Greece Athens warns Skopje against nationalist turnaround

Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has warned the political leadership of North Macedonia and the right-wing head of government Hristijan Mickoski against using the old country name "Republic of Macedonia".

In a speech in parliament on Wednesday, Mitsotakis said that the new government in Skopje had "not made a good start" and had violated obligations under international agreements with regard to North Macedonia's aspiration to join the EU. "Stop doing the math without the host," said Mitsotakis in the speech broadcast by Greek radio. All member states must agree for the EU to expand.

The nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party won the parliamentary elections in North Macedonia in May and formed a new government together with smaller parties at the end of June. The nationalists thus ended a seven-year period in which the Social Democrats had exercised power. The latter had signed an agreement in 2018 together with the then government in Athens and with UN mediation, which was deemed to have ended the name dispute. The small Balkan country subsequently changed its name from Macedonia to North Macedonia. In return, Athens accepted that there is a Macedonian language and nation. This paved the way for North Macedonia to join NATO in 2020. Athens had rejected the old country name because its northern province has the same name.

Since Prime Minister Mickoski took office, the old country name has been used again and again at the highest level. Mickoski himself recently said: "I will call myself whatever I want" and accused Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis of not being able or willing to understand the agreement. The new North Macedonian President, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, had also demonstratively used the old country name at her inauguration the previous month - causing a diplomatic scandal. The developments also caused concern in the EU, as the name dispute was thought to have been settled.