The European Union is urging Macedonia to resolve a 19-year-long dispute with Greece over the former Yugoslav republic's name, according to AP. Stefan Fule, the EU's enlargement commissioner, said during a visit to Skopje Friday that the disagreement «is a bilateral issue, but it has regional implications too.» Greece says its northern neighbor's use of the name implies territorial claims on its own northern region of Macedonia. Several rounds of U.N.-mediated negotiations have been fruitless. Athens has already blocked Macedonia's accession to NATO over the name issue, and has warned Skopje it will block EU accession talks unless the dispute is resolved. Macedonia won EU candidate status in 2005, but there is no date for accession talks.
