North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski insisted on using the term “Macedonia” for his country instead of the internationally recognized “North Macedonia”, during a debate in the Balkan country’s parliament on Thursday evening.
The leader of the center-right nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party, which has repeatedly refused to abide by the provisions of the Prespa Agreement—a bilateral Treaty signed in 2018 between Greece and then “Macedonia” resolving the long-standing dispute over the name of the latter, among other issues—also referred to the citizens of his country as “Macedonians” during his speech from the podium.
“I can tell you that nowhere in the Prespa Agreement is the use of the term ‘Macedonian’ or ‘Macedonia’ prohibited,” stated Mickoski from the parliament floor during his response to a question tabled by Dimitar Apasiev, leader of the nationalist opposition party ‘Left.’
Mickoski clarified that the use of these terms is regulated by Article 7, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Agreement, emphasizing, “We can ultimately agree that we too have the right to use the adjective ‘Macedonian,’ just as they (in Greece) have the same right.”
Apasiev had addressed Mickoski as the “Prime Minister of North Macedonia,” accusing him of inconsistency, noting that while he had previously opposed the Prespa Agreement, he now claims to “respect” it.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has constantly made it clear in international forums and public appearances that the flagrant violations of the landmark Prespa Agreement were unacceptable warning that the specific international treaty was non-negotiable.
Mitsotakis warned that if the new leadership of North Macedonia continued to violate the Prespa Agreement, the country’s path to European Union accession would be “blocked”.
