The former Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, in an interview for the Greek daily newspaper “Ethnos” said that it seems that the current Macedonian government has understood that the irredentism leads towards a dead end and that, according to him, the name dispute aside Skopje is our natural ally.
-If the current situation will allow a mutually acceptable solution, the wider geopolitical situation will be another reason for us to go a step further. Apart from the name dispute, Skopje is our natural ally. The solution of the problem will allow us to use this strategic position in the Balkans – said Papandreou.
He said that during the times when he served as a Minister of Foreign Affairs they were close to a solution with the Macedonian side. Papandreou mentions the bilateral relations with Nikola Gruevski while they both served as prime ministers and comments that he had a feeling that “Gruevskiis using the Macedonian issue to justify the internal problems.”
The former Greek prime minister also criticized the opposition party New Democracy in the interview because of their request, the coalition partners in the government to agree on a single and joint stance concerning the name dispute.
Ο πρώην πρωθυπουργός, νυν πρόεδρος του ΚΙΔΗΣΟ και της Σοσιαλιστικής Διεθνούς, Γιώργος Παπανδρέου μιλά στο ΕΘΝΟΣ της Κυριακής, ασκεί σκληρή κριτική στην κυβέρνηση, κάνει σφοδρή επίθεση στη Δεξιά, ενώ καλεί τον Κυρ. Μητσοτάκη να πάρει θέση για το Σκοπιανό pic.twitter.com/cVkK3OKEz8
— ΕΘΝΟΣ (@ethnosgr) December 30, 2017