State Department Official Supports Prespa Agreement in North Macedonia Visit

“The United States supports the Prespa Agreement with Greece and is disappointed that President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova did not use the constitutional name North Macedonia during her inauguration,” said State Department Deputy Minister of Public Diplomacy and Public Relations Elizabeth Allen, who is currently touring Western Balkan countries in Skopje.

“Of course, we support the Prespa Agreement and were disappointed to see that the president did not use the full and official name North Macedonia. We’ll see what the government does. We are in constant dialogue with the government that is being formed.

“Therefore, I would not like to prejudge any consistency here, but, of course, we hope and encourage the new leadership of North Macedonia to abide by international agreements,” the senior State Department official told the Skopje-based SDK website.

It is noted that the new president of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska (who was elected the country’s new president in the May 8th presidential elections as a candidate of the right-wing VMRO-DPMNE party), at her inauguration on May 12th, called the country “Macedonia”, despite the fact that in the text of the oath, which was dictated by the speaker of the outgoing Parliament, Jovan Mitreski, calling on Siljanovska to repeat it, referred to the country as “North Macedonia”.

This action by the new president of North Macedonia provoked strong reactions from the Greek side, and the EU, the US, and NATO condemned it.