| Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias (L), UN envoy Matthew Nimetz (C) and Foreign Minister of FYROM Nikola Dimitrov speak to the media after their meeting in Sounion, Greece, May 12, 2018 |
Greece said on Tuesday it was “far away” from resolving a decades-long dispute over FYROM’s name despite progress in talks between the two neighbours.
The row erupted in 1991 when FYROM declared independence from Yugoslavia as it disintegrated. Greece refuses to recognise it under the name Macedonia, saying this implies a territorial claim on a northern Greek region of the same name, and has blocked its efforts to join NATO and the European Union.
“In our continuing talks with our neighbours, there has been significant progress but we are still far away from concluding negotiations and reaching an agreement,” government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos told a press briefing.
The prime ministers of Greece and FYROM are expected to meet in neighbouring Bulgaria on Thursday on the sidelines of an EU-Western Balkans summit.
Tzanakopoulos said the meeting would be “very useful and important” but the two countries might need a new round of talks to resolve the dispute.
Athens and Skopje decided last year to renew their efforts to try to reach a settlement well before the summer.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras hopes a resolution would increase his political leverage in Europe while boosting his popularity at home, where many Greeks feel the country’s debt crisis and three huge bailouts have compromised its sovereignty.
FYROM Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, who came to power a year ago, hopes to boost his fragile coalition with a deal that would also open up the path to EU and NATO membership for the tiny landlocked Balkan country.
Greece has asked Macedonia to change its name and to revise its constitution to exclude what it says are “irredentist” references denoting territorial ambitions.
Tzanakopoulos said any deal would be comprehensive and would outline specific targets and a timeframe.
“It won’t be a solution which will be concluded by pressing a button,” he said, reiterating that Greece wanted a compound name which would be used in all international forums.