Vice Premier Teuta Arifi handed over to her Greek counterpart Theodoros Pangalos at Wednesday's meeting in Athens an official letter from Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski to his Greek colleague Lucas Papademos, asking for a meeting as soon as possible.

"I have handed over the letter to Pangalos and he will certainly convey it to Papademos," Arifi told local media.

Interestingly enough, both Arifi and Pangalos are ethnic Albanians.

"First of all, I would like to extend the assurances of my highest consideration for You and Your country, the Republic of Greece. Let me reaffirm that the building of good neighborly relations, i.e. partnership and friendly relations of the Republic of Macedonia with all of its neighbors is a priority of our country, something that has been nurtured throughout the years, as is today", PM Gruevski's letter reads.

According to Gruevski, Macedonia has been trying to build such relations through different initiatives for cooperation with neighbors, including themes, projects and plans, but also through quality and responsible dialogue at all levels, where possible and required.

"I would like to stress that the spirit of building good neighborly relations requires a mutual direct high-level dialogue between the two states, especially in cases of open issues, which settlement is in the mutual interest", says Gruevski.

Therefore, he adds, allow me to reaffirm the necessity for a meeting with You, expressing my readiness to come to Athens, the Republic of Greece or You coming to Skopje, the Republic of Macedonia, or that we meet at any other place appropriate for You, as soon as possible, in order to hold talks over our bilateral relations, as well as the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of my country.

Gruevski believes such a meeting would represent a strong incentive and positive signal in the UN-led name talks, which along with the ruling and recommendation by the Hague-based International Court of Justice would contribute to encircling the issues of mutual interest towards building a positive atmosphere, especially with regards to the name issue in the context of the European and Euro-Atlantic integration process.

"This letter is an expression of the readiness and the clear will to find a mutually acceptable solution to the dispute that your country has opened, referring to the name of my country", reads the letter.

With regards to the prism of mutual understanding and will to achieve mutual interest, protecting Macedonia and Greece from the aspects of winners and losers in the dispute, PM Gruevski says the letter aims at opening once again the possibility for a top-level meeting and dialogue aimed at stimulating the process of finding a solution to the name issue.

Arifi said today's meeting with Pangalos was rather useful, being a high level encounter after a long period of time.

The talks, she said, were mostly focused on Macedonia's approximation to the European Union.

"We have sought support, dicussed on technical elements related to EU projects, especially in regard to border cooperation, building the capacity for absorbing the pre-accession assistance and I believe that this trend of talks, consultations will resume," Arifi said.

Pangalos, she said, reaffirmed the Greek support of the Western Balkan Euro-Atlantic perspective.