Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said Friday in his end-of-year speech to parliament that the country and his people were being thrown into a "legal, political and historical abyss" by the decision to change its name in accordance with a joint deal with Greece.
BELGRADE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th December, 2018) Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said Friday in his end-of-year speech to parliament that the country and his people were being thrown into a "legal, political and historical abyss" by the decision to change its name in accordance with a joint deal with Greece."The Republic of Macedonia and Macedonian nation are being thrown into the legal, political, and historical abyss. Pandora Box's has opened, and now every country can deny us our rights. Frequently and at different levels," the president said.
The Macedonian president noted that the renaming agreement between Athens and Skopje was leading to the Republic of Macedonia to its end, adding that Greece did not recognize the Macedonian nation or identity.
He further said that in order to be accepted by NATO and the European Union, the country was ready to pay too high a price.
"When you are ready to solve the issue by any means, then the price becomes too high. The price of such a solution to the Macedonian issue is legal and historical humiliation of the Macedonian people, as without the Macedonian people, Macedonian identity and language, there is no 'Macedonian issue,'" the president said.
On September 30, Macedonia held a referendum on its renaming, which was prompted by the related agreement signed between Athens and Skopje in June. According to the State Election Commission, 91.46 percent of those voted did so in favor of renaming the country, while 5.65 percent voted against the change. However, the referendum cannot be recognized as valid as the turnout was only 36.91 percent instead of the required 50 percent.
If the county is renamed, it will be able to seek accession to NATO and the European Union, something which Greece has long been blocking over its concerns that neighboring Macedonia might have territorial claims to Greece's own region of the same name.
