Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated that he expects the authorities of North Macedonia to publicly reaffirm their commitment to the agreements regarding its national name. He mentioned that he would raise the issue at the NATO summit in July. During a press conference on the island of Crete, dedicated to the upcoming European Parliament elections, Mitsotakis said, "I expect the acting Prime Minister of North Macedonia [Talat Xhaferi] to clearly and unequivocally confirm that he is committed to the Prespa Agreement and that the name of his country - North Macedonia - is used erga omnes, for everyone and in all matters. Of course, I will raise this issue at the NATO summit and urge the leadership of the neighboring country not to jeopardize its European path. They need to understand that the elections are over, but populism will not withstand the test of foreign policy once someone takes office. I believe that logic will prevail. For us, the agreement has many negative aspects, but one of its important aspects was a unified name for the state for all uses. We will demand absolute compliance in this regard. We are not alone in this matter. The European Union and the United States are saying the same thing."
The Greek Prime Minister expressed confidence that "in the end, logic will prevail and North Macedonia will return to the difficult path of aligning its legislation with European standards, and Greece will be the first to support it in that." He previously stated that the new leadership of North Macedonia must change its stance and use only the constitutional name of their country in all circumstances; until then, Greece will not ratify the three memoranda of the Prespa Agreement with North Macedonia regarding its official naming.
The Greek Prime Minister pointed out that the President of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, and the Secretary-General of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Democratic Union for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE), which won the elections, Kristian Mikoski, have used the old name for the country - Macedonia, which was changed to North Macedonia in 2019 under the Prespa Agreement with Greece.
