After the signing of the Perspa Agreement, the value of bilateral trade has doubled from 853 million euros to 1.6 billion euros this year. Foreign direct investment of Greek companies in North Macedonia has reached the value of 620 million euros, which has an important contribution to the GDP of that country. The Macedonian side is confident that economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries will increase in the new and coming years.

During the said trip, which took place on the eve of North Macedonia’s rotating presidency in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2023, foreign ministers of the two countries expressed their satisfaction with the dynamics of the development of relations between the two neighboring countries, cooperation in many areas and projects of interest, and the prospect of further cooperation at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. Also, the “Perspa” Agreement and its positive effect on the relations and cooperation between the two countries were discussed.

Foreign Minister of Greece Dendias announced Athens full support for the accession process of North Macedonia to the European Union and emphasized: Greece is determined to help the government of Skopje in implementing the necessary reforms should not be allowed to join the European Union. He said the third parties with revisionist views should not be allowed to exploit the fatigue this process creates. Athens attaches special importance to strengthening bilateral relations with North Macedonia and is Macedonia’s closest partner and ally in the region, and Skopje can count on Athens support. The parties can cooperate within the framework of their common interests in various fields such as renewable energy sources, green energy and defense industries.

One of the main reasons for this trip is to deepen cooperation in the energy sector between the two countries with a special focus on gas connection, Macedonia’s participation in the “Alexandroupolis” liquefied gas terminal, and diversification of energy supply in the current crisis. In this regard, during North Macedonia’s presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, one of the key issues will be energy security and food and water security. It seems that North Macedonia needs the strong support and commitment of member countries of this organization to effectively deal with the challenges it is facing.

Recently, the prime ministers of the two countries agreed in Prague that due to the various projects that are underway (the FSRU terminal of Alexandroupolis and the construction of a natural gas pipeline between the two countries), there are vast capacities for the development of bilateral cooperation in the field of energy. The most important topic of this meeting was the energy crisis and the need to strengthen cooperation between the two countries. The consequences of the war in Ukraine are very heavy for the energy sector of a small and landlocked country like North Macedonia, and for this reason, the prime minister of North Macedonia demands access to energy through Greece.

The parties discussed the construction of energy projects in North Macedonia, which also attracted the attention of Greek companies. A Greek investment company is looking to build a gas-fired power plant in Skopje. The Greek Electricity Company has also proposed construction of a hydropower plant on the Crna River. According to the Greek side, the investment of Greek companies in North Macedonia is in the interest of both countries, so that the parties can connect their infrastructures in a way that leads to the strengthening of the ties between the two countries in the field of energy.

Greece considers the full support of Athens for the accession process of North Macedonia to the European Union conditional on the implementation of the established criteria and the strict implementation of the Prespa Agreement. According to Greece, the future of North Macedonia and the future of Western Balkan countries in the European Union is European values, common European rights and human rights.

Since Macedonia’s independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it has been at odds with Greece over the name of the Republic of Macedonia. Due to the fact that ancient Macedonia included a very large part of the Greek territory, Greece was worried that the Macedonian government would later make a claim about this part of the Greek territory, and for this reason, it wanted to change the name of the Republic of Macedonia. Due to the dispute over the name “Macedonia”, Greece prevented this newly independent country from joining the European Union and NATO, until finally, Macedonia changed its official name to “Republic of North Macedonia”.

After 25 years of tension and mistrust between Athens and Skopje and secret and open negotiations, the two countries signed a historic agreement on June 17, 2018 in Prespa (north coast of Greece) on resolving the differences between the two countries over the name of Macedonia. According to this agreement, Skopje and Athens agreed that the new name of Macedonia (former Republic of Yugoslavia) would be changed to “Republic of North Macedonia” and as a result, the path to membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union would be paved. This agreement was signed by the Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov and the then Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kogias in the presence of the prime ministers of the two countries as well as a number of European personalities.

In this agreement, Macedonia agreed to amend the country’s new name in the country’s constitution, change the names of the organizations that used the word “Macedonia” and the agreement by the parliaments of the two countries should be approved by the majority of the representatives and put to a referendum. Also, Macedonia clearly accepted the separation between Macedonian Greeks, Greek civilization and their language with the residents of Macedonia, which has its own history and linguistic and cultural characteristics, and provided guarantees to prevent any kind of annexationist rhetoric and actions by the public and private authorities of that country. Greece’s northern neighbor agreed to use the name “Republic of North Macedonia” inside and outside the country. All the preconditions that the Greek government raised with the other party were accepted.

Athens, on the other hand, recognized the existence of the Macedonian language and ethnicity and accepted that the Macedonian language is related to the Slavic language and has nothing to do with the ancient Greek Macedonian language and the Greek-Macedonian language. Tsipras, the left-wing prime minister of Greece at the time, considered this agreement a “great diplomatic victory” and a “historic opportunity” within the framework of Greece’s national stances in the past two decades.