Top political officials from around the world hailed the Greek Parliament’s ratification of the Prespa Agreement on Friday. The ratification in effect settles the “Macedonia” name dispute between FYROM and Greece and paves the way for the Balkan country to join NATO.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the news of the Greek Parliament’s ratification of the agreement in a tweet issued by his office on Friday. The NATO chief praised the move, saying “the vote is “an important contribution to the stability and prosperity of the whole region.”
I welcome today’s ratification in the Greek parliament of the #Prespaagreement, an important contribution to the stability and prosperity of the whole region. I look forward to the future Republic of North Macedonia joining #NATO.
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) 25 Ιανουαρίου 2019
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and the senior official supervising the bloc’s enlargement said in a joint statement that they “warmly welcome” the Athens vote, adding that it has “written a new page of our common E.U. future.”
Tweeting his congratulations in Greek to FYROM Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, E.U. Council President Donald Tusk said: “They had imagination, they took the risk, they did not hesitate to sacrifice their interests for the common good.
“Alexis, Zoran – bravo! You achieved the impossible,” Tusk added jubilantly.
E.U. Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici also tweeted his enthusiasm over the vote, saying, “An important step was made for the political and economic stability of Greece, the region and Europe.”
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