(BRDO PRI KRANJU) - Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis indicated Saturday that she does not expect a solution on a row with Macedonia over its name before a NATO summit next week, diplomats said.

"Greece thinks nothing will be ready within a week to find a solution," a European diplomat said after a meeting of EU and Balkan leaders in Brdo, near the Slovenian capital Ljubljana.

Greece has threatened to veto Macedonia's NATO membership, expected to be offered at the April 2-4 summit, if the dispute is not resolved.

Skopje wants to join NATO under the name Macedonia rather than as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), under which it was admitted to the UN in 1993.

But Greece insists the Balkan state not use the name Macedonia, fearing it would imply Skopje has a claim on its northern province of the same name.

Macedonia's parliament will next week debate whether to accept a new name for their country proposed by the United Nations in a bid to overcome the 17-year old dispute with Greece ahead of the crucial NATO summit which begins next Wednesday in Bucharest.

The Greek foreign minister "left little hope for a solution before the NATO summit," another diplomat said on the margins of the EU foreign ministers' meeting.

The Greek region and the former Yugoslav republic share a lengthy border.

Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.