After their meeting in Pili, Greece, on Friday, the Macedonian and Greek Prime Ministers, Gruevski and Papandreou, retained their positions regarding the resolution of the name issue, which, according to Macedonian media, let down diplomats in Brussels.

“Today I was told that Greece retains the proposal for resolving the name issue that Greek negotiator Adamantios Vassilakis conveyed to mediator Nimetz recently. I can’t say that the Greek position changed in a positive direction,” said Prime Minister Gruevski immediately after the meeting.

The Macedonian prime minister asked Papandreou to reconsider his next step and refrain from vetoing Macedonia’s start of EU accession talks.