FM discusses FYROM, Cyprus with UN chief

    Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis on Saturday reiterated that there was room to resolve the difference with Skopje regarding the FYROM "name issue", in view of a NATO decision expected at the end of the year on whether the land-locked Balkan country will accede to the Atlantic Alliance.

   

    The FYROM name issue was discussed by Bakoyannis during a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday in New York City, where she arrived to attend the 62nd UN General Assembly that opens Monday.

   

    Bakoyannis will discuss progress of efforts on Monday morning with UN special mediator on the FYROM name issue, Matthew Nimetz.

   

    During the meeting with the UN chief, the Greek side set out its positions on a mutually acceptable resolution of the issue, within the framework of relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the Greece-FYROM 1995 interim agreement. Bakoyannis also warned that perpetuation of the problem was dangerous.

   

    The Greek side further reiterated that Athens was keeping open all its prospects as a member of the EU and of NATO.

   

    Bakoyannis and Ban also discussed the Cyprus issue, which a focus on the need for implementation of the July 8 agreement. The agreement "must be fully applied", Bakoyannis said, stressing that Cyprus president Tassos Papadopoulos has manifested his volition for its materialisation, and calling on the UN chief to encourage the Turkish Cypriot side to follow suit, given Ban's upcoming scheduled meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat on Oct. 16.

   

    Papadopoulos is due to meet Monday morning with Bakoyannis shortly before his meeting with Ban.

   

    A third topic of discussion during the Bakoyannis-Ban meeting was climate change, which is high on the agenda of the 62nd General Assembly, while the UN chief has also organised a High Level Meeting on Monday on the same topic, which will be addressed by Bakoyannis.

   

    The Greek foreign minister outlined to Ban the devastation caused by the recent wildfires in Greece, as well as the Greek government's commitment to restore the environment, a topic on which the UN chief expressed great interest.

   

    One of the round-table discussions at the High Level Meeting will focus on the establishment of a special Fund and other mechanisms for facing natural disasters, an issue which is also being advanced by Greece in the framework of the European Union.

   

    "Climate change is a global phenomenon and requires coordinated global confrontation," Bakoyannis said in statements to the press after her meeting with the UN chief.

   

    Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis.