First visit of a Greek Prime Minister to North Macedonia
The arrival of Alexis Tsipras, Prime Minister of the Republic of Greece, with a 15-minute delay, was followed with great euphoria and a fight for a better place among the cameramen, photo reporters and journalists for marking this historic act.
Even though there were many remarks about the organization and protocol for the media, still, as good hosts, advantage was given to the Greek media and foreign reporters, while the domestic ones managed somehow. The fellowship and understanding between the Greek and Macedonian reporters was obvious.
Minister of Defense, Radmila Sekerinska, Minister of Interior, Oliver Spasovski, Minister of Information Society, Damjan Mancevski attended the welcoming from the Macedonian side.
Tsipras was accompanied by his partner Peristera Betty Bazijana, who will spend the day with Zorica Zaev, wife of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.
At a joint press conference with Alexis Tsipras, Zoran Zaev stated that everyone will benefit from the agreement, from the energy facilities, from the factories in both countries, from the trade exchange, from the new border crossings and tourism.
Zaev added that he does not believe that the Prespa Agreement will be terminated with a change of government, because the agreement brings only benefits.
Greek Prime Minister Tsipras stated that a long time has been lost and that we now must run forward, and that what seemed as impossible, today has become a reality.
“The monuments that refer to ancient Macedonia and their specific marking will clear that they are part of the Greek past and culture, which is actually a world culture. We want to increase the number of Greek people visiting North Macedonia, that much more Greek people will be coming to Skopje, Strumica”, added Tsipras.
“Despite the difficulties, there are many Greek entrepreneurs who are currently working and are active in North Macedonia. However, my delegation is bringing with itself more than a hundred entrepreneurs with the goal to achieve better cooperation and relations in the future. We have also established a coordination committee for our cooperation, which will perform supervision and will be supporting such efforts within the framework of the economic relations”, stated Tsipras.
The visit of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was also welcomed by presidential candidate Stevo Pendarovski, through a video address.
“The door to a secure future is open. We are building bridges and friendships with the neighbors, soon we are entering NATO and we are starting negotiations with the European Union. We can choose to either continue forward towards a better life for all citizens or close the door and we will remain in the same place where we have been for years. I believe that the choice on the 21st will be to continue forward together”, said Pendarovski.
In addition to the great interest by the Macedonian and Greek media for the visit of Tsipras, about twenty protestors tried to express their position against the changing of the name and the presence of the Greek Prime Minister in the country.
The police were expecting their presence and did not allow them to near the Government.
Deskoska: It is a question of the parliamentary groups and political parties whether they will want to join the European integration processes
Ministry of Justice Renata Trenevska-Deskoska in a statement for the media, before the start of the conference “Joint efforts for better achievements in the judiciary”, said that she does not agree that the mission and the work of the SPO should end.
“The recommendations that we have received are very clear and are directed publically in that what the international community will appreciate as a positive step forward, but also as determination in the fight against crime and corruption, is sending a signal that no government should be afraid of the fight against corruption, because any type of unlawful action within the framework of any government should be punished by organizing a public prosecutor’s office that will be prosecuting the perpetrators of high corruption”, added Deskoska.
CIVIL – activities
Citizens are observing, recording, publishing in the Skopje Bazaar
Tomorrow, April 4, starting at 6.00 pm in the old Skopje Bazaar, in front of the South East European University, CIVIL – Center for Freedom will be projecting recently awarded materials of citizen journalists within the framework of the Civic Lenses project, and will be available to answer questions of interested citizens about the project and the conditions for participating in the monthly competition cycles in the project.
With music, projections and conversations, CIVIL will try to promote citizen journalism, but also explain to citizen journalists how they can help in the election observation at the upcoming presidential elections.
Chronicle The campaign for presidential elections officially started yesterday (April 1). Each of the candidates chose a different place for launching their campaign. Siljanovska-Davkova in her home town Ohrid. Blerim Reka in Skopje and Stevo Pendarovski in Prilep.
The performance of each of the candidates was different, while the atmosphere among the gathered supporters and voters was obviously if nothing else, enthusiastic, ones with essences of a ceremonious convention and presentation of the candidate in front of a given public, the others with
ovations like after an election victory, and the third ones with an organization like the relay of youth for Comrade Tito.
А. Petrovska
photography: B. Jordanovska
