Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Skopje Mayor Petre Shilegov has voiced his support for renewed efforts to settle the name dispute with Athens, while admitting that Alexander the Great was never part of the history of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Greek firefighters say a man and woman from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) have been found frozen to death at the summit of Mount Kaimaktsalan.

The man, 35, and the woman, 28, had been missing since Saturday morning. They were a part of a group of 40 people who were staying at the Greek ski resort of Voras.

The Novartis case, the negotiations with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the Greek bailout program are expected cast a shadow over developments in the coming weeks that could lead to early elections.

Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis on Friday welcomed his counterpart from Skopje Petre Silegov for talks at City Hall.

The visit comes as diplomats from Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) are engaged in United Nations-mediated negotiations aimed at resolving a 25-year-old dispute over the latter's name.

Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis and his Skopje counterpart Petre Shilegov have thrown their weight behind diplomatic efforts to settle the chronic name dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

As Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia edge towards a solution to longstanding disagreement between the two countries over the latter's name, FYROM's Prime Minister Zoraen Zaev said on Wednesday that he saw no reason for changing the country's constitution.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is to visit Skopje, the capital of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) at the end of the month as part of a tour of six countries of the western Balkans.

The planned trip comes as United Nations-buffered talks between Greece and FYROM on the latter's official name gather pace.

Thousands of people converged in central Athens on Sunday to protest the inclusion of the word "Macedonia" in a compromise between Athens and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia over the latter's name though turnout was far below what organizers had hoped for. 

The Prime Minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Zoran Zaev says a solution to the name dispute with Greece must secure the dignity and identity of "Macedonians" and Greeks.

"I hope that the solution will preserve the dignity of "Macedonians" and Greeks, " Zaev said, according to the MIA agency in FYROM.

The national identity of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's inhabitants is threatening to become a stumbling block in the negotiations between Athens and Skopje to resolve their decades-old name dispute, as suggested on Thursday in the comments made by FYROM's leadership.