New Democracy will never ratify the Prespes agreement with FYROM, states secretary Avgenakis

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New Democracy will not ratify the Prespes Agreement, either in this parliament or in the next parliament, main opposition ND party secretary Lefteris Avgenakis said on Friday.

For this reason, New Democracy is asking for elections, he added. “This is the only referendum with immediate political result,” he stressed.

Avgenakis explained in a post on social media that the citizens must give New Democracy the mandate to avoid what he described as a damaging agreement.

He also noted that FYROM Prime Minister Zoran Zaev does not speak about a “North Macedonia” while the agreement hurts industries based in the region of Macedonia in northern Greece. This gives rise to competitiveness issues, as well as other issues that cause mutual suspicion, which will eventually become an obstacle to transnational and trade relations, he said.

The agreement signed by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and junior coalition government partner Panos Kammenos is a bad deal, he noted. “It is an agreement that affects all Greeks, not only the Macedonians, as it grants the “Macedonian identity” to our neighbours,” he explained.

A referendum will be held in FYROM on Friday, in which voters will be asked whether they support the country joining NATO and the European Union by accepting the terms of the Prespes Agreement, under which FYROM will change its name to ‘North Macedonia’ and also make changes to its constitution. In order for its result to be valid, the voter turnout in the referendum must be above 50 pct of registered voters.

Source: AMNA