"Kathimerini": Greece freezes ratification of memoranda with Macedonia, due to Zaev's tweet
Following the match between Macedonia and the Netherlands, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev announced on his Twitter account on Monday that in the company of his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte, he encouraged the Macedonian national team and caused anger and revolt in official Athens.
Due to the announcement of the Prime Minister, Greece freezes the ratification of the memoranda of cooperation with Northern Macedonia in which it does not use the constitutional name of the country. Under the headline "Anger in Athens freezes memoranda with Northern Macedonia", the Greek daily Kathimerini writes that these are three memoranda that parliament was supposed to ratify next month, on July 10, but that the process will now be postponed, most likely for September, and maybe later. Citing government sources, "Kathimerini" writes that the Greek government can not "close its eyes" to the "double game" of the "neighbors", emphasizing that there have been several "incidents" related to the Agreement in the past period.
The text also includes a statement by Greek government spokeswoman Aristotle Peloni, who yesterday sent a warning to Prime Minister Zoran Zaev that he must respect the Prespa Agreement in all contexts, including international sporting events.
"We demand full implementation of the Prespa Agreement and its spirit, we call on Zaev to refrain from rhetoric of divisions, especially in such a sensitive issue as football." said Aristotle Peloni.
In a "tweet" on Monday, which angered the Greek government, Zaev wrote that he was watching the football match together with the Dutch Prime Minister and that regardless of the result, he was supporting the "Macedonian national football team".
Today, from the stadium in Amsterdam, I give strong support to the Macedonian national football team. 🇲🇰⚽️
Thanks to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte - @MinPres for the invitation to watch the match together. Regardless of the result of the match, from today #MKD и #SUN even closer. pic.twitter.com/ne9WEtd7oC
- Zoran Zaev (@Zoran_Zaev) June 21, 2021
