Greek media offer extensive reports on latest developments related to Athens-Skopje name dispute

Greek media keep offering extensive, detailed reports on the latest developments related to Athens-Skopje name dispute, MIA reports from the capital of Greece.

The front pages of Sunday’s editions present analyses of the latest round of name negotiations in New York, upcoming meeting of the Macedonian, Greek Prime Ministers, Zoran Zaev and Alexisi Tsipras respectively, in Davos and today’s protest in Thessaloniki.

Proto Thema – a weekly with the largest circulation – offers a five-page report about the increased US and Germany pressure, developments in Greece and whether the parliament would adopt a possible solution to the (name) issue. It notifies that Tsipras could ensure the necessary number of MPs for the solution to get green light, even without the support of the junior coalition partner. However, the report says, he is afraid of the citizens’ reaction.

The latest United Nations-buffered initiative to resolve the long-standing name dispute between Athens and Skopje over the latter’s name is being complicated by domestic tensions over the contentious issue in both countries, Kathimerini reports. In Athens, the key to overcoming the impasse appears to be the stance of Panos Kammenos, the leader of the junior coalition party, while in Skopje there are growing concerns over a clash between Zaev’s government and the country’s president, Gjorge Ivanov, the newspaper says.

As Athens and Skopje struggle with domestic divisions, with their local populations protesting the latest UN-backed initiative, Russia, the United States, the European Union and Turkey are each trying to wield their influence on the outcome, Kathimerini reports.

‘Key Tsipras-Zaev meeting on Macedonian issue – high level poker game in Davos’ reads the headline of To Vima paper, which refers to the existing hope for the PMs of both countries to make good-will gestures.

Greek PM Tsipras’ interview is announced on the front page of Ethnos newspaper. In the interview Tsipras refers to all matters related to Greece and sets the red lines in the name negotiations.

All papers being issued from Monday to Saturday offer a special Sunday edition, offering analyses, comments, stories, exclusive interviews related to the name dispute.