BRUSSELS, April 1, 2008 (AFP) - The European Union's Slovenian presidency urged Greece to show flexibility in a dispute with Macedonia over its name, which is threatening the former Yugoslav republic's entry into NATO.

'Macedonia has shown a lot of flexibility recently. The ball is now in Greece's court,' Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel told lawmakers on the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee.

Greece has effectively ruled out resolving its row with Macedonia ahead of a NATO summit that starts Wednesday where Athens is poised to veto its northern neighbor's accession to the bloc.

Greece opposes the use of the Republic of Macedonia, the country's constitutional name, because of concerns this could imply a claim on the northern Greek province of Macedonia.

Rupel gave backing to a compromise -- which Athens has already rejected -- under which Macedonia would be invited to join the military alliance under the temporary name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

The Slovenia minister said he and the other EU foreign ministers 'could accept that but I don't know if our Greek friends could.'