macedonia

Beta is reporting this, citing AP, and adding that the Macedonian prime minister said Skopje was ready to do this "in order to settle a 26-year-long dispute with Greece."

"I give up (the claim of) Macedonia as being the sole heir to Alexander. History does not belong only to us, but also to Greece, and many other states," he told Telma TV.

After the rioting in Macedonia when hundreds of people stormed parliament building and beat up MPs after an ethnic Albanian was elected parliamentary speaker, the situation in neighbouring Macedonia was discussed at a meeting in Sofia between Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Stefan Yanev, Interior Minister Plamen Uzunov and heads of security structures, BNR reported.

Macedonian officials have expressed their outrage at comments from United States Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who told an Albanian TV station Macedonia should be divided and its creation was a failed project.

Its territories should be divided between neighboring states, Kosovo and Bulgaria included, Macedonian media quote him as telling Albania's Vizion Plus TV.

A high-ranking official from Macedonia's junior ruling party, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, told BIRN that international pressure played no role in its switch from its initial decision to leave the country's interim government to its announcement that it would only replace its existing ministers with new ones.

Bulgaria will deliver humanitarian assistance to refugees and migrants at Tabanovce transit center near Kumanovo in neighbouring  Macedonia on Thursday, the government in Sofia has said.

The aid consisting of mineral water and food supplies has been provided by the Bulgarian Red Cross and Bulgarian companies, the government press office said in a statement.

The EU must help Macedonia bolster security at its border with Greece in order to keep the Western Balkans route shut to migrants, Austrian Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil has said.

Brussels and Ankara on Tuesday agreed in principle to curb the migrant flow from Turkey into Europe, in return for additional aid to Turkey.

No final decision has been taken yet, and a new EU meeting will come up with a final position on March 17-18.

Albania fears becoming part of the Balkan "refugee route", now that Macedonia has tightened border controls, leaving some 10,000 people trapped in Greece on their way to Western Europe.

Until now, the most-used route has run through Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia, avoiding Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Albania.