The FINANCIAL -- Austria and Slovakia
on Tuesday threw their support behind Macedonia opening accession talks
with the European Union this year despite its long-running name row with
neighbouring Greece.
"We believe that Macedonia has waited long enough. We will therefore lobby within the EU for a decision to start accession negotiations... by the end of the year," Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said.
"The name dispute is highly sensitive ... but in the end it is a bilateral issue between Greece and Macedonia and it should no longer block the start of the accession negotiations," he added after a joint meeting with his Slovak counterpart Miroslav Lajcak and Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki.
Lajcak agreed that Macedonia "should be the next country to start EU accession talks, with Bratislava and Vienna assisting this process".
However the Slovak diplomat added that before the talks can be opened the parties would need to convince "all 27 member-states there is (a) political will to solve the bilateral issue".
As EUbusiness reported, Macedonia was granted EU candidate status in 2005, but the start of the accession talks has been blocked ever since by Greece due to the name row.
Athens and Skopje have been at loggerheads over the right to the name Macedonia since the former Yugoslav republic proclaimed independence in 1991, as a northern Greek province has the same name.
Athens worries it could imply a claim on its territory, and accuses Macedonia of trying to usurp its heritage. UN mediation has so far been fruitless in breaking the impasse.
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