On Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:07:13 -0700 (PDT), pavel <...@yahoo.com

Nimetz gets ball rolling on name
(Kathimerini, Athens, June 27th, 2008)
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_politics_100006_27/06/2008_98064

The United Nations mediator on the Macedonia name dispute yesterday
discussed a new “package of ideas” with Foreign Minister Dora
Bakoyannis in the first essential move toward a settlement since
Athens vetoed Skopje’s bid to join NATO in early April.

UN envoy Matthew Nimetz, who is due in Skopje today for talks, said he
was seeking to sound out government officials from both sides before
making a new proposal for a name settlement.

According to sources, Nimetz has moved away from “double-barreled”
names with hyphens. The Constitutional Republic of Macedonia is
believed to be a new alternative, while New Macedonia, Upper Macedonia
and Northern Macedonia are reportedly still on the table.

Following his talks with Bakoyannis, Nimetz stressed that talks were
focusing on finding an alternative name for the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), “not on issues of identity and
language,” which FYROM government officials have been attempting to
raise in discussions.

Nimetz refused to set a deadline for a settlement, saying that Greece
and FYROM are not yet ready for bilateral talks.

Earlier yesterday Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis called on the newly
elected FYROM government “to leave behind the provocative rhetoric of
the pre-election period so we can reach a mutually acceptable
solution.”

Bakoyannis stressed that such a solution should be “without
conditions” – an apparent reference to Skopje’s demand that any name
agreed upon in UN-mediated talks should be submitted to a national
referendum.
===End of quote===

Utrinski vesnuk daily, Skopje, June 27th, 2008
http://www.utrinski.com.mk/?ItemID=75CF937CD2F9BA4A973D5926CD1BD671

According to the Macedonian media, the three proposed of
Nimitz names are: Northern Macedonia, Vardar Macedonia, and
Upper Macedonia. New Macedonia is unacceptable, and "Constitutional
Republic of Macedonia" would be a good solution, but probably it
would be not acceptable for Greece.

By BBC, the US President George Bush is making the last efforts
before the end of his mandate to resolve the long standing issue
between
the Republic of Macedonia and Greece. The US wants the name to
be settled before July 9th in order Macedonia to be invited into
NATO together with Albania and Croatia. But Greece is reluctant
and claimes that there are not any dead-lines for resolving the issue.

According to the Macedonian media, Greece can wait to see the
results of the elections in the US, as the candidate-president
Obama clearly claimed that he is for better relations between the
US and Greece, and that "Macedonia has to input more efforts in
order to resolve the name issue with Greece".