U.N. envoy to help solve Macedonia dispute

UNITED NATIONS, March 22 (UPI) -- A U.N. official is trying to help the governments in Athens and Skopje resolve their row over the name of Macedonia.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis at the United Nations Wednesday discussed issues relating to Cyprus, Serbia's mainly ethnic-Albanian Kosovo province and Macedonia, the Greek English-language newspaper Kathimerini reported Thursday.

Kathimerini quoted diplomats as saying the United Nations should work out a new proposal on the name of Macedonia by the year's end. Lynn Pascoe, U.N. undersecretary-general for political affairs, has been appointed the official in charge of trying to solve the problem.

Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have been in dispute over the Macedonia name since the northern neighbor won international recognition in 1991.

Macedonia is the name of a northern Greek region and Athens, arguing the name might imply territorial ambitions, demands the Skopje government calls its state the FYROM, the name under which it joined the United Nations.