Greece and Macedonia in 'Therapy' With UN Envoy

Officials representing feuding neighbors, Greek and Macedonian, held talks with a United Nations (UN) mediator in Athens on Tuesday.

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The UN envoy, Matthew Nimetz, said it unproductive to delay a resolution to the disagreement between the two countries regarding what Macedonia can officially call itself.

"I think there is a momentum here and we should seize the momentum," he told journalists after a meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias — and ahead of similar talks in Macedonia's capital Skopje.

The tiff has prevented Macedonia from gaining NATO membership. “I think there is a will (in Athens), and I believe also in Skopje, to try to reach a settlement,” Nimetz said.

“There's a time for decision-making and I think we're there,” Nimetz said. “So I think, in my view, we're talking about weeks of discussion to see where we are.”

Both countries are participating in the dialogues in an attempt to come to an agreement over the more than half-a-century disputed name – Macedonia.

Nimetz added that it was “time for decision-making. We’ve been discussing these things for 25 years, everyone knows what the issues are,” he said. “I think there is a momentum here and we should seize the momentum.”

Greece objects to its neighbor's use of the name, making the argument that the ambiguity implies territorial claims on the adjoining province, also called Macedonia. Skopje officials dismissed the explanation, countering that their Macedonia territory has been in existence for a significant time.

Both governments have pledged to come to an agreement this year.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias reiterated that Athens is seeking a composite solution. “What matters is that the word used in a composite name is not in English, but in Slavic,” he said.

The minister stressed that Athens wants to see changes to the constitution of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). Macedonia broke away from the former Yugoslavia and gained independence in 1991.

Former Prime Minister Costas Simitis said a solution was “a precondition for Greece’s prosperity” and called for a “serious and responsible negotiation” without subscribing to populism.

Many Greeks had rallied against the use of the name – in whole or part – in Thessaloniki on Jan. 21. The march drew more than 100,000 people. But, 35 percent of Greeks expressed comfort with a hybrid name that includes the word “Macedonia,” according to an Action 24-sanctioned Pulse poll.

On Tuesday, Archbishop Ieronymos announced that the Church of Greece will join a major rally scheduled for Sunday, in Athens, to protest the use of the term “Macedonia.”

Ieronymos has changed his position after pressure from clerics and the wider public.

The clerics are expected to attend the gathering on Sunday in a unified show of rejection of the use of the term “Macedonia” in any form.