Confidence building measures, energy and cross-border cooperation were the main topic of conversation between Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Popovski and his Greek counterpart Nikos Kodzias.
Kodzias and Poposki met today on the sidelines of the meeting on energy cooperation between the countries of Southeastern and Central Europe.
According to a statement from the Greek Foreign Ministry, the two ministers had a first discussion about the possibility of adoption of confidence-building measures from the Greek and Macedonian side. In Greece, the adoption of the measures could lead to improved bilateral ties and to help the process of finding a mutually acceptable solution to the name dispute. In the conversation with Poposki, Kodzias expressed support for the negotiations on the name dispute taking place under the baton of mediator Matthew Nimetz within the United Nations. Greek minister, however, confirmed the strict Greek red lines and views on the Macedonian integration into the EU and NATO.
This is the second meeting of Kodzias and Poposki, after their March meeting in Riga, where Poposki was first acquainted with the Greek idea of confidence building measures that Kodzias claims to plan in order to improve trust and cooperation between the two countries and end the Macedonian irredentism.
Apart from the bilateral issue, the possibility of energy and cross-border cooperation, Kodzias and Poposki also discussed a number of other issues of regional interest. The two ministers signed a joint declaration on energy cooperation between Macedonia, Greece, Serbia, Hungary and Turkey, thus expressing political will and support for a new pipeline which, via Turkey, would transport gas to the Balkans and the EU, a step that these five countries consider would help to improve cooperation and good neighborly relations.
