The Government has included the following demands by the eight MPs from the independent parliamentary group of VMRO-DPMNE and its coalition in the draft amendments: a guarantee for strengthening the Macedonian identity, a gradual change of the name for internal use and annulment of the constitutional changes if the name deal isn’t ratified by Greece. Friday saw the eight politicians ...

In an interview for newspaper “Real News”, the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece Giorgos Katrougalos says that the Greek Parliament shall ratify with no doubt the Prespa Agreement on the resolution of the name issue with Macedonia. “The voting in the Parliament in Skopje represents an especially positive development which proves that the Prespa Agreement holds on to ...

During a speech at an event organised by the Commander of the Greek Army’s Third Corps Dimitrios Bikos, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos referred the name issue between Greece and Macedonia, and the recently signed Prespa Agreement. “We strive for cordial and good neighbourly ties and in practice, we have been demonstrating that we support membership into NATO and the EU, ...

The required parliamentary majority is in place for ratification of the Prespa Agreement but also for a government confidence vote, says SYRIZA secretary and former minister Panos Skourletis. In an interview with Greek TV station Alpha, Skourletis explains that the Prespa Agreement and the government’s survival are two issues that are not mutually related. “Everything points to the fact there ...

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has welcomed the Parliament’s decision to initiate constitutional changes arising from the Prespa Agreement.  “I welcome the vote by parliament in Skopje on the proposed constitutional changes. It’s up to the government and political leaders to complete national procedures on the name agreement and seize this historic opportunity to bring the country into NATO,” tweeted Stoltenberg. ...

Today is a day of joy for the incoming and the outgoing foreign minister of Greece following Friday’s outcome of the vote in the Macedonian Parliament over the initiative for constitutional revision. Despite the resignation, outgoing Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said they are happy, MIA reports from Athens. The handover of the post from Kotzias ...

Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos in an interview with Greek national broadcaster ERT on Thursday said that Prespa Agreement is not only alive, but is also the government’s main political goal. He said that the political message of government session on Tuesday is that the Greek government is committed to Prespa Agreement. “I consider both Mr. Zaev and Mr. Tsipras ...

We remain committed with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras over the perspectives of the new Balkans in the 21st century. A region of friendship, cooperation, economic growth and happier citizens, said Prime Minister Zoran Zaev on Thursday. PM Zaev was referring to Wednesday’s telephone conversation with his Greek counterpart and following the resignation of Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias. Zaev said Tsipras ...

We urge leaders in the Macedonian parliament to rise above partisan politics and seize this historic opportunity to secure a brighter future for the country, US State Department official told Greece’s state-run news agency ANA-MPA. In regard to the resignation of Greece’s FM Nikos Kotzias, the US State Department thanked the Greek official for his dedicated service to improving Greek-US ...

Following the debate in the Assembly of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on constitutional changes to implement the Prespa agreement Members of the European Parliament Mr David McAllister and Mr Eduard Kukan issued the following statement: “We understand the difficult choices related to the implementation of the Prespa agreement. However, we trust that all political actors will use this ...