Macedonia accepts the proposal for stepping up of the talks on the name, but it will not back down from the constitutional name and it does not agree with the idea of this issue being resolved by the NATO Summit next year. Dnevnik has learned unofficially that this is the message that the Macedonian state leadership conveyed to U.N. mediator Mathew Nimetz yesterday.

Nimetz said that he believes that there is an interest for progress to be made in this dispute and he expressed hope that the talks would intensify.

The U.N. mediator said that he was satisfied with the meeting with Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki, and Macedonia's representative in the talks Nikola Dimitrov, stressing that the talks were "essential and constructive".