As the Greek Parliament voted in favor to ratify the Prespa agreement on Friday, main opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis released a statement saying that he is prepared to “fight” what might happen as a result of the deal.
Mitsotakis said he will not cease in his efforts to “mitigate the negative consequences that will surely result from a problematic agreement. I spoke with honesty about the great difficulties that will derive from the implementation of the agreement,” the chief of the New Democracy Party said in his statement.
Mitsotakis added, “But I also committed myself to remaining faithful towards our national duty; I will not give up Greece’s right to veto Skopje’s accession to the European Union.”
He also encouraged unity and protesting peacefully, calling for disappointed citizens to demonstrate “democratic maturity” by voting in the next election.
The parliamentary vote approving the Prespa Agreement in effect settles, once and for all, the name dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). The vote tally ended with a 153 M.P.’s in favor, 146 against and one abstention. Mitsotakis’ New Democracy party voted against the ratification.