February 16 (SeeNews) - Macedonia and Greece can resolve their years-long dispute on the name of the former Yugoslav republic by the end of the Bulgarian presidency of the Council of the EU in June, European commissioner Johannes Hahn said on Friday.
"I am very confident about this," Johannes Hahn, member of the European Commission in charge of enlargement negotiations, said in response to question from journalists before an informal meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (Gymnich) in Sofia.
On Tuesday, the foreign ministers of Macedonia and Greece agreed to continue their efforts to resolve the dispute.
The foreign ministers of Macedonia and Greece, Nikola Dimitrov and Nikos Kotzias, held a constructive meeting in Vienna jointly with Matthew Nimetz, personal envoy of the UN Secretary-General, as part of the efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution to the name issue, Macedonia's foreign ministry said at the time.
Last week, the European Commission said it is ready to prepare recommendations to open accession negotiations with Macedonia following the adoption of a strategy for a credible enlargement perspective for and enhanced EU engagement with the Western Balkans.
Earlier this month, hundreds of thousands of Greeks gathered in Athens to protest against any inclusion of the word 'Macedonia' in the name of the neighbouring country. According to the protesters, the use of 'Macedonia' in the country's name implies a territorial claim on Greece's northernmost region of the same name.
Greece has blocked Macedonia’s attempts to join NATO and the European Union over the name row.
NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, told officials in Skopje last month that the name dispute with Greece would have to be resolved before the Balkan country could be considered for membership in the alliance.
Macedonia was granted EU candidate status in 2015.
source: European Commission Audiovisual Service