TIRANA, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The UN mediator in name talks between Macedonia and Greece urged Macedonia on Thursday to seize the opportunity to make progress towards solving the issue.

    "There has been no deadline in this respect, but this period is very important and the chance for breakthrough should not be missed," Matthew Nimetz said after meeting with Macedonian leaders.

    Nimetz held talks with Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski separately in Skopje during his visit to the tiny western Balkan country.

    "My impression is that both the president and prime minister share same position and approach. And I've gotten clear signals about what is and isn't possible," Nimetz said after the talks.

    He is traveling to Athens on Friday to continue his mediating job on name dispute between the two neighbors.

    Athens has been opposed to its neighbor being called the "Republic of Macedonia", arguing it implies a territorial claim over a Greek northern province also called Macedonia.

    Macedonia's NATO membership was blocked by Greece over a 17-year-long name dispute between the two countries in early April at a NATO summit in Romania.

    Greece insists that it would use its veto power again to block Macedonia's EU bid if its northern neighbor doesn't show compromise to find a mutually acceptable solution to the name issue.