Eurasia Press & News
EU Council president Carl Bildt said that solving name issue between Greece and Macedonia will happen only if both sides sit on the same table.
After yesterday’s optimistic messages on name settlement, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt suggested to George Papandreou and Nikola Gruevski to enter direct name talks and solve name dispute, which is an obstacle in bilateral relations between Macedonia and Greece.
“I believe it’s very important both PM to meet face in face and get the necessary support from UN envoy, although I personally believe that the best thing to do is to have direct political dialogue between Skopje and Athens”, Carl Bildt said.
When asked how come he is so optimistic upon name issue, he said that he believes that the name settlement depends on political willingness.
“I’ve seen greater things to be solved with the help of political willingness. I see an opportunity to solve name issue. The situation where there are no winners or losers and I hope both sides will use that opportunity. If both sides delay solving name issue, then both sides would suffer”, Carl Bildt said.
EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn believes this period to be a great opportunity for solving name issue as well.
“In my opinion this is a good opportunity, which should be used in order to solve name issue”, Rehn said.
