May 17 (SeeNews) - Macedonia's prime minister Zoran Zaev expressed hope on Thursday that the long-standing name dispute with neighbouring Greece will be settled by the next meeting of the Council of the European Union, which will be held in June.
"We hope that before the EU summit we will have a solution," Zoran Zaev said in a live stream on the official YouTube channel of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
"But, it depends on both sides, depends on the institutions, depends on the other participants, like the presidents of the countries, leaders of the opposition, other political leaders and, finally, on the citizens of both countries," Zaev added.
During their meeting in Sofia, where the EU - Western Balkans summit is taking place on Thursday, Zaev and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras have discussed several options, one of which was found acceptable by both sides, the Macedonian prime minister said.
Despite that, if a solution is not reached by June, the two countries will continue their efforts to resolve the dispute, Zaev said.
EU-Western Balkans Summit: National press briefing by Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia from EU2018BG on Vimeo.
Athens has blocked Macedonia’s attempts to join NATO and the EU over the 27-year row over the name of the former Yugoslav republic, which according to Greece, allegedly implies territorial clams over the Greek northernmost province of the same name.