Greece loses if neighbors do not integrate in NATO, EU: Thessaloniki Mayor

 Instead of making it easier for our neighbor, we call them Gypsy-Skopians, says Thessaloniki mayor Yiannis Boutaris, MIA reports from Greece.

“We are losing our dignity in NATO and the European Union, making it harder for our neighbor who seeks its identity like a small child. Then what we do? We are calling them Gypsy-Skopians. Is this proper behavior?,” Boutaris told local media.

According to him, the government is tasked with the negotiations and people cannot tell the government how to negotiate.

“My position is a compound name, something that was decided by previous governments up to Bucharest 2008. Second, implementation of the Interim Treaty provisions regarding the full replacement of irredentist terms etc. It is not easy to change the instruction books, the people’s awareness, they have called themselves Macedonians for 100 years,” stresses Boutaris.