By Maria Spiliopoulou
ATHENS, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Athens said on Monday that significant progress has been made in talks to resolve the long-standing Macedonia name row with Skopje following the latest round of negotiations in Brussels and New York.
"Greek and FYROM's foreign ministers made significant progress, however the negotiations are not concluded. They are at the most crucial turning point... Patience until June's EU Summit," commented Greek government sources in Athens on Monday via an e-mailed statement.
The Foreign Ministers of Greece and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Nikos Kotzias and Nikola Dimitrov met in the Belgian capital on Sunday evening, after talks in New York last week with UN special envoy Matthew Nimetz, the mediator in the name dispute.
Following meetings with the foreign ministers of other EU countries on Monday they both also talked about constructive talks.
"As the two Ministers of Foreign Affairs, we have finished with everything we undertook for the two countries' Prime Ministers. The negotiations will continue today, and probably tomorrow, on the level of experts; technical and legal issues are what need to be dealt with," Kotzias said in an e-mailed statement.
"As soon as they have finished, and when the technical and legal aspects have been clarified, the texts that have been drawn up on the level of Ministers of Foreign Affairs will be given to the two Prime Ministers, who will talk to each other and reach the final agreement," he added.
The name dispute between the two neighboring countries started when FYROM declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and chose the name Macedonia, which is also the name of a northern Greek province.
Athens is worried that the use of the same name by the neighboring state could lead to territorial claims.
In recent months, UN-mediated talks to resolve the issue have intensified and both sides have expressed optimism that a deal can be sealed before the June summit which will explore EU's further enlargement. The name row has been one of the key obstacles in FYROM's accession to the EU and NATO.