ROBERT ATANASOVSKI / AFP
Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, candidate for the presidency of North Macedonia for the VMRO-DPMNE party, celebrates her victory in the second round of the presidential elections in Skopje, May 8, 2024.
INTERNATIONAL – A voluntary omission. During her swearing in this Sunday, May 12, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, first female president of North Macedonia, refused to pronounce the new name of the country used since an agreement concluded in 2018 with Greece. And this is not trivial.
“I declare that I will exercise the office of President of Macedonia conscientiously and responsibly, that I will respect the Constitution and the laws and that I will protect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Macedonia”declared Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova in front of the deputies of Parliament and guests at the ceremony.
However, in the official text that she repeated, it was the constitutional name of North Macedonia which was written.
An agreement with Greece seen as a “humiliation”
Call your country ” Macedonia “ and not the “North Macedonia” is entirely desired by the candidate of the VMRO-DPMNE party, the nationalist right, elected on May 8 for a five-year mandate in the second round of the presidential election. The 71-year-old jurist beat the outgoing social democratic head of state, Stevo Pendarovski, with 65% of the votes.
In fact, Skopje concluded an agreement in 2018 “historical” with Greece, agreeing to add the geographical mention ” North “ on behalf of the country, to put an end to a long-standing quarrel with its neighbor, which for this reason blocked its accession to NATO and its negotiations for accession to the European Union (EU). Indeed, for more than 25 years, Greece and the former Yugoslav republic have been fighting over the name of ” Macedonia “the first for his region, the second for his country.
North Macedonia thus became a member of NATO in 2020, but for the VMRO-DPMNE of Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova this agreement with Greece is a “humiliation”.
The gesture of the new president was quickly disapproved by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, shortly after a first message of congratulations sent on the social network X. “In order for North Macedonia to successfully continue its path towards EU membership, it is essential that the country continues on the path of reforms and full compliance with its binding agreements, including the Prespa Agreement »she wrote on her account.
The return to power of the right-wing opposition in this poor Balkan country of 1.8 million inhabitants risks reviving tensions with Greece, but also with Bulgaria, which sets its own conditions to advance negotiations on North Macedonia’s accession to the EU.
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