UN talks wrap up; Nimetz expected
Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis concluded her diplomatic contacts in New York this weekend by meeting with her Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and addressing the UN General Assembly. In her speech in New York, Bakoyannis called on countries to pull together in what are tough times, although her comments also seemed to carry a message for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). «In such critical times, individual countries have two choices: We can look inward to pursue narrow self-interests and promote nationalist goals to distract our people from the world’s dangers,» Bakoyannis said. «Or we can look outward, open our minds and our boundaries, engage and motivate our people to understand the only way to deal with the threats before us is to face them together.» Greece’s dispute with FYROM over its northern neighbor’s use of the name Macedonia dominated Bakoyannis’s time in New York and it now seems that UN mediator Matthew Nimetz will return to Athens and Skopje next month with what is likely to be the final proposal of this stage of negotiations. Sources indicated that Nimetz’s efforts will focus on getting the two sides to accept Upper or Northern Macedonia as an acceptable name for the Balkan country. He will also bypass the issue of ethnicity, which FYROM has tried to add to negotiations, by concentrating on the issue nationality and his proposal that FYROM’s citizens’ nationality be stated as «Makedonski» on all official documents, including passports.
