The Prime Ministers of Macedonia and Greece, Gruevski and Papandreou, are going to meet before the meeting of the Council of Ministers set for 7 December in Brussels, at which it should be decided whether Macedonia should be set a date for starting membership negotiations.

Vreme speculates that Greece and Macedonia are pressurized by the international community to resolve the name issue and to reach some kind of compromise. Diplomatic sources told Vreme and A1 TV that the date of the meeting is being kept secret in order to avoid public pressure in both countries.

Diplomatic sources say that the prime ministers are expected to reach an verbal agreement over the new name, which is speculated to be “Northern Republic of Macedonia”, and add that Skopje and Athens are urged to begin talks regarding the scope of the international use of the new name. According to the same sources, the Gruevski-Papandreou meeting should take place by no later than 2 December when the Macedonian prime minister is scheduled to meet EC President Jose Manuel Barroso.

According to this scenario, the Council of Ministers is going to set Macedonia a date on 7 December. It is speculated that accession talks will begin in April 2010, at the same time when talks with Iceland should begin.