Foreign Ministry sources in Athens expressed clear dismay yesterday at the intransigent stance of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) in ongoing Macedonia name talks as the European Union called on Skopje to boost transparency and improve election processes to secure accession talks.

In Athens, a ministry source avoided responding to news of a television advertisement in FYROM depicting the ancient Greek warrior Alexander the Great calling on a phalanx of soldiers to remain vigilant before an imminent attack. But the source described as “comically tragic” the FYROM government’s stance. “They have gone from undermining talks to simple foot-dragging,” the source said after FYROM Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski claimed to be making “incessant efforts” to solve the name dispute.

Meanwhile in Brussels EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn called on FYROM to push reforms. ”Substantial further efforts are still needed before we can tick all the boxes,” he said.