The United States officially took the wheel in the talks on the name dispute. The results are already visible, considering that they succeeded in raising the level of the talks to talks between ministers. A meeting has been scheduled between Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki and Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis for today, in Brussels. The two foreign ministers will have to discuss how the talks on the name will develop in these last 10 days before the NATO Summit in Bucharest. Unlike the talks so far, where UN mediator Matthew Nimetz was the chief mediator, Daniel Fried, U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, will assume this role in Brussels.

The Macedonian Foreign Ministry confirmed that this is “an initiative of senior U.S. diplomats”, as well as a message by Washington that a resolution should be found before the NATO Summit.

“U.S. President George Bush hopes that Macedonia and Greece will find a resolution for the name dispute before the NATO Summit in Bucharest,” White House Spokeswoman Dana Perino said.