Reactions from Greece to Use of Name “Macedonia” Only Continue

Greece continues to comment on the decision of the new President of North Macedonia Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova and VMRO-DPMNE leader and potential PM Hristijan Mickoski to not use the official name of the country “North Macedonia”, and to use only “Macedonia” instead.

Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis recently stated that now is not a good time for the Greek government to ratify the three memoranda for cooperation with North Macedonia, which are part of the obligations for Greece from the Prespa Agreement.

“I really don’t understand how can SYRIZA insist on adopting the memoranda in times like these, when entire Europe calls upon officials in North Macedonia to stick to the Prespa Agreement. We want to make sure that official Skopje fully respects the Agreement before we ratify the memoranda, and now we see that this position of ours is justified,” Mitsotakis stated.

In another interview for Greek newspaper Ta Nea, Mitsotakis hinted that Greece may use a veto in the EU accession process for North Macedonia if the Prespa Agreement is not respected.

“If one pulls the rope, one should be ready for it to break. And if one deviates from the agreed course, one should know that the road to Europe will be closed. This road passes through Athens and depends on honouring international law,” Mitsotakis told Ta Nea.