Foreign Ministers of Macedonia and Greece continue on Friday talks on a new name for the former Yugoslav republic that has been stalling Skopje’s efforts to join NATO and officially open accession talks with the European Union for over 20 years.

Nikola Dimitrov of Macedonia and Nicos Kocias of Greece spent six hours in talks in New York on Thrusday.

Matthew Nimetz, the United Nations Special Representative for the naming dispute between the two countries has been brokering the negotiations.

Before the tête-à-tête meeting, the two ministers talked separately with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. After that meeting, Dimitrov said it was possible to close an over two-decade-long dispute.

Kocijas, however, said any solution required a compromise, asking Skopje to be pragmatic and realistic in searching for the settlement.

The foreign minister’s meeting followed last week’s talks between Macedonian and Greek prime ministers, Zoran Zaev and Alexis Tsipras respectively in Sofia on the sidelines of the EU-Western Balkans summit.

The two premiers reportedly agreed that the best solution would be the Republic of Ilinden Macedonia name.

Skopje accepted the name, but Athens later changed its mind and called for new negotiations.

Greece has the province called Macedonia and has been against its neighbour using the same name for the state saying it could mean a territorial claim to the part of the Hellenic Republic.

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