Macedonia, Greece to form working groups on name dispute

Macedonia and Greece have agreed to form working groups to hold talks on a solution to the 25-year dispute over the name of the ex-Yugoslav Republic, Reuters quoted Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov as saying Friday. The groups will be led by the country’s foreign ministers. Dimitrov met his Greek counterpart, Nikos Kotzias, on Thursday in Thessaloniki to discuss ways to move forward in the long-standing dispute. Success in resolving the issue would open Macedonia’s path towards NATO and EU membership, which has been blocked by Athens. It says the name Macedonia implies a territorial claim over Greece’s own northern region of that name.