TIRANA, July 2 (Xinhua) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy has urged Macedonia to redouble its efforts in finding a solution to its name dispute with Greece, news reaching here from Skopje reported on Wednesday.

    "I call on you, as I called on the Greek authorities on my visit to Athens in June, to redouble the efforts in finishing the negotiations over the name issue," Sarkozy said in a letter to his Macedonian counterpart Branko Crvenkovski.

    Greece opposes its northern neighbor being called Macedonia, arguing it implies a territorial claim over a Greek northern province of the same name.

    The issue has been dogging the two neighbors for the past 17 years, and prompted Greece to veto Macedonia's NATO bid in April.

    "It is necessary for this issue to stop being an obstacle for the legitimate aspirations of your people for European Union and NATO accession," Sarkozy said.

    Sarkozy said that France will continue to support Macedonia on its road to join the EU. France took over the six-month rotating presidency of the EU from Slovenia on July 1.