COPENHAGEN, 18 June 2018 – Welcoming the signing on Sunday of an agreement between Athens and Skopje over a long-running name dispute between the two OSCE countries, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) today congratulated the governments for taking a major step forward in resolving the disagreement. He thanked the mediators for their work, congratulated Prime Ministers Alexis Tsipras and Zoran Zaev for their leadership, and expressed hope for next steps to be taken to speedily put this agreement in practice.

“The deal reached between Athens and Skopje demonstrates that even seemingly intractable disputes can be resolved through compromise. In the steps that will characterize the aftermath of this historic agreement, I call on all stakeholders to appreciate its significance and to keep in close sight the strategic and best interests of both countries, as well as the region of the Western Balkans and all of Europe,” said President Tsereteli.

He added: “A special word of gratitude is owed to all the mediators who have facilitated this process since 1994. The recent breakthrough goes to show that although diplomacy is sometimes slow-moving, through steady engagement, we can see positive results.”