Tsunis: New North Macedonia gov’t must comply with the Prespa Agreement, avoid unnecessary tensions

US Ambassador to Greece George Tsunis called on the new government of North Macedonia to comply with the Prespa Agreement in order to avoid unnecessary tensions, in an interview on Thursday.

Speaking to national broadcaster ERTNews and journalist Apostolos Magiriadis, Tsunis talked about the prospects of defence cooperation between Athens and Washington, the role of NATO and the prospects of the Greek-Turkish dialogue.

Asked whether he was aware that North Macedonia’s new government had violated the Prespa Agreement, and whether there is a way for NATO to ensure the new government complied with the Prespa Agreement, Tsunis replied that he did not wish to be tough on them, as it was a new government. He emphasized however that it would be wrong to do anything that could jeopardize the Prespa Agreement.

It was a hard-fought, historic agreement that should be respected, he noted. He also expressed surprise that the neighboring country’s new government would not refer to North Macedonia by its constitutional name. It appears everyone is surprised, he stressed, but everyone is trying to respectfully urge them to refer to their country by its constitutional name.

Asked if he thought the country was jeopardizing its European path, Tsunis stressed that he was not speaking on behalf of Europe, but reiterated what the US government has said, namely that America had made a serious recommendation to its friends in North Macedonia to refer to their country by its constitutional name. The Prespa Agreement is in force and must be respected, Tsunis added, because international agreements between states are the very backbone of diplomacy. Failure to comply with them would lead to unnecessary tensions, which was something that should be avoided, he underlined.