Negotiations between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) are closer to a resolution over the decades-old name dispute than ever before. But according to Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos, it is now up to FYROM to make the next move.
Referring to FYROM Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, he told TV station Kontra Channel on Sunday “The Greek government is waiting for Mr Zaev to make the decisive step to reach an agreement. The ball is in their court.”
Mr Tzanakopoulos added that a date had yet to be set for the two prime ministers to speak on the phone, which he said would signal negotiations moving into the final stages, stating that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed” at this stage.
On Saturday Mr Zaev said that he was feeling “optimistic” about the negotiations, but that certain technical details still needed to be settled in a bid to reach a deal by late June.
However Mr Zaev, not unlike his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras, is in a tough spot. Facing hardcore opposition back home, thousands turned out in Skopje on Saturday evening to protest over the proposed changes to FYROM’s name.
Organised by the conservative opposition party, VMRO-DPMNE led by Hristijan Mickoski, he declared that he was “against any change of the constitution with an aim to change our name,” reported Reuters, and has called for early elections.
