PM invites premiers of Albania, FYROM to meeting on Prespes Lakes

Prime Minister George Papandreou has invited the prime ministers of neighbouring Albania and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Sali Berisha and Nikola Gruevski, respectively, to take part in an informal meeting in the Prespes Lakes region in northern Greece on Friday. The meeting will discuss the possibility of cooperation for the protection and viable development of the Prespes Park region, which straddles the borders of all three countries.

Announcing the meeting on Monday, government spokesman George Petalotis said the initiative "confirmed the high priority" given by the government to environmental issues, noting that it would be followed by the Copenhagen summit on climate change a few days later and was just two months ahead of the 10th anniversary since the three countries first pledged to cooperate in order to protect the Prespes Lake ecosystem.

Asked whether the meeting would also touch on other issues between the three countries - particularly the dispute over FYROM's name - Petalotis said that such issues might be discussed in bilateral meetings that might take place. He clarified, however, that there was only one process being followed for many years over the name issue "negotiations through the United Nations alone".