Kotzias: The government is undermining the Prespa Agreement

Athens – The government is undermining the Prespa Agreement, and then refers to the negative results of its own undermining as an excuse, former Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias posted on Twitter over the latest developments after the EU Summit in Brussels.
“After Macron’s veto, the conclusion of the government’s practices in relation to the Prespa Agreement is that it undermines and then refers to the negative results of its own undermining as an excuse. Therefore, there will be a great deal of responsibility for any unpleasant developments in the region”, Kotzias tweeted.
As a guarantee of deteriorating relations with Athens, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung assesses the impact of Emmanuel Macron’s strong “no” on the name agreement with Greece.
“If VMRO-DPMNE succeeds in assuming power after the April elections, their stance on the name agreement would be a guarantee of deteriorating relations with Greece”, reads the paper, explaining that the Prespa Agreement, although signed, has not yet been fully implemented. As an example, the newspaper cites trademarks that need to be adapted to the new terminology. Specifically, Macedonian wine, which Greek and Macedonian winemakers insist they have the right to sell as “Macedonian”.
“It is hard to expect a VMRO-led government to push for such and other details of the deal, which it rejects anyway. That, in turn, will provoke a reaction from Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis… who has already said he would not sign the Prespa Treaty, but will respect it. (…) In any case, a prime minister in Skopje who would consequently use the old state name would trigger a reaction in Athens”, the paper notes.
Greek daily Kathimerini, however, assessed the blockade as the start of EU accession talks with Macedonia as a threat to the Prespa agreement’s use of the northern neighbor’s name. The provision contained in the Prespa Agreement that the name of North Macedonia will be an erga omnes – to be used both domestically and internationally – could be undermined if the bid for accession of a neighboring country to the European Union is postponed indefinitely. Practically speaking, the deal stipulates that, in the absence of accession negotiations, the government in Skopje will not be obliged to use its new name of North Macedonia – agreed in the Prespres accord – internally.
Therefore the name change at home has been linked to the opening of the country’s EU accession talks, which were delayed last week by the European Council due to objections raised by France, Denmark and the Netherlands.
In short, Skopje is still obliged to call itself North Macedonia abroad, without, however, making any changes internally.
The issue was first raised by former deputy prime minister and constitutional expert Evangelos Venizelos on Sunday, who said that Article 1, Paragraph 10 of the treaty provides that the transitional period for the use of the composite name (North Macedonia) in internal documents issued by the country depends on the opening of the accession negotiations.
Therefore, he said, “failure to open accession negotiations entails a delay in the actual internal use of the composite name.”
“That is, a delay in the use of the name erga omnes,” Venizelos said.