days. The Macedonian government has not confirmed or denied those reports.

The Greek daily newspaper Ekathimerini said that the foreign ministers tabled a new proposal for a name but did not specify what it was. The daily quotes Kotzias as saying that he and Dimitrov have done everything in their power to pave the way for a breakthrough in talks between Athens and Skopje to settle the decades-old dispute over the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and that the issues that need to be dealt with now are technical and legal.

The Beta news agency reported that Ekathimerini’s “well informed sources” have said that a name linked to Krusevo and the Krusevo Republic was on the table. The Krusevo Republic was proclaimed in that Macedonian town in 1903 following the Ilinden uprising against Ottoman rule. The Ilinden uprising, celebrated on August 2 as a national holiday, is considered to be the first step towards and independent Macedonian state.