Athens on Thursday said it welcomed a new UN proposal to resolve a name dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia about Macedonia's official name, calling it a very good basis for negotiations, reported dpa. UN mediator Matthew Nimetz presented a new set of ideas for a settlement to ambassadors of both countries after meetings at UN headquarters in New York late Wednesday. "Republic of Northern Macedonia" - the new proposed name for that was revealed to the Greek press - received a positive, though cautious reception from diplomats attending talks in New York Reports in Greek newspapers quoted Foreign Ministry sources as saying that Nimetz's proposal "needed improvements in certain areas." "The government is assessing the new ideas extremely carefully and with a constructive outlook," spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos was quoted as saying. In New York, Nimetz said he expected an official response to his proposal from Athens and Skopje within two weeks, but said there was no deadline for a solution. Greece and its northern neighbour have been in a dispute over the latter's name since 1991, when Macedonia declared independence from Yugoslavia. Athens says the name dispute implies territorial claims on its own northern province, also called Macedonia, where Alexander the Great was born. It has called on Skopje to adopt a name such as "New" or "Upper Macedonia," but no mutually acceptable solution has been found. Skopje prefers the name Republic of Macedonia. The United Nations formally refers to the country as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or FYROM. The name issue has halted Skopje's bid to join NATO. Macedonia had hoped to receive an invitation to join the alliance earlier this year along with Albania and Croatia, but Greece blocked the move. According to reports, Nimetz offered three possible solutions on the sensitive issue of ethnic identity in an effort to satisfy the expectations of both sides. On the issue of passports, Nimetz's proposal reportedly envisages them bearing the name Republic of Macedonia in the Roman and Cyrillic alphabets.
