Serbia wants to mediate in Greece-Macedonia name row

(BELGRADE) - Serbian President Boris Tadic on Tuesday proposed to take on a mediator role in the almost 20-year row between Greece and Macedonia over the name of the former Yugoslav republic.

"We are ready to take on the role of mediator in the conflict... We want to be part of the solution," Tadic said, as quoted by the Beta news agency.

The Serbian leader was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of ambassadors to Serbia which was also attended by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.

Greece has been opposed to international recognition of its northern neighbour under the name of Macedonia since the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991.

Athens considers the name Macedonia part of its Greek heritage because a northern Greek province has the same name. It already blocked Skopje's membership of NATO last year.

United Nations-led negotiations on the name row have proved fruitless.

Macedonia has been an official EU candidate nation since December 2005 but has not yet begun any of the detailed negotiations required prior to membership.

In December the EU announced it had pushed back a decision to allow Macedonia to enter membership talks to the first semester of 2010. Such a decision requires unanimity from the EU members including Greece.

Macedonia was allowed to join the UN in 1993 under the provisional name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).