Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) will hold the next round of bilateral negotiations on Jan. 21 in Ohrid, FYROM, in an attempt to settle the dispute over the use of the name 'Macedonia' by FYROM, Greek News Agency ANA-MPA reported Tuesday.
The talks will focus on "the name issue and related matters," and will be opened by FYROM Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki, UN special mediator on the FYROM name issue Matthew Nimetz announced in New York, the agency said.
If progress is achieved in Ohrid, the following round of talks will take place in Greece, he said.
He said the Ohrid session will be the first time that direct negotiations are held in the region, instead of at the UN headquarters in New York.
The name dispute between FYROM and Greece broke out shortly after FYROM gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Greece said the country's name, the Republic of Macedonia, implies a territorial claim over the northern Greek province of Macedonia and could destabilize the region.
Greece has threatened to use its NATO-member status to veto FYROM's accession efforts to NATO at the organization's next spring summit in Bucharest, capital of Romania, if there is no agreement on the name issue by then.
Source:Xinhua
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