The main opposition leftist Syriza party has called on the Greek government to quickly adopt three memoranda signed between Greece and North Macedonia as part of the name-change deal (Prespa Agreement) following reports suggesting that Athens mulls further delaying the process, EURACTIV reports on Friday.
A tweet by North Macedonia leader Zoran Zaev that the national team is comprised of “Macedonian players, Albanian players, Bosniaks etc […] They are Macedonians […] and represent the Republic of North Macedonia”, triggered a strong reaction from the ruling New Democracy party (EPP), which leaked to the press its intention to temporarily freeze the ratification of the three memoranda.
The memoranda are related to economic cooperation between the two countries, acceleration of North Macedonia’s EU accession and the aerial policing of the Skopje airspace, which have been frozen for more than a year and were about to be ratified in July, EURACTIV said.
“Bring the memoranda to the parliament. Stop playing with the European future of North Macedonia, the European interests in the region and the troubled Balkans,” Syriza lawmaker Costas Zachariades said, adding that any delay increases Turkey’s influence in the region.
The leftist politician hinted that the government was looking for the perfect excuse to delay the process due to the opposition of some New Democracy lawmakers.
The Prespa Agreement was signed when Syriza was in power while New Democracy had opposed the deal.
