Nikola Dimitrov

The conclusion of negotiations between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is being held up by disagreements over the "interpretation" of the legal documents and not over principle, according to senior ranking officials in Skopje.

The likelihood of a deal between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on the latter's name moved further away as the neighboring country is "not ready" to respond to the proposals discussed between the foreign ministers of the two countries in Brussels, a Greek government official said on Friday.

According to Beta agency, his cabinet announced this - while the "erga omnes" term is translated as meaning, "(a name) for general use."

Ivanov is quoted as saying that his position is "principled, and at the same time consistent with all previous presidents of Macedonia - that is, he does not accept a solution to the name issue for general use."

Romania's Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu on Monday attended a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) held in Brussels that focused on recent developments in Iran and Venezuela, the situation in Congo, and the post-Cotonou framework.

"Miracles are possible," Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov said on Monday in Brussels, when asked to comment on the skepticism voiced by several EU member states about granting his country a start to accession talks this year.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said on Monday that he and his counterpart Nikola Dimitrov have done everything in their power to pave the way for a breakthrough in talks between Athens and Skopje for settling a decades-old dispute over the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Macedonian Foreign Minister, Nikola Dimitrov, said after meeting his Greek counterpart, Nikos Kotzias, on Sunday in Brussels, that the two sides had reached a framework for a solution to the dispute over Macedonia's name - but it needed more work.

Talks to resolve a decades-old dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) over the latter's name have narrowed, and ministers will continue negotiations in Brussels, United Nations envoy Matthew Nimetz said on Friday.

The second round of talks between the foreign ministers of Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to resolve the decades-old name dispute got under way at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York on Friday.

Nikos Kotzias and Nikola Dimitrov will be discussing the name issue in the presence of UN mediator Matthew Nimetz.

The 'name' talks resume on Friday in New York at 3.30pm Macedonian time, after Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov and Greece's Nikos Kotzias marathon six-hour discussion the previous day.

After the talks, the two diplomats did not give any statements about possible progress.