Merkel upbeat over solution to FYROM name row
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is closer than any time in the last decade to settling a long-standing dispute over its name with Greece which has thwarted Skopje's ambitions to join NATO and the European Union, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.
"I am very pleased and relieved that .. there is movement in the talks," Merkel told reporters at a joint news conference with FYROM Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.
"In the last ten years, the solution has not been as close as now and it would be wonderful if the remaining difficulties can be bridged," she said.
Greece objects to the former Yugoslav republic's use of the name “Macedonia,” arguing that it could imply territorial claims over its own northern region of the same name. [Reuters]
