US Message to North Macedonia: Respect Prespa to Avoid Tensions

US Ambassador to Greece George Tsunis on Thursday was the latest top American diplomatic to call on the new leadership in the Republic of North Macedonia to respect the landmark Prespa Agreement, in order to avoid unnecessary tensions, as he said.

Tsunis, whose term as the US ambassador to Greece is nearing its end, spoke to Greek national broadcaster ERT.

Besides the back-sliding in Skopje and an apparent intransigence pivot after the Prespa Agreement previously cleared the way for the land-locked Balkan country’s accession to NATO, Tsunis cited greater defense cooperation between Athens and Washington and prospects for warming Greek-Turkish ties.

Asked whether the new leadership – president and  prime minister – in North Macedonia has violated the Prespa Agreement by repeatedly and flagrantly using “Macedonia” stand-alone, and whether NATO can guarantee that the new government complies with the Prespa Agreement, Tsunis replied that he “did not wish to be tough on them, as it was a new government.” He added, however, that it would be wrong to do anything that could jeopardize the agreement.

Earlier, Greek government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis, during a regular press briefing in Athens, said full respect of the agreement is essential for NATO and the western Balkans.

“We have warned that its violation or selective compliance not only undermines the credibility of all efforts for a settlement of pending issues in the western Balkans but also puts the security of the wider region at risk. Pacta sunt servanda, agreements must be kept. We must all remember this, as the premier (Kyriakos Mitsotakis) said,” Marinakis added, reminding of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ comments at the NATO summit in Washington D.C. this week.

The Prespa Agreement fully normalized relations between Greece and its northern neighbor, a former Yugoslav republic that broke away from one-time Yugoslavia in 1991. The most significant provision in the agreement is that the country changes its constitutional name to Republic of North Macedonia, for all uses.