UN Hands Greece, Macedonia, Name Dispute Proposals

Diplomats said no date for further talks would be set until the two governments had reviewed the proposals.

The United Nations handed Greece and Macedonia proposals on Thursday to help settle a 16-year dispute over the name of the ex-Yugoslav republic that threatens to stop it joining NATO.

After talks with Greek and Macedonian envoys, U.N. mediator Matthew Nimetz said in a statement he "made some suggestions in the form of a draft framework for their consideration as a basis for an honorable and fair solution".

Macedonia took that name when it became independent in 1991 following the breakup of Yugoslavia, but Athens objects because it is also the name of a northern Greek province, birthplace of Alexander the Great.

Seeing the use of the name as a sign of territorial ambitions, Athens has threatened to block its northern neighbor's accession to NATO and the European Union.

Nimetz gave no further details of the draft framework, but diplomats said he had not proposed a specific name.

The U.N. envoy said he had asked ambassadors Adamantios Vassilakis of Greece and Nikola Dimitrov of Macedonia to take his suggestions back to their governments and that he was ready to visit Athens and Skopje to pursue discussions.

Diplomats said no date for further talks would be set until the two governments had reviewed the proposals.

Talks have been going on since 1993, with the last round in May and little progress so far. But Macedonia wants to be invited to join NATO during an alliance summit next year.

Greece has said the NATO issue makes resolving the dispute more urgent, but it could be further complicated by a possible unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo in December that would send shock waves through the Balkans.

Still, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis has warned Skopje his government would block its EU and NATO accessions if a deal is not reached. "We will use all means at our disposal," Karamanlis told reporters recently. Asked whether that would include a Greek veto, he said: "Yes."

At the United Nations, Macedonia is officially called "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," and sits in the alphabetically organized General Assembly between Thailand and Timor-Leste, as the U.N. calls East Timor.

The acronym FYROM is also used. The United States, Russia, China, and several EU states use the name "Macedonia" and Canada followed suit in September.

Despite the name dispute, economic ties between the two countries are good.