Greece, FYROM to resume UN-mediated name talks on Jan. 16
United Nations mediator Matthew Nimetz (photo) will be launching a new round of talks between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the long-running dispute over the official name of the latter country on January 16, the UN reported on Tuesday.
Nimetz will host two days of discussions in New York.
A spokesperson for the UN said that Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis of Greece and Ambassador Zoran Jolevski of FYROM have agreed to participate in the talks.
The spokesperson said Nimetz will meet with the two representatives separately at first and try to develop a mutually acceptable approach to re-invigorate the talks and to make progress towards resolving the name issue.
These will be the first negotiations since the International Court of Justice at The Hague ruled in December that Greece was wrong to block FYROM?s bid to join NATO in 2008 but stopped short of ordering Athens to refrain from similar action in the future.
Greece requested that Nimetz resume the talks in the wake of the court?s decision.
