Statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias following his meeting with the Foreign Minister of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani (Skopje, August 31, 2021)

Dear Minister, dear Bujar,

Today was our fourth meeting after you assumed office and it is the second time I am in Skopje, in the two years that I have been Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece.

The schedule is packed, since, after you, I will have successive meetings with the Prime Minister, Mr. Zoran Zaev, the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Nikola Dimitrov, the President of the Assembly, Mr. Talat Xhaferi and the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr. Stevo Pendarovski, who will visit us in a month in Athens.

These contacts are proof of the intention of the Mitsotakis government, of the Greek government, to deepen our bilateral relations. And of course, they are an indication of the full support for your country’s European perspective, and I warmly thank you for your kindness to acknowledge it.

Greece, ladies and gentlemen, dear representatives of the press, is willing and able to be North Macedonia’s closest ally and best friend. Greece, as an immediate neighbour, has every reason and interest to ensure the stability, security and prosperity of your country, the prosperity of your people. And we always tell our European partners that the Western Balkans must never be allowed to become Europe’s powder keg again. We make every effort to ensure the stability of the Western Balkans.

Since my last visit to Skopje we have achieved a lot, working together. You had the kindness, Minister, my dear friend, to refer to bilateral trade and our joint investments.

Greek entrepreneurs, ladies and gentlemen, have invested over half a billion Euros in North Macedonia. They have contributed to the creation of over 20,000 jobs. And despite the pandemic last year, bilateral trade amounted to almost 800 million Euros.

The signing of the agreement on the gas pipeline, which is an important step for energy security and the diversification of energy sources, and also the presence here today of Deputy Minister for Economic Diplomacy Kostas Fragogiannis, mark exactly this, our will to consider ways to further strengthen cooperation.

We cooperate in the military field. In addition to the monitoring mission of the airspace of North Macedonia, carried out by the Hellenic Air Force within the framework of NATO, two agreements were signed this year; on the protection of classified information and a military cooperation program, which is already underway.

In the field of culture, the recent agreement on the conservation and protection of Byzantine and post-Byzantine monuments will strengthen cooperation in the management of cultural and religious heritage.

Thank you for acknowledging our help in tackling the pandemic by providing 120,000 vaccines. As I told you privately and I repeat publicly, we are at your disposal to assist in any way we can.

I would also like to acknowledge our cooperation within International Organizations. I welcome the decision you had the kindness to announce to me, with the note you handed me, to support Greece’s candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council for the period 2025-26. This is extremely important for Greece and I thank you very much. Your decision is proof of the confidence you have in Greece.

For two decades Greece has been promoting the integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union as a matter of principle. And for this reason it fully supports your EU accession process, on the basis of set conditionality. We will continue to work as hard as we can to ensure that the first intergovernmental conference is convened as soon as possible. We will coordinate our efforts with the Slovenian Presidency of the EU. And we will continue to provide you with any technical assistance you wish.

I would also like to acknowledge that in the European context, Greece is particularly pleased with your alignment with the announcements and statements of the European Union. Your harmonization indicators, which we always follow, are exceptionally high. And I would like to make a special reference to the recent statement on Varosha condemning the illegal Turkish actions.

It is certainly a fact that the signing of the bilateral defense cooperation agreement with Turkey raised questions for us. Thank you for your answers.

Dear friend, dear colleague, we have a motto in Greece; we say that “good understandings make for good friends”.

The full, consistent and in good faith implementation of the Prespa Agreement is the necessary foundation, the necessary precondition in order to further strengthen our relations and to realize our common vision for the integration of North Macedonia into the European family.

To this purpose, important steps have been taken and I would like to acknowledge and express my satisfaction for these symbolic moves of yours, starting with the removal of the sign bearing the name of the street just outside the building where we are; a sign that had been placed in different times and in an effort to appropriate King Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great.

It has been clearly agreed between us that your ancestors were not in the Balkan Peninsula at that time and did not have the great historical opportunity to campaign, under the leadership of Alexander the Great, in the depths of Asia.

I also wish to commend and acknowledge the name change of the Archaeological Museum, located in a central part of the city, as well as the change of road signs at border crossings.

And I want to emphasize that the implementation of the Prespa agreement is not a bureaucratic process of ticking boxes. Both the spirit and the letter must be implemented properly. Two and a half years later, there is considerable room for its proper implementation.

During our meeting I also elaborated on all the issues that concern the Hellenic Republic and which I intend to repeat today to the rest of my interlocutors.

I would like to address two main issues.

First, we must invest in the new generation, by providing them with proper education and the necessary tools to look forward to our common future, our European future, not to look to the past.

We must also avert interpretations of the agreement that either create false impressions or are themselves wrong. Because these interpretations create tension and arouse the emotions of public opinion.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are facing a challenge, which is an opportunity. The prospects are the best, without of course underestimating the difficulties that exist. I think that our common interest, our common course and our common perspective are obvious to everyone. We consider that you have made, my dear friend, the choice to be by our side, next to Greece, in the course of the great historical project, the great European Family, in which Greece has consistently and continuously sought since 2003 to integrate the Western Balkans.

We believe that you as a government have chosen to leave the Balkanization of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century behind once and for all and join the common European vision of the 21st century. We believe that you have decidedly rejected anachronistic visions, perceptions that go back to different times, to past times.

Others, in our wider region, are propagating a hopeless return to yesterday’s empires, to zones of neo-Ottoman influence, violating International Law, illegally occupying other countries’ territories, trying to divert the Western Balkans from the European course.

You have chosen the European course. You have decided to participate in the most ambitious project of a Union of states in the history of mankind, to be part of an area of Democracy, Prosperity, Justice, Protection of Human Rights, Freedom of Religion, respect for the individuality of citizens. You have chosen to join the European Union.

I urge you to continue to implement this choice, because, if you will allow me, this is in the absolute interest of your people. And we hope that you will be fully involved in the European project soon when the relevant criteria are met and to this end we will help you both personally and your government as much as possible.

Dear Bujar,

I hope that we will have the opportunity to meet often and I want to assure you that the government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, upon the instruction he has given me, will continue to work closely with your government to achieve our agreed common goals.

Thank you so much for your warm hospitality.