"In Macedonia (Aegean Macedonia) there is a small group of people who speak an idiom which is different than the Greek language, however, they feel like Greeks and have all rights as the rest of the Greek citizens".

This is the answer Greek negotiator Adamantios Vassilakis gave the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Mun, explaining Athens position on the Macedonian minority in Greece.

The meeting occurred at the request of the Head of the UN, and it comes after receiving the letter from Macedonian PM Nikola Gruevski.

Ki-Mun, who four years ago at a Simon Trpcevski concert at the UN, called Macedonia under the acronym, explained to Mr. Vassilakis that according to his mandate and obligations, when it comes to basic human rights, the UN will analyze this particular case in detail.

Greek Diplomats are not revealing details of the conversation, though they confirm there were talks on the name dispute, as well as the procedures that would take place if both sides were to agree on an eventual solution.

UN’s Head interest for the Aegean Macedonians after PM Gruevski’s letter, is seen as a defeat for Greece, who up to now always managed to remove this theme from the UN Agenda, defending its positions with resolutions of the Security Council dating back to 1945.

In regards to this, and Greece’s failure to convince members of the UN SE European Group to use the acronym, Athens is considering making immediate changes at the “East River” Plaza.
The current Greek Diplomat at the UN is viewed as not aggressive enough, and is likely to be replaced with a member of Nea Demokratia. 13.08.09