Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades has praised Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras "for his courage and determination" in pushing through the Prespes Agreement, terminating unnecessary conflict with its neighbour North Macedonia.
Anastasiades said ratification of the Prespes Agreement opens the door for cooperation and the road for peace and stability in the Balkans, creating prospects for a balanced and stable relations with North Macedonia, something which will allow a closer financial cooperation and the creation of a new environment.
The two leaders held talks in Nicosia on Wednesday to examine the latest developments in the Cyprus problem ahead of the forthcoming visit of UN envoy Jane Holl Lute to and the meeting Tsipras will have on February 5 with Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Tsipras said the Prespes Agreement was a “historic step which resolved in the best possible decades-long conflict”.
He said Greece “enhanced its credibility before international public opinion and the international community.”
Greece’s PM said that when a country acts according to international law and proves that it can make honest compromises on the basis of the international law, it clearly shows that it wants to solve the major issues that it has to address.
Moreover, he thanked Anastasiades for hosting on Tuesday the 5th Summit of the Southern EU Countries, noting that unity and coordination among the countries of the European south is very important for Europe.
“Our region is unfortunately particularly destabilized and Cyprus together with Greece and all the other EU countries has proved that it is fighting for stability, it constitutes a pillar of stability.”
Anastasiades said when there is courage, pragmatism and dialogue then there are prospects to terminate unjustified conflicts.
On 25 January, the Greek Parliament ratified the Prespes Agreement, ending the three decades long Athens-Skopje name dispute.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is henceforth named ‘Republic of North Macedonia’.
Moreover, the two countries acknowledge that the terms ‘Macedonia’ and ‘Macedonian’ clearly point to different historical contexts and different cultural heritages.
Therefore, North Macedonia is disassociated from the ancient Hellenic civilisation, developed in antiquity, in historical Macedonia.
North Macedonia revised its Constitution to ensure that the agreement is fully applied domestically, as well as to eliminate and/or revise all passages that could be taken to imply irredentist aspirations towards Greece.
Greece has rejected Macedonia's name since its independence in 1991, as there is a Greek region of that name.
Failure to find an appropriate name meant that Greece frustrated Macedonia's drive to join both NATO and the European Union.
Opposition to the deal is strongest in the northern Greek region of Macedonia, and polls suggest more than 60% of Greeks dislike it.
