“The Republic of Macedonia intends to do everything possible for a more favorable climate towards solving the imposed name row. We aim towards making a step forward, in order to overcome this unreasonable and unjustified barricade to Macedonia's EU and NATO integration”, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikola Poposki in Ohrid on Monday.

According to him, Macedonia has presented a series of proposals, such as the opening of the border crossing Markova Noga, as well as readiness for meetings at the highest political level, at a time and place suitable for the Greek interlocutors.

"If Greece's intentions are truly sincere, then these initiatives should be seriously taken into account", said Mr. Poposki.

Referring to initiatives and calls for political meetings, he said Macedonia would like to use all opportunities leading to a Greek positive response.

"The rhetoric of simply putting the ball on the other side of the court without doing anything specific is entirely unjustified", added Poposki.

If a meeting is not held prior to the UN General Assembly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said Macedonia would resume with its consistent approach of a country that aspires to join NATO and EU.

"Our top priority is overcoming this imposed barricade through dialogue, openness and constructiveness. We are acting in this way, and the PM was quite clear when he said he would avoid giving any statements regarding Greece, so they will not be used as an alibi. It remains to be seen what Greece will do in order to intercept this positive climate we want to create. Let's see if they can use some of these initiatives", said Poposki.

He voiced expectations that reason would prevail, with Greece acting as a responsible NATO, EU and UN member.