Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov, gestures during his meeting with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias in Athens, Wednesday, June 14, 2017. Dimitrov is in Greece on a one day official visit. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
June 14, 2017 - 5:21 AM
ATHENS, Greece - Greece is promising Macedonia's new government closer ties but insists a decades-old name dispute should be resolved before it would back future membership of NATO and the European Union.
Athens has blocked membership efforts, arguing that its neighbour's name implies a territorial threat to its own region of Macedonia.
But hopes of a resolution have been raised after Social Democrat Prime Minister Zoran Zaev formed a government two weeks ago, following moths of political crisis.
On Wednesday, Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov travelled to Athens to meet Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias.
Macedonia, fearing a flare up in ethnic disputes in the region, is seeking swift NATO membership. Dimitrov described the Athens meeting as a "good start."
News from © The Associated Press, 2017