The diplomatic reaction to the recent provocative relapses of Greece's northern neighbors "must be accompanied by a trade counter-offensive, spearheaded by the authenticity and quality of products and services of our Macedonia," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told the regular general meeting of the Greek Exporters Association (SEVE) in Thessaloniki on Monday.
Referring to the stance of North Macedonia's new leadership and the protection of Greece's trademarked Macedonian products, Mitsotakis spoke of New Democracy's stance when it voted against the Prespa Agreement as a main opposition party. The party's negative vote was "not because we did not want a resolution to the issue, but because the specific treaty granted to our neighbors a Macedonian ethnicity and language." As a new government, the party honored the international treaty, he said, but it expressed reservations in accepting the memoranda accompanying the agreement.
"Unfortunately, developments confirmed our reservations. And the stance of the new president and her supporters there - unfortunately also of the prime minister-elect - is both illegal and provocative," the PM said. The path of North Macedonia's accession to the European Union goes through Greece and may stop here, he warned.
Under these circumstances, the trademark of Macedonia is "a powerful means of economic diplomacy," Mitsotakis said, and he called on all powers in Greece to rally behind it.