Gruevski: no information about new proposals in name dispute with Greece

10/08/2008

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said Friday (August 8th) that Macedonia's leaders have no information about a new proposal by Matthew Nimetz, the UN envoy for the name dispute with Greece. "We expect Nimetz to make a better proposal than his previous one," a statement from the prime minister's office read. Greek media reports have been claiming that Nimetz will propose the name New Democratic Republic of Macedonia.

Meanwhile, the government officially reacted on Friday to a protest by Greece, which objects to the listing of its northern neighbour as Macedonia on the official website of the Olympic Games. "We are appealing to our southern neighbour to enable the Olympics' spirit and the spirit of sports competition to find their real place at the Olympic Games in Beijing," said Deputy Prime Minister in charge of EU Integration Ivica Bocevski. "The bilateral issues that we have with our southern neighbour should be settled via the well known forums." (Makfax, Netpress - 08/08/08)