UNITED NATIONS, June 12 (Xinhua) -- A UN official on Tuesday welcomed the agreement reached after decades of negotiations for the name North Macedonia to be used for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Fyrom).
The personal envoy of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Matthew Nimetz, worked two and a half decades on resolving Greece's objection to Fyrom -- as it is called at the United Nations -- naming itself Macedonia, alone, when Greece had a historic, adjacent northern region of the same name.
"I warmly welcome the announcement by prime ministers (Alexis Tsipras of Greece and Zoren Zaev of Fyrom) finding a mutually acceptable solution to the 'name' issue," Nimetz said in a statement issued at the UN headquarters. He congratulated the parties "for reaching a successful conclusion to the talks and for resolving the difference between them."
Nimetz expressed confidence that the accord will lead the neighboring nations into "a period of enhanced relations," especially between their peoples.
"It has been an honor having the role of facilitator between the two parties and I want to pay tribute to the Secretary-General for his unwavering support and deep interest, and to other colleagues in the United Nations for their valuable contributions to the process," he said.
"Above all, I want to congratulate and commend the two ministers of foreign affairs, (Nicola Dimitrov of Fyrom and Nikos Kotzias of Greece) who have demonstrated leadership, vision and determination in the negotiating process and never faltered in their efforts to reach a mutually beneficial solution for their own nation but also for the broader region," he added.
The two countries are now expected to formalize the agreement, which is not without opposition, especially in Greece.
Athens objected to Fyrom using Macedonia as its name because it would cause confusion. There were also concerns among some if Fyrom was looking to take over Greece's northern region, long held as home of Alexander the Great.
Such fears were also fanned when Fyrom's capital of Skopje named its airport after the ancient hero.
