Mitsotakis issues new warning to North Macedonia, hopes to secure Beleri’s swearing-in in Strasbourg

In a recent interview, the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated that “(t)he Prime Minister of North Macedonia will find himself in an uncomfortable position within the NATO Summit. I will raise the issue there. Skopje will understand that it cannot play with Greece on this matter. Because if the country accepted a dual name, the matter would have been closed years ago. Skopje will find itself in a very tough spot if it insisted on his stance at the upcoming NATO Summit and in the EU, where it hopes to become a member”.

Why is this relevant

There seems to be a risk that bilateral disputes – such as those between Greece and North Macedonia, Greece and Albania, and Bulgaria and North Macedonia – wear away the EU’s enlargement momentum fueled by Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Context

The victory of nationalists in parliamentary and presidential elections in North Macedonia in May has re-enflamed the country’s decades-long name dispute with Greece. During her inauguration, the new president, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, referred to her country as simply “Macedonia”. VMRO-DPMNE leader and prime minister-elect of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, said he will respect the Prespa agreement with Greece, but he will continue to use the name Macedonia in his public remarks.

In response, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis threatened that North Macedonia’s “path to Europe will remain closed”.

A bilateral dispute and a resulting Greek veto has blocked Albania’s process of EU accession negotiations. Albania, which has held only the opening intergovernmental conference of accession negotiations with the EU, is being blocked by a Greek veto on the opening of the first cluster of negotiations, because of a quarrel concerning an ethnic Greek mayor-elect, Fredi Beleri, who was convicted for vote buying.

While in prison in Albania, Beleri attracted some 237,925 votes in Greece in the elections for the European Parliament. He came fourth on the candidate list of New Democracy, the Greek ruling party, in terms of the number of votes.

In relation to the swearing-in of Fredi Beleri as MEP, the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis underlined in his recent interview that Athens aimed to secure his presence in Strasbourg for the swearing-in session in mid-July.