Macedonia naming dispute

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was in Brussels on Friday for a European Union leaders summit on the sidelines of which he was expected to have talks with several leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel about the progress of negotiations on the Macedonia name issue and on a recent increase in Turkish aggression in the region. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday hailed progress in talks between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, noting that a solution appeared "close."

"I am very pleased and relieved that... there is movement in the talks," Merkel told a press conference in Berlin with FYROM's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

Macedonia recently also decided to rename Skopje's Alexander the Great Airport. This is taking place amid negotiations with Greec, aimed at resolving the decades-long dispute between the two countries over the name of Macedonia.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said on Monday that he would visit Skopje "in the next few days" and bring with him a proposal to resolve the dispute.

Authorities in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) have begun replacing road signs on the country's main highway named by the previous government after the ancient warrior king Alexander the Great, in a goodwill gesture toward neighboring Greece.

Gajur Kadriu, head of FYROM's road maintenance company, said the first of 25 road signs were removed Wednesday.

FYROM (Macedonia) hopes to settle its decades-old name dispute with Greece by the time of a NATO summit in the summer, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said on February 19.

Greece objects to the former Yugoslav republic's use of the name Macedonia, which Athens says could imply territorial claims over its own northern region of the same name.

Political tensions have peaked as MPs prepare for a vote in Parliament on Wednesday on whether to establish a parliamentary committee to probe the alleged bribery of 10 Greek politicians by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis. 

A debate on the matter is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Wednesday with voting expected late at night. 

The European Union is "convinced" that the differences between Athens and Skopje on the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia can be settled by July, said the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Johannes Hahn on Friday.

The decision taken by Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his cabinet to rename the country's main airport and a main highway has been made official.

The alterations are meant to be a goodwill gesture as talks over the name issue with Greece continue.

The foreign ministers of Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) issued a joint statement on Tuesday in which they vowed to continue negotiations aimed at resolving the longstanding name dispute between the two countries, Ekathimerini writes.

The foreign ministers of Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) issued a joint statement on Tuesday in which they vowed to continue negotiations aimed at resolving the longstanding name dispute between the two countries.