Ioannis Armakolas was a guest of journalist Evangelia Baltatzi on the radio show “Nai men Alla” where he spoke about the new situation that is taking shape in the political scene of North Macedonia after the resounding victory of the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE in the double elections that took place last week and its return to power after seven years.
In particular, I. Armakolas underlined that the governments of Greece and Bulgaria are maintaining a wait-and-see attitude towards the new government coming from the opposition with high patriotic-nationalist tones. At the same time, however, he stressed that relations with Bulgaria were at the centre of the debate during the pre-election period and remain an important open issue.
Furthermore, extensive reference was made to the European perspective of North Macedonia, with reference to the recommendations of Commission President von der Leyen on respecting the Prespa Agreement and the use of the constitutional name, which has remained stagnant despite the concessions made by North Macedonia, for which both the EU and member states bear responsibility. Greece’s inaction to support North Macedonia more actively during the SDSM government was also underlined.
Finally, he referred to the speech of the Albanian Prime Minister in Athens and the return of the enlargement issue to the EU agenda after the Russian invasion of Ukraine at a time when the Western Balkan countries are facing significant problems at national and regional level.
You can listen to the interview in Greek here (starts at 31:50’).
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