EU Commission urges Skopje, Athens to stick to name-change deal

A European Commission spokesperson told Euractiv that the 2018 Prespa Agreement between Greece and North Macedonia must be implemented by “all parties” and in “good faith” amid a new spat between Athens and Skopje that threatens to revive a 25-year dispute.

The new diplomatic crisis between the two countries erupted after North Macedonia’s new President, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, who comes from the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party, refused to use the country’s official name during her inauguration on 12 May.

Siljanovska called the country “Macedonia” instead of North Macedonia, the official constitutional name after the 2018 name-change deal with Greece, otherwise known as the Prespa Agreement.

The incident triggered reactions across Europe and the US, with many fearing the revival of a dispute considered an open wound for the Balkan region.

VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski also fueled the fire, stating that he would call his country whatever he wanted.

Mickoski even invited Greece to appeal to the International Court of Justice, as provided for in Article 19 of the Agreement, in case it considers this to violate the Prespa Agreement.

The Prespa Agreement paved the way for North Macedonia to join NATO and start EU accession talks.

But amid a new crisis, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (New Democracy, EPP) threatened to veto North Macedonia’s EU path if Skopje does not abide by the name-change deal.

The Greek leader also stressed that three pending protocols of cooperation that are part of the Prespa Agreement, which the ruling party has avoided to do so due to opposition by some hardliners in its ranks, will not go through the parliament.

“If anyone thinks they can disregard the [Prespa] Agreement, they should know that their path to Europe will remain closed and that the protocols will not be ratified if there is no compliance with what the Agreement stipulates”, Mitsotakis said.

The Greek socialist Pasok party, which ranks third in polls, also said it would not give the green light to ratify the pending protocols.

For its part, the European Commission says “all parties” should stick to the deal.

“Good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation remain essential to the enlargement process. Existing bilateral agreements need to be implemented in good faith by all parties, including the Prespa Agreement between North Macedonia and Greece”, a European Commission spokesperson told Euractiv.

The three pending protocols

The ratification of the three protocols has sparked a political controversy in Athens.

The protocols, which are part of the Prespa Agreement, concern Greece’s responsibilities regarding North Macedonia’s airspace control and provide Skopje with training and know-how on EU matters.

The main opposition leftist Syriza party, which signed the Prespa Agreement, is now attempting to increase the pressure on the ruling New Democracy party by submitting a proposal to the Greek parliament to ratify the pending memorandums.

When it was in the opposition, the New Democracy party firmly opposed the Prespa Agreement but vowed to respect it when it came to power in 2019.

New Democracy’s EU political family, the centre-right European People Party (EPeople’shich backed the deal in 2018, is fuming at VMRO-DPMNE, an EPP member.

An EPP source told Euractiv last week that after the EU elections in June, a general “house cleaning” will occur regarding some parties’ membership and that the VMRO-DPMNE party “tops the list”.

Meanwhile, the former prime ministers of Greece and North Macedonia, Alexis Tsipras (Syriza) and Zoran Zaev, stepped in, saying they would soon take initiatives to save the Prespa deal.

[Edited by Alice Taylor]

(Sarantis Michalopoulos | Euractiv.com)

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