Ohrid, 31 May 2024 (MIA) - President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova said Friday she respects the Prespa Agreement and that “unlike others” she respects international law. She noted that the way she uses the country’s name is a “personal decision, a right guaranteed by higher acts of the bilateral agreements”.

Siljanovska-Davkova told media that through dialogue, she will convince Greece that she is right to use the term “Macedonia” instead of the country’s constitutional name.

“Of course, I have a plan. The plan is to build good neighborly relations. The plan is to offer respect and seek self-respect. And I think that just how in politics we need to search for the art of the possible, we will do so soon. My first statement was that I won’t go all over the world because I want to meet with the neighbors, and I think I will realize this. Of course, everyone around us is necessary for dialogue, and we have no other choice but to talk. Dialogue is a healthy thing and if there is no mutual respect there can be no results. Politics requires dialogue, and I am ready to look for that and mutually overcome our issues,” Siljanovska-Davkova said.

Regarding the warnings from Athens over the possibility to launch proceedings in front of the International Court of Justice over the failure to comply with the provisions of the Prespa Agreement, Siljanovska-Davkova noted that the same court had previously made judgements that weren’t respected by Greece.

“That same court ruled over the violation of article 11 of the Interim Accord. That’s also an international treaty. I don’t believe that we will immediately go to court. There’s gradation in the Prespa Agreement. First you notify, you discuss, address the issue to the UN and only then do you go to court. The judgements of the court should apply erga omnes, that didn’t happen in our case,” Siljanovska-Davkova said.