FYROM digs its heels in
The diplomat dispatched by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to New York to discuss the Macedonia name dispute with a United Nations mediator has rebuffed four name proposals, including the geographical qualifiers Northern and Upper, sources in Skopje have told Skai TV and radio. FYROM’s negotiator Nikola Dimitrov reportedly told the UN’s Matthew Nimetz that the proposed names are not acceptable, adding that FYROM will not «give up» its national identity. Dimitrov also readdressed the issue of the supposed existence of a «Slav-Macedonian minority» in Greece. Comments on this sensitive topic by FYROM’s Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki on Wednesday provoked a stern reaction from veteran PASOK MP Theodoros Pangalos, a former foreign minister, during a summit of the Western European Union Assembly in Skopje. Greece’s negotiator in the name dispute, Adamantios Vassilakis, is to meet with Nimetz in New York on Monday to brief the UN envoy on the Greek government’s stance.
