Nimetz meets with Patriarch Bartholomew

UN Negotiator Matthew Nemitz unannounced continued his stay in Greece and met with Patriarch Bartholomew. The meeting was held at one of Atos' monasteries, in Chalkidiki.

Nimetz was accompanied by the Greek negotiator, Mr. Adamantios Vassilakis.

Despite the numerous reports by Greek Media that the only discussion would be regarding the 'name', what is happening in the field shows just the opposite.

- We spoke about the relations between the Orthodox Churches in the Balkans, and I briefed him on the negotiations between Skopje and Athens. We also spoke about peace and human rights, said Nimetz in a statement to Greek Media.

Handful of Macedonian political analysts since the begining of the 'name dispute' pin pointed the Greek Orthodox Church as a source of the problem in the name negotiations, explaining the church has confiscated over 200 what used to be "Macedonian Churches" in northern Greece.

- It all comes down to money, always has, always will. Those properties are worth money. The Greek populace, via a powerful propaganda campaign, had been and is still being misled they are 'defending history', while the Greek Government and Church fear the land, churches and properties could be returned to the rightful owners. This has nothing to do with history, said the analyst, professor at Ss Cyril and Methodius University.

Others don't view the Greek Orthodox Church as a problem, rather are focusing on Athens, though admit, the Church has a major influence and even control in some cases, over the Greek Government.

Prime Minister Gruevski today announced that Macedonia had not accepted Nimetz's idea of having one name that would be used with all countries, including international use.

- One of Nimetz's idea was for us to use one name for inside, outside use. It's not acceptable for us, and we stopped there. There were other ideas that were interesting, we looked at and analyzed, however there was no agreement on one name for all, it's not logical. We told Mr. Nimetz to speak to the other side. Macedonia for the world, and a slight modification to the name in bilateral relations with Greece, this is a good compromise, said Gruevski while on his visit to archeological site Stobi.

The presidential cabinet was briefed on the stance of the Macedonian Government, there were no comments coming out of there.

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