Dignity and identity are indispensable part of the negotiations with Greece, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said Wednesday answering journalist questions in Negotino. He said he would refrain from revealing details ‘so it doesn’t turn out we are negotiating via the media.’ “Mediator (Matthew) Nimetz conducts the process, he knows what is acceptable and what isn’t […]
Majority of citizens (53.5 percent) believe Macedonia cannot join the EU and NATO unless the constitutional name is changed, while 27.5 percent of respondents say such option is viable, show results of the poll by the Institute for Political Research Skopje (IPIS). Over a third of respondents (38.2%) would accept a change of the constitutional name […]
My statements are interpreted incorrectly as I’ve never suggested for the Thessaloniki airport to be renamed, Mayor Yiannis Boutaris told media on Tuesday. Last night at a meeting of the city council and this morning in an interview with Skai TV, Boutaris said a name change of the city airport ‘Makedonia’ could be considered, MIA […]
I’m glad that progress in the name negotiations between Athens and Skopje has been made, Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister said when asked about the dispute between Greece and Macedonia. “It’s a bilateral issue and we should leave Athens and Skopje to negotiate under the mediation of the United Nations,” Ekaterina Zakharieva noted wishing the negotiating parties […]
Name talks between Macedonian and Greek Foreign Ministers, Nikola Dimitrov and Nikos Kotzias respectively, under the aegis of United Nations envoy Matthew Nimetz are ongoing for more than three hours in Vienna, MIA reports. There is no news whether the FMs and the envoy will give statements after the meeting. The FMs met late on Monday, […]
A compound name to be used both at home and abroad, which also requires changes to the Constitution, and elimination of any kind of irredentist claims constitutes the framework guaranteeing a closure of the dispute, said Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Speaking at a meeting of SYRIZA’s parliamentary group, Tsipras amongst other things, involving the economy […]
It is better to solve problems than ignore them, Skopje Mayor Petre Silegov tells Greek newspaper “Documento”, MIA reports from Athens. “When you want to solve a problem you do that. At this time I see that both governments are committed to solving the problem,” says Silegov. Asked about possible constitutional changes urged by Greece, […]
DUI MP Artan Grubi met over dinner with United Nations envoy Matthew Nimetz in New York on Saturday, discussing the name issue and current developments. Grubi met with Niimetz in the capacity of chair of the Parliament’s Committee for European Affairs. “The stance of both PMs give optimism that the solution is closer than ever. […]
The name can be resolved only when there are no signs of irredentism, because irredentism is contrary to international law and European legislation, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos said, reiterating his position about Macedonia that constitutional changes are necessary, remove of irredentist positions and afterwards solution to the problem and Euro-Atlantic integration. Aimed at finding a […]
I see no need for us to change the Constitution, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said Thursday when asked whether the process of solving the name dispute involved the possibility of changing the Constitution. “In the name talks, the demand to change the Constitution is a position of Greece, but we have our own. Macedonia had […]
Serbia wants to see the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece settled and it will support any solution agreed by the two countries, Serbian Ambassador to Macedonia Dusanka Divjak Tomic said Wednesday. “Serbia wishes Macedonia all the best since it is its close neighbor and a traditional friend. We sincerely hope the issue between Macedonia and […]
A meeting of the PMs of Macedonia and Greece, Zoran Zaev and Alexis Tsipras, hasn’t been scheduled yet, government spokesman Mile Bosnjakovski told a news conference Wednesday. Answering a journalist question as to whether Athens as part of the name negotiations was expected to demand amendments to the Articles 3 and 49 of the Constitution […]
Prime Minister Zoran Zaev at Wednesday’s press conference in the government confirms that a new meeting at the ministerial level within negotiation process mediated by UN envoy Matthew Nimetz will be held next week. “I hope that meeting between foreign ministers of the two countries as new level in the negotiations, led by UN mediator […]
There is consensus as to whether we should negotiate, as to whether we should accept some kind of compromise, because both conservative and social democratic administrations have at some point accepted certain compromises, Macedonian Defense Minister Radmila Sekerinska told Greece’s Skai TV. Speaking as a guest of the TV show ‘Istories’, Sekerinska said that the […]
The name dispute between Macedonia and Greece can be resolved in near future with leadership and statesmanship in both countries, Johannes Hahn, the Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations stated to Deutsche Welle. “This is an issue which is ongoing for many years. There are certain sentiments, particularly in Greece, but I understand that […]
The UK House of Lords calls on the government to push Macedonia to join NATO, with or without a solution to the name issue. The report titled “The UK and the Future of Western Balkans”, which is drafted by the foreign affairs committee of the House of Lords, and is dated from December 2017 and […]
We are prepared for a geographic determinant, said Prime Minister Zoran Zaev on Tuesday while highlighting the importance of the name dispute and the need to give talks a chance. “I want our citizens and the people of neighboring Greece to know the details, but most of all I would like to see success in the negotiating process. […]
Greece’s foreign minister has spoken exclusively to Euronews following Sunday’s mass rally in Athens over the decades-long Macedonia dispute. Hundreds of thousands of Greeks protested outside parliament over negotiations to allow the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to shorten their official name to “Macedonia”. Many say it implies a territorial claim on Greece’s northern Macedonia […]
The new name to be used internally and internationally after the country integrates in the EU, no mandatory constitutional change, non-exclusivity clause on terms “Macedonia” and “Macedonian” for commercial uses, the new name to be used not translated or translated at the discretion of each party, read the proposals from the ‘set of ideas’ of […]
The name and identity issues strongly affect the citizens’ perception over EU membership, shows the deliberative poll over the benefits and challenges from Macedonia’s EU accession, carried out by the Skopje-based European Policy Institute. The poll was conducted on 1-7 November 2017 on 1,200 respondents, as well as on 18-19 November 2017 on 150 respondents, […]
