Bosnjakovski: Germany not getting involved in name negotiations


Germany isn’t wading in to settle the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece, government spokesman Mile Bosnjakovski said Wednesday commenting today’s visit of PM Zoran Zaev to Berlin, where he is scheduled to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel. Yesterday, she had a phone conversation with Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras ahead of their meeting in Brussels on Friday.

“No. Germany is not getting involved. Negotiations are ongoing under the auspices of the United Nations and mediator Matthew Nimetz. It is a bilateral meeting that is expected to focus on several matters, including economic affairs,” Bosnjakovski told a news conference.

Asked whether Germany could serve as the chief international factor whose influence might ‘unlock’ the negotiations in case the two countries got stuck in the process, the spokesman said the country wouldn’t get involved in the process, but certain friends of the two countries had their own views about the matter.

“Certain friends of Macedonia and Greece have their own opinion about matters, they could be discussed, however, no one will be involved,” he added.

According to him, the optimism expressed by PM Zaev that the name row was possible to be solved by July came as a result of several factors, including the meeting of the PMs Zaev and (Alexis) Tsipras, the opening of closed issues that hadn’t been discussed in the past 15 years, and intensive contacts of the countries’ foreign ministers.

“The momentum of the name talks itself suggests that there is room for optimism,” said Bosnjakovski commenting on information coming from Greece regarding the negotiations.

“Information is coming in from various sources. It is one thing what these official contacts involve, and in principle we will refrain from speculating about the negotiations so as not to harm the process,” concluded the government spokesman.