Kotzias meets UN Secretary General Guteres, stresses need to solve FYROM name dispute




Greece will participate in the negotiations with Skopje in the hope of reaching a solution to the FYROM name issue, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias stressed late on Wednesday, urging FYROM to show realism and willingness to compromise ahead of a crucial meeting with his FYROM counterpart Nikolas Dimitrov at UN headquarters in New York on Thursday.

Having completed a series of contacts in Washington, Kotzias traveled to New York on Wednesday, where he met with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Their discussion focused on the ongoing negotiations for the name issue, but also on the resumption of the Cyprus talks.

After the meeting with Guterres, the Greek minister said he was waiting to first see what stance will be adopted by Skopje. Responding to questions, Kotzias left open the possibility that the next round of talks will last only one day, not two as originally scheduled. When questioned about Skopje’s claim that “the final stage of the negotiations,” has been reached, he said that this remains to be seen.

“I am neither optimistic nor pessimistic, but I have the will to find a solution. The other side needs to show realism in order to find a solution. Solutions are a product of compromise,” he stated.

The Greek minister explained that the negotiation has been divided into two sections. The first and main part concerns purely political issues and includes discussions between foreign ministers under the auspices of UN special envoy Matthew Nimetz. The second part relates to the text of the general agreement and also to the list of individual legal issues arising in the context of the diplomatic settlement. These separate technical details will be discussed in a parallel round of negotiations, he said, conducted at a more technocratic level.

Source: AMNA

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