Athens waits for Skopje to go first

Greece intends to play a waiting game on the Macedonia name issue, letting the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) first state its position before Athens reveals whether it is happy with the latest proposal made by United Nations mediator Matthew Nimetz. Sources said yesterday that Greek diplomats will wait for the government in Skopje to assess the latest proposal, according to which FYROM would probably be known as the Republic of Northern Macedonia, and announce its position before they indicate their own views. FYROM Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is set to convene a meeting of political leaders to discuss Nimetz’s plan but initial reactions from Greece’s neighbor suggest that there is concern about the omission of the matters of ethnicity and language from the deal. There is also... [read full story]