Ex PM Samaras says name deal an 'unnecessary and humiliating compromise'

Greece's former conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras on Wednesday slammed an agreement reached between Athens and Skopje on the name issue, describing it as an "unnecessary and humiliating compromise."

In a statement, Samaras said that by signing up to the deal, Greece's left-led government was not only giving up Macedonia's name to Skopje, but also the Macedonian ethnicity, identity and language.

The deal was bound the undermine stability in the wider region, Samaras said.

On Tuesday, Athens and Skopje said they had settled on the name Republic of North Macedonia, or Severna Makedonija. Greece had objected to the name "Macedonia," fearing territorial claims on its eponymous northern region.