FYROM adamant on identity issue
Greece will have to recognize the existence of a Macedonian language and identity to settle its name dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), one of the neighboring country’s top officials has told Sunday’s Kathimerini. Speaking after Prime Minister George Papandreou and his FYROM counterpart Nikola Gruevski met on Friday for inconclusive talks in Brussels, FYROM Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Vasko Naumovski said that Greece had to accept «reality.» «The reality that the existence of a Macedonian identity, nation, language and state cannot change.» Nevertheless, the FYROM official was hopeful that a solution could be found soon. «We believe that if there is honest will on both sides, we can get closer to a final solution very quickly,» said Naumovski in reference to a NATO summit at the end of November when the issue will be raised again.
