In the run-up to the new round of talks over the name issue between Macedonia and Greece, the Swedish Radio said that the 19-year-old dispute may be on its way of being resolved. According to the radio, an agreement between “the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” and Greece is in sight. EU Ambassador Erwan Fouere, too, says he expects the process of talks to speed up following the April meeting.

The name issue is the only obstacle to Macedonia’s membership of NATO and opening accession talks with the European Union.

“Talks through a mediator have been conducted for a long time and now it seems that the proposal ‘Northern Macedonia’ could be the solution. For the first time a Greek prime minister recommended this solution for the conflict,” the Swedish Radio reported.

The meeting of the negotiators of Macedonia and Greece, Zoran Jolevski and Adamantios Vassilakis with mediator Matthew Nimetz should take place later this month. As the Swedish Radio reported, ‘there is information that the solution to the dispute could be found before June this year.”

In the meantime, Greece, mostly through Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas keeps saying that “Northern Macedonia” is acceptable to them. Macedonia, on the other hand, has no comment on these increasingly more frequent statements from Athens. The Macedonian officials say that what Greece is saying has not changed and demonstrates the well-known Greek position.

“In the statements of the Greek officials, a unilateral approach to this issue has long been noticed. These public statements offer and impose solutions acceptable only to one side in this bilateral issue, deliberately neglecting the essence of the talks conducted under UN auspices and the need for an equal and constructive contribution from both countries to finding a compromise solution,” the Macedonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.