PM’s office: Talk on FYROM name ‘meaningless’ without erga omnes, constitutional revision
The office of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Friday cooled expectations over the name that will be agreed on for the Former Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) between Athens and Skopje in the ongoing talks, saying the most important element for a deal is fulfilling the two main conditions set by Greece.
According to sources mainly in the government in Skopje and FYROM media, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev proposed the composite name “Republic of Ilinden Macedonia” during talks in Sofia on Thursday with his Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras.
“Talk of any name is meaningless if the two main conditions which the [Greek] government has set following the national line are not fulfilled,” the prime ministers’s office said.
“That is, firstly, that the erga omnes with a constitutional revision is a necessary condition to have a deal, and secondly, the implementation of the constitutional review is a necessary condition for membership in international organizations (EU and NATO),” it added.
On Thursday, Tsipras appeared more reserved than his FYROM counterpart, saying that the two sides “have covered a great part of the distance,” but there was “more to cover.”
