18/03/2008
VIENNA, Austria -- Another round of talks on the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece took place in Vienna on Monday (March 17th). Sources say UN special envoy Matthew Nimetz proposed the names Upper Macedonia, New Macedonia or Republic of Macedonia-Skopje for international use and the Republic of Macedonia for domestic use. Nimetz also suggested that the nationality and language of Macedonia should be called Macedonian. Sources say the proposal was presented to Greek representative Adamantios Vasilakis and Macedonian counterpart Nikola Dimitrov as a "take it or leave it" choice, the last before NATO's April summit in Bucharest. Greece has threatened to block Macedonia's bid unless the country changes its name.
In other news, three officers were killed when a Greek army helicopter crashed on Tuesday near Thessaloniki, not far from the northern border with Macedonia. The Huey UH-1H had left the Alexandria military base, bound for a camp in Redina. Witnesses say they heard an explosion shortly before the crash. (Vecer, AFP, Sky TV, News In, NET, AP - 18/03/08; Makfax, A1, Focus - 17/03/08)
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