Mitsotakis reiterates tough stance on FYROM name deal after Wikileaks cable
New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated on Monday his pledge not to ratify in Parliament the deal reached between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) over the latter's name back in June, following a cable by Wikileaks which showed Skopje would have accepted the name “North Macedonia” in 2008.
“Today's revelation from Wikileaks, that Skopje had been asking since 2008 to name their country 'North Macedonia' and their people 'Macedonians' who supposedly speak the 'Macedonian' language confirms in the most tragic way what I have been stressing all those months. That [PM Alexis] Tsipras, [Defense Minister Panos] Kammenos and [Foreign Minister Nikos] Kotzias wanted to present their extremely damaging agreement for Greece as a success, which satisfied what Skopje demanded for years, and had been rejected by all previous governments,” Mitsotakis said in a statement.
“I reiterate my commitment: New Democracy is not going to ratify this agreement.”
The classified cable, titled “What the Macedonians need to resolve the name dispute,” is dated July 29, 2008 and was compiled by the then US Ambassador to the neighboring country, Gillian Milovanovic.
According to the leak, FYROM was willing to accept the name Republic of Northern Macedonia or Republic of North Macedonia as early as 2008, provided it included the recognition of the “Macedonian” language and nationality.
The cable shows FYROM's negotiating targets have not changed much in the last decade and were achieved – to a certain extent – with the signing of the Greek-FYROM deal in Prespes Lake region in June this year.
