EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn welcomed Monday the meeting of the prime ministers of Macedonia and Greece set for Friday.

“I believe that the effort both countries are making is a good sign. It is clear that our recommendation for negotiations is strong encouragement to resolve the name issue. And, of course, I want the European Council of Ministers to adopt our recommendation for negotiations with FYROM,” he said.

Commissioner Rehn has thus expressed the content of the EU over the fact that the relations between the two countries have started warming up, which is the first step in seeking out a solution in a foreseeable future. At the same time, officials in Brussels believe that the prime ministers of Macedonia and Greece, Nikola Gruevski and George Papandreou, will not reach an agreement at their meeting on Friday, yet they do believe the meeting could be a start of a constructive process that would take the long-standing issue off the agenda sometime over the next few months.