Foreign Ministry spokesperson Konstantinos Koutras stated the following in response to journalists’ questions regarding yesterday’s statements from the President of FYROM, which placed responsibility on Greece for the stagnation of his country’s Euroatlantic perspective:
“Unfortunately, the flare-up of tensions in FYROM confirms what we have said repeatedly: that there are serious problems in our neighbouring country; problems that have to do with the functioning of rule of law, respect for human rights, the implementation of the Ohrid interethnic agreement, respect for the principle of good neighbourly relations, and the country’s democratic deficit.
So the political leadership in Skopje need to focus on remedying these issues, exhibiting a spirit of self-criticism and consensus, rather than looking for scapegoats and blaming others for the impasse in their Euroatlantic perspective – a Euroatlantic perspective that Greece sincerely and firmly supports.
We express our grief and deep condolences to the families of the victims of the latest crisis, which we hope will prove to be an isolated phenomenon. What needs to prevail now is restraint, reason and dialogue.”
May 11, 2015