SKOPJE, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) has urged Macedonia to speed up its name talks with neighboring Greece to remove any barrier on its way to join the economic bloc, local media reported Friday.

    Macedonia has six weeks and a day till the EU Council meets in December to wrap up its name talks with Greece and secure a date for the start of EU accession talks, the bloc's representatives inthe country have said.

    "Take advantage of every hour, every day and every week, and put maximum efforts into finding a solution to the dispute with Greece until December," the EU ambassador to Macedonia Erwan Fouere told Macedonia's National Council for European Integration on Thursday afternoon.

    The Swedish ambassador to Macedonia Lars Freden concurred in his own comments on the December EU Council meeting. Sweden currently holds the EU's rotating Presidency.

    "We now have a positive atmosphere that has to continue, and this is the best moment to find a final solution to the row with Greece", Fouere said, referring to this month's positive EC report which recommended the start of accession talks for Macedonia and the change in power in Greece, which is seen as a positive development for the name negotiations.

    The EC report's support for Macedonia's EU integration talks was tempered by the authors' advising Skopje to solve the spat with Greece as soon as possible.

    Last year, Athens blocked Skopje's NATO accession and threatened a second veto on Macedonia's EU accession process if the country refused to change its name of the Republic of Macedonia.

    Athens is opposed to Macedonia's name, saying it implies Skopjeis making territorial claims on the northern Greek province of Macedonia.

    Macedonian authorities reiterate that they remain committed to U.N.-sponsored talks on the issue. However, some local observers say that more positive moves are required to rebuild trust and set the tone for movement toward a resolution of the dispute.