Ioannis Armakolas spoke about the recent developments in North Macedonia on the occasion of the Presidential and Parliamentary elections taking place today, May 8, in the show “Prime” (ERTNews) with journalist Ilias Siakantaris.
Commenting on the almost certain victory of the conservative VMRO-DPMNE, I. Armakolas underlined that bilateral relations between Greece and North Macedonia will depend to a significant extent on the attitude of the new government coalition and on the reaction of the Greek side to possible moves by North Macedonia away from the spirit of the Prespa Agreement. Furthermore, he said that although VMRO-DPMNE raised the nationalistic tones during the election period in relation to the Prespa Agreement, the focus was mainly on the relations with Bulgaria, as well as on issues related to the rule of law and corruption.
At the same time, extensive reference was made to the European perspective of the country and the Western Balkans in general, while it was stressed that an important opportunity had been missed in the previous years under the Socialist government to advance the country’s accession process and to send a positive message to the whole region.
You can watch the interview (in Greek) here (starts at 18:13’).