Finland is fully supporting the setting of a date for starting negotiations for Macedonia’s membership of the EU in March or April at the latest, but I believe that the name issue should be resolved as soon as possible, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said in Skopje Tuesday.

“The sooner talks with Macedonia begin, the better for everyone. This will not be an easy path and I will not give any dates today, but the name row must be solved as soon as possible,” Minister Stubb said after meeting his host, Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki.

The name issue, Minister Milososki explained to him, made Macedonia very popular relative to its size, but the country is ready for a compromise to resolve it. In order to achieve this, words should turn into actions.

“We are going to talk with Greece. We already have an open dialogue and if there is interest from both sides, we will be able to meet in the middle. We believe that words should turn into actions and what we hear from the new Greek Government is very good rhetoric, which, on the European level and when important decisions should be taken, unfortunately lacks credible actions so that we can believe that this process has a perspective for progress and a positive resolution,” Minister Milososki said after the meeting.