Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with his North Macedonia counterpart Zoran Zaev on Thursday in Thessaloniki, where the neighboring state’s European prospects was the main topic of talks, with the former also receiving an high-profile invitation to visit Skopje.
The issue of fully implementing the landmark Prespa Agreement was also high on the Greek side’s agenda, making for a closely scrutinized meeting. Mitsotakis and his center-right New Democracy (ND) bitterly opposed the bilateral agreement while in the opposition, while nevertheless saying that it would be honored if ratified. The agreement resolved the nearly three-decade-long “Macedonia name issue” preventing a full normalization of bilateral relations.
After assuming power in a July 2019 election, the new Greek government with Mitsotakis at the helm has tried to walk a political “tight-rope” between sticking to its position that the now internationally recognized – and widely praised – agreement was faulty, while nevertheless repeatedly stressing that the emphasis now is on its strict implementation – and not on its annulment.
The meeting came on the sidelines of the Thessaloniki Summit 2019, and lasted for 40 minutes.
In statements afterwards, Mitsotakis said he would initiate contacts with European Union counterparts, including French President Emmanuel Macron, to overcome opposition to the commencement of accession negotiations between the EU and North Macedonia.
Mitsotakis also met separately with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
On his part, Zaev met with former Thessaloniki mayor Yannis Boutaris, a political maverick and a long-time proponent of robust relations with North Macedonia to overcome the “name issue”.
Meanwhile, in a related development, Mitsotakis earlier attended the presentation of a new commercial trademark for Greek products from the province of Macedonia that are exported abroad. Official Greece’s long-standing opposition to the constitutional name “Republic of Macedonia”, for today’s North Macedonia, revolved around the protection of the name “Macedonia” for the country’s largest province, which comprises half the area quantified as geographical Macedonia and most of ancient Macedon.
The trademark and logo were unveiled during an event by the Association of Northern Greece Exporters, which also commissioned the project.
The blue-and-white trademark/log features the letter “M”, changing shapes at times depending on the intended export, such as in the shape of a wine bottle, along with the motto “Macedonia is Great”.
“I had promised to deal with the negative repercussions from the Prespa Agreement, supporting professional bodies in northern Greece, so that they could register a unified and collective identity, which would differentiate the products that are produced, as of now, on Macedonian soil,” Mitsotakis said at the event.
