Zoran Zaev

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) said Saturday he is ready to go ahead with a new name for his country in order to solve a decades-long name dispute with Greece and pave the way for full integration of the small Balkan country into the European Union and NATO.

Greek party leaders have rejected "Republic of Ilinden Macedonia" as a candidate name for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, while opposition has also been expressed from within ruling SYRIZA.

New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis and former socialist Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos have  rejected  "Republic of Ilinden Macedonia" as a candidate name for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) as irredentist. 

The office of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Friday cooled expectations over the name that will be agreed on for the Former Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) between Athens and Skopje in the ongoing talks, saying the most important element for a deal is fulfilling the two main conditions set by Greece.

The government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is said to have put forward in name talks with Greece a proposal that makes reference to the location of two historical uprisings.

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Prime Minister Zoran Zaev appeared confident on Thursday of a breakthrough in talks with Greece regarding his country's name, noting that a solution is within reach if it has the support of political parties in both countries.

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) remains committed to NATO and European Union membership, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said Wednesday in Sofia ahead of an EU-Western Balkans summit.

"Macedonia has no alternative to NATO and the EU," Zaev said adding that failure to meet this political ambition would mean negative consequences for the wider region.

"Decision makers on both sides should ask themselves in every negotiation process: Could the other be right? That is the only way to reach an understanding," Skopje Mayor Petre Shilegov told Kathimerini in a recent interview.

A senior German official has urged Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece to resolve a decades-long name dispute that has kept FYROM out of NATO and hindered its efforts to join the European Union.

As diplomats from Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) prepare to resume talks in Vienna on Wednesday, European Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn on Tuesday expressed optimism that the dispute could be resolved in the next two weeks, Kathimerini writes.