The United Nations has excellent cooperation with Macedonia and it is a shame that one open issue burdens these relations, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon assessed at his meeting with Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov in New York on Saturday.

On the other hand, Ivanov stressed in an interview for the Macedonian-language program of radio Voice of America that Macedonia hopes that, after the elections in Greece, a better atmosphere can be created for resolution of the name dispute, which has dragged on for 16 years due to the bad climate.