If the new government in Skopje disputes the name treaty and continues to call its country what it wants, then the European path will be blocked.
This is what Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in the town of Lerin, in Aegean Macedonia.
"I want to send a clear message from this place, just a few kilometres from our border, to the authorities in Skopje and to the new government: if they continue to challenge the substance of the name treaty and continue to call the country what they call it, then they will have to understand that the European path /for them, ed./ will be blocked," Mitsotakis said at an election rally in Lerin, not far from the border with North Macedonia.
During the swearing-in ceremony on May 12, North Macedonia's new president Gordana Silyanovska Davkova used only the name "Macedonia" instead of the official name - the Republic of North Macedonia. This caused a strong reaction in Athens.
"I am not happy about what I am saying because we are neighbours and Greece wants us to have good relations. The citizens of North Macedonia want neither tension nor nationalism. I want, and I hope, that they will come to their senses and get back on the right track," Mitsotakis said, adding, "Today I am in Lerin, not far from the border, and I have to tell you that I am unhappy with the fact that our northern neighbours have chosen to turn back time and dispute the name of their own country, which is agreed by an international treaty.
The Greek Prime Minister has reiterated that his New Democracy party was against the Prespa Agreement, but he warned quite sincerely even then that it could not be changed, could not be torn up or could not be changed, because it was an international treaty. /BGNES
