The prime minister-elect of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, referred to his country as “Macedonia” in a social media post on Wednesday, providing further kindling to a diplomatic spat between Athens and Skopje.
“I thank Mr Pamer for Austria’s support for ‘Macedonia’ on its road to European integration. The excellent economic relationship between Austria and ‘Macedonia’ will be further promoted and encouraged,” Mickoski wrote, in what appears to be a new violation of the 2018 Prespa name deal with Greece and North Macedonia’s constitution, whereby the Balkan country is named North Macedonia.
The politician recently said that he would use the term “Macedonia” when making reference to his country, and challenged Greece to appeal to the International Court of Justice if it believes that the Prespa Agreement is being violated.
The newly elected president of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, also employed the word “Macedonia” during her inauguration, causing a diplomatic argument between Athens and Skopje.
Greek Government’s Relations with North Macedonia
During a wide-ranging TV interview on Wednesday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expanded on the recent developments in the relations between Greece and North Macedonia.
The Greek government will not seek ratification of the three cooperation memorandums signed with North Macedonia, concerning issues such as its EU accession process until Skopje fully complies with the Prespa Agreement signed in 2018, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis also said.
“At this point, we will not pursue the ratification of the memorandums,” Mitsotakis said in the interview. “Ratifying the memorandums now would give Skopje leverage,” he said.
“Our counterparts in North Macedonia need to recognize that the election period has ended. Skopje is isolated, not Greece. I believe they will adjust to the pressures they will face,” Mitsotakis said, while also sending a message to the leadership of the Balkan country “to take their responsibilities seriously and cease engaging in petty political maneuvers.”
“We do not conduct foreign policy with grandstanding. We are firm that the Prespa Agreement must be honored,” he said.
The Prespa Agreement, also known as the Treaty of Prespa, the Prespes Deal, or the Prespa Accord, is an agreement reached in 2018 between Greece and the then-Republic of Macedonia, under the auspices of the United Nations, resolving a long-standing dispute between the two countries. Apart from resolving the terminological differences, the agreement also covers areas of cooperation between the two countries in order to establish a strategic partnership.
Signed beside the shared Lake Prespa, from which it took its name, and ratified by the parliaments of both countries, the agreement went into force on February 12, 2019, when the two countries notified the UN of the deal’s completion, following the ratification of the NATO accession protocol for North Macedonia on February 8.