Macedonian Foreign Minister Srdjan Kerim and his Greek counterpart Georges Papandreou inaugurated Wednesday the main border crossing between the two countries.
The project was carried out under European Union sponsorship at a cost of 10 million euros (8.7 million dollars).
Macedonian Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski, the EU ambassador in Macedonia, Pinto Tesheira, other foreign diplomats and officials attended the ceremony at the Bogorodica-Evzoni crossing.
Relations between Skopje and Athens have been strained due to a long-running dispute over the former Yugoslav republic's name.
Greece had refused to recognize the name Macedonia since it is also the name of a northern Greek province.
Athens wanted the republic referred to as "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (FYROM) -- the name under which Skopje has now joined the United Nations.
Papandreou described Wednesday's opening as a "symbol of a new era" in relations between the two countries and thanked Georgievski for his efforts in improving ties between Skopje and Athens over the past two years.
Georgievski added: "Changes between Greece and Macedonia are a proof of big changes in the Balkans."
After the ceremony Georgievski and Papandreou held talks focusing on the situation in southern Serbia where armed ethnic Albanian rebels have clashed with Serbian police.
Papandreou expressed "concern" over recent developments in the area.
Both Papandreou and Kerim were to leave later Wednesday for Brussels to attend a NATO foreign ministers' session on Thursday and Friday where they were to raise developments in southern Serbia -- BOGORODICA (AFP)
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