Athens accuses Skopje of hampering talks on name dispute

12/09/2008

ATHENS, Greece -- The foreign ministry has again accused Macedonia of hampering negotiations on the name dispute between the two countries, media reported on Thursday (September 11th). "Recently, the Macedonian government has been systematically making the negotiating process more difficult in a way that is not giving us many reasons for optimism," foreign ministry spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos said. "Skopje is pursuing a policy that is nationalistic and counterproductive. The negotiating process is still alive, but no one can predict how the situation will unfold," he added.

In New York, UN special envoy Matthew Nimetz held a fresh round of talks on the name dispute Thursday with Greek representative Adamantios Vassilakis and Macedonian counterpart Nikola Dimitrov. Nimetz told journalists he presented proposals containing "new elements" based on ideas offered by both sides. (ANA-MPA, ERT, In.news, MRT, Makfax, Sitel TV - 11/09/08)