Greek Parliament ratifies Prespa Agreement

With 153 votes in favour, 146 against and 1 abstaining from voting, the Parliament of Greece officially adopted and ratified on Friday the Prespa Agreement, which puts an end to the 27-year long dispute between Greece and Macedonia over the name of the latter. “Today we all mark the birth of the Republic of North Macedonia, which will be a friendly neighbour of Greece, and ally in the maintenance of the stability and economic prosperity of the entire region. Future generations would be thankful to the MPs in both countries that gave their support to the agreement,” Greek PM Alexis Tsipras said after the ratification of the Prespa Agreement. The Macedonian PM Zoran Zaev was among the first ones who congratulated Tsipras on the ratification of the Prespa Agreement. “Congratulations, Tsipras, my friend. May peace and progress reign in the Balkans from now on,” Zaev wrote on Facebook. Later after the vote in the Parliament, the law for ratification of the Prespa Agreement was also published in the Greek Official Gazette, signed by Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos. The first article of the agreement is entirely in English and translated into Greek. The second article refers to raising the level of the Liaison Office in Skopje at the Embassy and the Office of Consular, Economic and Commercial Affairs in Bitola at the Consulate General level. The third article explains that the law comes into force after its publication in the Official Gazette, and the agreement comes into force after ratification and after the fulfilment of the prerequisites, in accordance with Article 20.