UN mediator Matthew Nimetz met with Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski in Skopje yesterday. Nimetz said after the meetings that the state leadership had a united position and that the talks were constructive. “I do not expect issues other than the name to be opened. This is sufficient. We should not encumber the talks with other issues, which are also important,” he said.

The UN mediator presented variants of the names Northern Macedonia and Upper Macedonia as possible resolutions for this dispute and he asked the president and prime minister to express their views on these ideas.