One of the first “ripples” in Greece in the post-Prespa agreement period came on Sunday, with a BBC report headlined “Greece’s invisible minority – the Macedonian Slavs” raising heckles by the political opposition and even generating an unnamed reaction by “diplomatic sources”, ostensibly emanating from the foreign ministry.
The claim, in the same article, notes that “… the ratification of Greece’s agreement with the Republic of North Macedonia – and its implicit recognition of a Macedonian language and ethnicity…”.
In announcement, main opposition New Democracy (ND) party called on the prime minister to immediately and categorically communicate, towards all directions, that there is no issue of a “national Macedonian minority” in Greece.
ND was officially against the Prespa pact and deputies voted against the agreement’s ratification in Parliament.
In a thoroughly unofficial manner, the state-run news agency referred to “diplomatic sources”, whom it quotes as saying that the “Prespa agreement has eradicated every margin for raising the issue of a minority”.
The same sources said the specific BBC articles contains inaccuracies and distorted information regarding the agreement and regional history.
