Macedonia urges mediator Matthew Nimetz to intensify his engagement and name talks to be accelerated, it has been conveyed to the UN envoy in Macedonian-Greek name dispute at Friday's meetings in Skopje with President Gjorge Ivanov, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki.

Mr. Nimetz at the meeting was comprehensibly informed on Macedonia's commitment to settle this obstacle threatening the Euro-Atlantic integration processes in the region of Southeast Europe, MoFA says in a press release. In this context, numerous bilateral initiatives launched by Macedonia were presented to him that aim at bringing the two countries closer, with some of them being included in a letter sent by Gruevski to his Greek counterpart Antonis Samaras.

"On its part, Macedonia reaffirmed its sincere commitment to finding a solution to the name issue underscoring its interest in closing the issue as soon as possible and in accelerating the process," reads the press release.

At the same time, the need of taking measures to restore the trust between Macedonia and Greece was highlighted. In this context, the role of UN bodies was praised as being extremely useful and the mediator was encouraged to intensify his communication and visits to the two countries.

Mediator Nimetz at the meetings with President Ivanov, PM Gruevski and FM Poposki presented his views on his visit to Athens stressing that Greece was committed to the process, the press release states.