UN envoy urges Greece,Macedonia to resolve name row

(SKOPJE) - Greece and Macedonia should speed up talks to resolve their 19-year dispute over the use of the name Macedonia, UN chief mediator Matthew Nimetz said here Tuesday.

"I think it is a high priority to accelerate these talks, get some decisions so we may see whether we can actually break through," Nimetz told reporters.

For nearly two decades, the two neighbours have been at loggerheads over the use of the name Macedonia. UN-sponsored negotiations have so far been fruitless.

Macedonia joined the United Nations in 1993 under the provisional name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

But Greece -- which has a northern province called Macedonia -- considers the name to be part of its heritage.

Nimetz, who is also due to visit Athens, said he did not "bring a new proposal."

Before leaving for Athens, Nimetz is to meet Macedonian President Georgi Ivanov and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.

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.

Last year, Greece also blocked Skopje's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).