ATHENS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Greece fully supports North Macedonia on its accession to the European Union (EU), along with other Western Balkan countries, as long as previously agreed criteria are met, Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias said on Thursday.
"Greece has been historically advocating and actively supporting the Western Balkans countries' European perspectives. It has been two decades now. And we will continue to do so," Dendias said at a news conference broadcast on Greek national broadcaster ERT.
He also noted that the full implementation of the 2018 Prespa agreement, which solved the long-standing dispute between the two countries over the use of the name Macedonia, is the prerequisite for advancing cooperation.
Under the accord, the Balkan nation was renamed to the Republic of North Macedonia from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
The use of the symbol and the name Macedonia, the same name of a province in northern Greece, since the FYROM declared its independence from Yugoslavia, had caused concerns in Greece that the use of the name could lead to territorial claims by the Balkan state. Enditem
