Athens yesterday expressed concern at the violence that marred Sunday’s elections in the neighboring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) but said it was preparing for the resumption of talks aimed at solving the ongoing Macedonia name dispute.

“We share the concerns expressed by the international community about the violence, the irregularities and the democratic deficit that marked the elections,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos said. Nevertheless, Greek diplomats are awaiting the continuation of negotiations “under the auspices of the United Nations with the representative of the government that will be formed in Skopje,” he added.

Koumoutsakos hedged requests to assess the impact of the unrest in FYROM on the talks, saying only that Athens was “concerned” about recent developments and had “sought to avoid embracing the logic of extreme nationalism frequently adopted by the neighboring country prior to elections.”