Silegov and Kaminis appeal on bringing Skopje and Athens closer and resolving open issues


The mayors of the capital cities of Macedonia and Greece Petre Silegov and Giorgos Kaminis will meet Friday in Athens.

In an article published in leading newspapers in Greece and Macedonia, the mayors wrote that “the cities of Athens and Skopje are determined to build bridges of cooperation and to be the driving force that will bring the two neighbouring countries closer together”.

The article was published simultaneously in the Greek newspaper Ta Nea and Macedonia’s Sloboden Pecat.

“The two countries should not miss again the historic opportunity for a solution,” said the mayors, ahead of a meeting in Athens on Friday.

Referring to the reactions within the two countries on a compromise solution, they say that these “emotional reactions and concerns must be respected and not ignored”. It is necessary, they stress, “to abandon the irredentist claims, to isolate incendiary voices and to leave behind the mistakes of the past. We have to replace tension and distrust with pragmatism and economic growth”.

Speaking to Thema Radio 104.6, Kaminis rejected any possibility to discuss political developments and name talks with Petre Silegov, MIA reports from Athens.