PM Zoran Zaev discussed sincere friendship between the two countries and peoples, the benefits of the Prespa Agreement, the processes in the Macedonian and Greek parliaments, NATO membership, coming presidential elections, as well as the Nobel Peace Prize nomination in an interview with Greek daily Efimerida ton Syntakton. Zaev says the Prespa Agreement cannot be revised […]
Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has started to hold intensive meetings with leaders of political parties in order to secure the votes needed for the constitutional amendments which would enact the country’s new name “North Macedonia”. Today, Zaev will meet with the leader of BESA Movement, Bilall Kasami. This party has two seats in Parliament. Meanwhile, […]
Greek daily newspaper Kathimerini reported that NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg sent letters to Skopje and Athens urging the two governments to complete the ratification of the Prespa Agreement by February 15, so that Macedonia can join the alliance without further delay. According to the letter, NATO members agreed that the vote on the ratification of […]
Greece’s government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos has expressed his confidence that the SYRIZA-led administration will secure the 151 votes it needs to adopt the name agreement signed between Athens and Skopje on June 17th, 2018. On Wednesday in a radio interview with News 24/7 , Tzanakopoulos said that in the event that the junior coalition Independent Greeks […]
The latest amendments to the Criminal Code, which will also allow pardoning economic crimes committed during the rule of the former government, have turned even the most hardline of Social Democrats. Believing in a law-abiding state is getting more difficult each day, and what’s even more devastating is that no one can tell with certainty […]
Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has announced that 76 MPs have confirmed that they will offer their support for the constitutional amendments needed to be ratified in order for the country’s new name, “North Macedonia” to take effect. However, he’s optimistic that the Prespa Agreement will manage to secure more votes than this. In order for the […]
Dozens of pigeons gathered in the “Woman Fighter” park in the center of Skopje are feeding on the crumbs of bread and other food that was left around the ASNOM monument. The scattered paper and one portable toilet simulate that until recently “someone was living there”. Among the branches of the nearest tree is the […]
Spiros Sideris The meeting of the Supreme Co-operation Council, between Greece and Serbia, held in Belgrade, has shown that the Prespes agreement can also serve as a model for resolving the issue of Kosovo. Serbia’s apparent lack of interest in the agreement and the downgrading of its value with comments of the type: “it’s not […]
The draft law on selective amnesty that was adopted yesterday in the parliament probably cemented the two-thirds support for the constitutional changes needed to ratify the name agreement with Greece. The independent parliamentary group that emerged after the exclusion of MPs from VMRO-DPMNE directly participated in the preparation of the text that fulfilled the request […]
The government of the Republic of Macedonia is expected to draft a report concerning the public debates held on the constitutional amendments which are needed for the country’s name to be changed. Parliamentary speaker, Talat Xhaferi says that based on the procedures, the process of constitutional amendments should be finalized with the approval of the amendments […]
There is no back-up plan for the Prespa Agreement except to find ourselves in a state of blockade that cost the country a lot, said French Ambassador Christian Thimonier. “I think we shouldn’t put ourselves in such hypothesis, because in my opinion there’s no backup plan except to find ourselves in a state of […]
University professor and former ambassador to the EU, Blerim Reka says that the final phase of constitutional amendments will be in a race against time in relation to Greece and the numbers in parliament. He says that the majority should look into possibilities on how to convince Macedonian opposition MPs who have abstained and 4 […]
The Foreign Ministry in Macedonia has responded to Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and VMRO party leader Krassimir Karakachanov’s threat to block the country’s path to the EU and NATO if its Prime Minister Zoran Zaev continues to claim the Prespa Agreement recognizes a “Macedonian language”. Words such as those by Karakachanov could create negative attitudes and hostility […]
In the end of his presidential career, Gjorgje Ivanov makes his last attempts to keep the imaginary halo of a contemporary hero who would in the near future be praised by his people, with bombastic speeches and gestures. Without any tactics until the last day of his term, he is likely to use his manipulative […]
The public debate regarding constitutional amendments in Macedonia has started. PM Zoran Zaev declared that he’s open to any suggestion which would improve the draft amendments, however, everything should stick to the principles of the Prespa Agreement. PM Zaev said that he hopes that this issue will be finalized. “We have reiterated and we will continue […]
MEP David McAllister and the MEP Knut Fleckenstein at Wednesday’s meeting with Zoran Zaev expressed strong support to implementation of Prespa Agreement and opening of EU accession negotiations with Macedonia. “EU lawmakers conveyed strong support from the European Parliament to the Prespa Agreement, which is assessed as an example especially for the Western Balkans, but […]
Macedonia is a positive example in the Balkans and has the support of the European countries and EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn to implement the Prespa Agreement and to conclude the Euro-Atlantic integration process, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev stated after the summit of heads of governments of member countries of the Central European Initiative (CEI), held […]
The Government of Macedonia has made a clarification statement, regarding the statement made by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, according to which “the Prespa Agreement creates potential opportunities for teaching the Macedonian language in Greece”. IBNA contacted the Government Spokesman of Macedonia, Mile Bosnjakovski who said: “The Prespa Agreement provides an opportunity for friendship and strategic […]
We will not accept any voluntary interpretation of the Prespa Agreement prior to its ratification, said Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos at a meeting with Slovenian counterpart Borut Pahor, MIA reports from Athens. “We are not prepared to accept voluntary interpretations of the Prespa Agreement, even more when they radiate with irredentism, prior to its ratification. […]
Brussels – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said yesterday that the protection given to Hungary as a member of the former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is not an issue for NATO, but something that should be resolved by Skopje and Budapest. “That’s not for me to comment. It is an issue that has to be […]
