FYROM PM says nationalists moderating stance on name row

The prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) said on Friday that the country's nationalist opposition party VMRO-DPMNE is showing sign that it has moderated its stance with regard to the decades-old name dispute with Greece.

In an interview published on Friday in Skopje-based Kapital magazine, Zoran Zaev said that, "based on the talks in Parliament with the high representatives of VMRO-DPMNE, I can say that overall we are satisfied in terms of their positioning [on the name issue]."

He also said that he is planning to set up a cross-party negotiating team on the name issue that will include experienced opposition official Vasko Naumovski, while making it clear that the decisions in the end will rest with the foreign minister, the prime minister and the president of the neighboring country.

He also quipped, "I am not afraid to fall from...