Foreign Minister Stavros Dimas on Thursday had a meeting on the name dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Fyrom) with Greece's negotiator, Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis, in view of his upcoming meetings with UN special envoy Matthew Nimetz next Monday and Tuesday in New York.

Concerning Athens' expectations from the meetings with Nimetz, foreign ministry spokesman Gregory Delavekouras said that the government considered the fact that the meeting was taking place a positive development, since it would activate the process at the United Nations and help it acquire momentum.

He also expressed hope that there will be progress in the negotiations.

Responding to questions concerning Skopje's lately dismissive attitudes toward the UN talks, Delavekouras noted a constant escalation of a negative stance from Fyrom’s leadership and pointed out that the entire international community had repeatedly urged the two sides to hold negotiations for a solution to the name issue in good faith, in accordance with the provisions of UN Security Council resolutions.

"This is the steadfast will and desire of the Greek side, which is participating constructively in the negotiations with a view to arriving at a solution to the name issue as soon as possible," he underlined.

"Unfortunately, we are seeing a stance that is anything but constructive for the progress of the process from the side of the neighbouring country," he added.

Delavekouras accused the Fyrom government of employing a policy of delaying tactics, urging them to "set aside attacks and actively showing a constructive stance at the negotiations".

At the same time, he noted that Greece had in past years actively worked to encourage and support Fyrom's accession to Euro-Atlantic structures.

"Supporting the stability of this country is a basic guideline of our policy, since Fyrom is our immediate neighbour with whom we want good neighbour relations," he said.

The spokesman also referred to an upcoming meeting of western Balkan foreign ministers scheduled to take place in Thessaloniki in February, as part of the policy announced by Greece to promote the EU accession prospects of Balkan countries and the preparation for the EU summit with western Balkan countries scheduled to take place during the Greek EU presidency in 2014.

Delavekouras stressed that Europe "must not be allowed to forget the western Balkans" and underlined that this was a key goal of the Greek side.