Athens, 15 May 2024 (MIA) - Greek opposition party SYRIZA has submitted the North Macedonia memoranda to the Parliament in the form of draft-laws, almost four years after the incumbent New Democracy government did the same, MIA reports from Athens.

SYRIZA MP Sokratis Famellos said ratification of the memoranda is an imperative of national interest, whereas their content as draft-laws is the same as the ones submitted in September 2020.

These memoranda relate to North Macedonia's European prospects, bilateral economic cooperation and air policing.

"The Mitsotakis governments have systematically rejected the Prespa Agreement's promotion for five years now. This agreement serves the national interest but also peace, cooperation and stability in an exceptionally sensitive Balkan region. Delay in the ratification of the three memoranda for cooperation with North Macedonia represents a dangerous backtracking, damaging the country's interests in a time when the international environment is becoming uncertain," said Famellos.

The memorandum on accelerating North Macedonia's EU integration process, the memorandum on setting up a Steering Committee for Economic Cooperation and the Technical Arrangement on Air Policing arise from the Prespa Agreement, signed by the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the first intergovernmental session held in April 2019 in Skopje, and by the Hellenic Ministry of Defense five months later.

The draft-laws are comprised of two articles, the first including the memoranda in their entirety, and the second related to their entry into force and publishing in the Official Gazette once ratified by the Parliament.

The draft-laws are set to be reviewed by the Parliament's Committee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, and then ratified at a plenary session.