The Macedonian side said that the negotiators Adamantios Vassilakis and Vasko Naumovski will no longer be involved in the name dispute talks, but in the place of the mediator Matthew Nimetz, will be the foreign ministers of both countries, Nikos Kotzias and Nikola Dimitrov. However, now, sources from the Government say that “they are thinking, there is a possibility, and eventually, if there is a need”, to include someone, as they call a “heavyweight”, to ease the process at the very end.
Sources say that its engagement would only be “if the convergence of views come to a critical point”, and if the process were to “stall” due to some detail that would have to be overcome at any cost, in order to reach a final agreement.
Sources say that the two sides haven’t been discussing possible names of foreign politicians or diplomats, but that, as the process goes on, there are more and more people “with names and surnames” and institutions that are self-initiated “to help around the process”.
Since the country established independence, the crisis moments in and around Macedonia have been eased by a series of prominent figures such as Lawrence Eagleburger (also known as Lawrence of Macedonia), Richard Holbrooke, Cyrus Vance, Lord Carrington, George Robertson, Robert Badinter and Hans van der Stoel.
