Very close to an agreement are Greece and the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia about the name "Republic of Vardar Macedonia" under the pressure from the U.S. and EU. The name meets the requirement of Greece for geographical tendency, and it is also used by the citizens of the country in order to make the difference between the region of Aegean Macedonia in Greece and Pirin Macedonia in Bulgaria. A year ago, the President Advisor of FYRM Risto Nikovski officially supported the name "Republic of Macedonia (Vardar) ". It is very important the exact wording, using which will be registered the name.
The use of geographic areas or rivers as part of the official name has repeatedly been discussed, said before the newspaper Kathimerini a well informed foreign diplomat, who noted that a decisive factor for the outcome of the decision is the initiative of the Prime Minister George Papandreou to meet directly with Nikola Gruevski in order to break the ice. "The actions of Mr. Papandreou had great symbolic significance. Suddenly your neighbors no longer felt isolated or humiliated, "said the diplomat. In the same direction also moved the negotiations between the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dimitris Drutsas and Antonio Milososki.
It seems that intense negotiations which are taking place in the recent months without being given endless publicity, will bring results. On the part of U.S. with this matter deals the second most important person of the State Department, James Steinberg, who during the last year repeatedly visited both countries. Mr. Stayberg who three weeks ago was awarded a prize by the "Greek and Cypriot leadership" in Washington, said that we are on the edge of difficult decisions on the part of Mr. Gruevski and stressed on the importance for FYRM in these difficult times, the integration of state into the EU and NATO. The U.S. diplomat congratulated Mr. Papandreou for his goodwill for the Western Balkans to be fully integrated into the EU until 2014
According to the Greek side it insists the new name to be used before all, so to avoid confusion of multiple names. To this position began to join more and more countries with great influence. In this regard it is considered that the name "Vardar Macedonia" is the best solution and could be imposed by the constitution, as it represents the well known description of the country by its citizens.
During the visit of George Papandreou in Washington in March, the United States expressed its intention to adopt for the international forums and bilateral relations either the name "North Macedonia" or as proposed last year, by Matthew Nimetz "Vardar Macedonia". Matthew Nimetz announced that if no compromise is reached by the end of the summer, he will return the mandate for negotiations to Ban Ki Moon.