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Despite the unchanged position of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, Athens is seeking to reach an agreement with the Republic of Macedonia in an attempt to break the deadlock connected with the name of the country. This is precisely the context of the meeting of Dimitris Avramopoulos with Deputy Prime Minister of the government in Skopje, Fatmir Besimi, which will take place on Wednesday, 8 May.

Besimi, who represents the Albanian DUI party, which is involved in Gruevski’s government, is considered one of the moderate politicians of the Republic of Macedonia. He had met with Avramopoulos in the past, when today's Greek Foreign Minister was Minister of Defence in the government of Lucas Papademos. Besimi was holding the same post too. The Albanian politician has climbed up the ladder, being Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs today.

"We are talking with those who want to come to an agreement," sources from the diplomatic circles comment on the meeting between Besimi and Avramopoulos for To Vima newspaper. The Albanians support the Euro-Atlantic orientation of Skopje and Athens is offering its experience in public affairs following an agreement between Besimi’s predecessor Teuta Arifi and Greek Deputy Prime Minister Theodoros Pangalos. Two meetings between the two countries took place at a technocratic level as well.

It is clear that many European countries and the United States are starting to lose patience as regards Nikola Gruevski. Indicative is the fact that the leader of the Albanian DUI party Ali Ahmeti will visit Washington this week. According to some information, he will meet with Vice President Joe Biden. The meeting is very important because cases in which a US vice president meets with leaders of parties instead of governments are not common.

Some sources claim that Philip Ricker, who is the former US ambassador to Macedonia and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and responsible for the Western Balkans in the State Department at present, has played an important role in Ahmeti’s visit. What is clear is that there is a desire to finally resolve the outstanding issues in the Balkans, such as Kosovo and the name of the former Yugoslav republic. The aim is to strengthen the Euro-Atlantic perspective of the region and to ensure stability when everyone's attention is focused on the Middle East. This is also the context, in which Athens wants to act, as demonstrated by its recent decision to open a commercial representation of Kosovo in the capital of Greece.