It’s not exactly a breakthrough in the ongoing name negotiations, but Greek government officials must be relieved that the first concession by the FYROM side was publicly announced by the neighboring government.
FYROM government spokesman Mile Bosnjakovski said on Wednesday that the renaming of Skopje’s highway and airport have been adopted by the government, and will soon happen.
The announcement came after the meeting between the two prime ministers, Alexis Tsipras and Zoran Zaev in Davos.
“The government needs to adopt the decision, and this will happen in the coming period, soon”, Bosnjakovski said at Wednesday’s briefing of political reporters, without specifying a precise timeline.
UN special envoy on the FYROM name dispute Matthew Nimetz, is visiting Skopje as part of his goodwill tour in both capitals and is having meetings with the local authorities. He is expected to make public statements after the meetings are concluded.
The renaming of the Skopje airport and main highway -named after legendary Greek Macedonian leader Alexander The Great-, are among the demands made by the Greek negotiating team as part of their concerns over irredentist symbols in the neighboring country.
The big issues of irredentism concerning FYROM for the Greek negotiators, are in some articles of the republic’s constitution. The difficult road to their elimination is the political and diplomatic hot potato which the two sides have to tackle.
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