Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met with his North Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev during his first official visit to the newly-named neighbouring country. The mood was jovial in the first visit following decades of strained relations over the name dispute.
Mr Zaev held up a mobile phone while standing beside Mr Tsipras and they snapped a couple of historic selfies outside the government building of Skopje, the North Macedonian capital.
Apart from the selfies, the leaders and their delegates signed numerous agreements that show that the dispute that lasted for nearly three decades is over as far as leadership is concerned.
Mr Tsipras travelled to Skopje with 10 cabinet ministers and 100 business delegates to sign agreements that focus on lifting trade barriers, joint security collaborations, air space agreements as well as the decision to establish embassies in both countries.
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The two leaders looked at ease, however the agreement that ends a ‘cold war’ of sorts between the two countries
“We have lost a lot of time and now we must rapidly catch up,” Tsipras told reporters at a joint news conference.
“We want to build a strong bond of trust and stability.”
Mr Zaev echoed Mr Tsipras’ enthusiasm. “It is a milestone to be leaving all these difficulties behind,” he said.
