Tsipras, Merkel to meet as Skopje leaders tour EU cities to showcase 'good will'

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to discuss the name dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) during his meeting today with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the informal summit of 27 European Union leaders in Brussels on Friday.  

The meeting will take place after Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said on Thursday that the EU will soon recommend starting accession talks with Albania and FYROM as part of the bloc's effort to incorporate the Western Balkans. 

"The EU Commission will soon recommend, most likely by the summer, that member-states begin accession negotiations with Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," Hahn said in an interview with Germany's Die Welt newspaper on Thursday.

He added that the EU believes "both countries have made important reforms in the past, and are thus qualified for this step."<...