Top Macedonian officials reaffirmed on Thursday that their country will continue using its constitutional name of the Republic of Macedonia despite Greek threats, news from Skopje said.
Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki and the leading negotiator in the name dispute with Greece, Nikola Dimitrov, held a coordinative meeting on the issue on Thursday.
"The country's constitutional name and its international use is the main pillar of Macedonia's identity and dignity," reads a joint statement issued after the meeting.
They said the constitutional name of Macedonia is conducive to building a stable and prosperous region, and this is in the interest of both Macedonia and Greece.
"Macedonia will remain dedicated to stepping up its efforts to iron out the differences over the name issue with Greece, so as to establish a good-neighborly relationship between our two countries, " the statement says.
Macedonia and Greece have agreed to start a new round of talks over the name dispute. The talks are scheduled to begin on Nov. 1 in New York.
Greece has been opposed to the name of the Republic of Macedonia since the country broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991.
Earlier this month, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis made a veiled threat that Athens would block Skopje's bid to join NATO and the European Union if the name dispute is not settled satisfactorily.
Greece says the name of Macedonia implies a claim on the northern Greek province of Macedonia and could destabilize the region.
Instead, Greece asks its northern neighbor to use the name of " Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," or FYROM in short, under which the country joined the United Nations in 1993.
Source: Xinhua
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