Both Greece, Macedonia Have Political Will to Solve Name Issue: SpokesmanBoth Greece and Macedonia have the political will to resolve the issue of Macedonia's name, Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Panos Beglitis said Monday.Beglitis said that a number of possible names have been proposed, but there is no timetable for the settlement of the name issue. The spokesman expressed the hope that the problem will be resolved soon. Macedonia declared independence from Belgrade in 1991, but Greece disputes Macedonia's right to use that name, saying that the Skopje government has territorial designs on the Greek Macedonia, the largest province in northern Greece. Macedonia was admitted to the United Nations in April 1993 under the provisional name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) pending a definitive solution. Relations have steadily improved since an agreement for economic cooperation between the two countries was signed in 1996, but negotiations on the name dispute remain deadlocked at the United Nations. |
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