Eurasia Press & News
Croatian President Ivo Josipovic hinted at quick settlement of the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece, noting that the region and the EU would benefit from the resolution of the dispute.
The visiting Croatian president made the remarks after the meeting with his Macedonian counterpart Gjorge Ivanov on Monday.
Though he reckons that Croatian-Slovenian border raw is of different nature, Josipovic underscored that border arbitration deal could set a good example of dispute resolution both at regional and international level.
“Anyway, Croatia wants to see the dispute between Macedonia and Greece be resolved as soon as possible. The settlement will remove the obstacles standing on Macedonia’s integration into the Euro-Atlantic community. Slovenian-Croatian deal is of different nature. It was about the border, and it’s good that we found a way to resolve it. It could set a good example of dispute resolution not only in the region but also throughout the world,” Josipovic said.
Commenting the optimism expressed by EU officials as to timely resolution of name dispute, Macedonian president said such an optimism is based on mutual trust that the two countries have established through frequent encounters of prime ministers. Ivanov said he expects UN mediator Matthew Nimetz to come up with an acceptable solution.
“Brussels’ optimism is probably based on information on the meetings of prime ministers and representatives in the UN-brokered process, aiming to reach a mutually agreeable solution,” Ivanov said.
The two presidents praised the good relations between Macedonia and Croatia. They discussed modalities to deepen the economic cooperation.
Croatia, a NATO member and EU candidate-country, will continue to support the region’s Euro-Atlantic prospective.
