The Macedonian government should stop with the irredentism and the rhetoric about being the only descendants of ancient Macedonians, to make substantial steps forwards and to find a mutually acceptable solution, said the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during his stay in Belgrade. He said if the necessary steps are done, the following year can bring a positive development for the name dispute.
In Belgrade, after the second meeting of representatives of four countries – Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, only two days before the meeting with Niemtitz with both countries’ negotiators, Tsipras stated that if the necessary steps are done and a solution for the name dispute is accepted, he will be the first who will strive that Greece guarantees Macedonia’s perspective and security, whom he addressed as “the neighboring country.”
-it is possible that 2018 will be the year when we might have a positive outcome for a longstanding problem, if the new government in Skopje decides to make important steps forward, if it stops with, to my opinion, the unnecessary rhetorics that they are the only descendants of ancient Macedonians and of Alexander the Great. If it stops with the irredentistic rhetoric and at the same time it accepts a solution for the name that is mutually accepted by the neighbors. From this perspective, certainly, I shall be the first in Greece to guarantee the newly developed perspective and security of this neighboring country -said the Greek Prime Minister.
The subjects discussed at the meeting in Belgrade were the Bulgarian presidency with EU and the enlivening the Thessaloniki agenda from 2003 and concrete projects such as the energetic and railroad connection of the Balkan countries.
