Skopje

A Romanian woman throws her hands up during a social-media driven protest, encouraging the country's leaders to build highways, in front of the Victoria Palace government headquarters in the capital Bucharest on March 15. Photo: EPA/Bogdan Cristel.

Amid reactions in Greece over frequent references made in North Macedonia to a Macedonian language, the neighboring country's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said on Wednesday that the name of the language was accepted in the Prespes agreement, which was ratified this year by the two parliaments.

Main opposition New Democracy is up in arms over repeated violations of the terms of the Prespa Agreement by Skopje.

The head of the Independent Authority for Public Revenue, Giorgos Pitsilis, has issued clear guidelines to all Greek customs offices over how they should deal with transactions between Greece and North Macedonia from now on.

An inter-ministerial committee involving officials from Greece and North Macedonia is to meet for the first time on Monday under Alternate Foreign Minister Sia Anagnostopoulou.

Greece committed a "grave mistake" in recognizing the existence of a Macedonian language, prominent linguist and former education minister Georgios Babiniotis said, adding that the clause in the Prespes accord signed between Athens and Skopje could encourage minority claims in the future.

The Romanian Senate, as the decision-making chamber on Wednesday unanimously ratified a bill ratifying a protocol on North Macedonia's accession to NATO, signed in Brussels on February 6, 2019. Attending the vote plenary session was Speaker of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia Talat Xhaferi.

A public row has broken out between Greek Culture Minister Myrsini Zorba and the artist who created the glass sculpture of the "Runner" over an alleged proposal to donate the 12-meter tall piece to North Macedonia as part of friendship building measures between the two countries in the wake of the Prespes name accord.

During his apostolic trip to Bulgaria from 5 to 7 May this year. Pope Francis will visit Sofia and Rakovski, and then on May 7 he will travel to Skopje, the presidential press service announced.

The press service of the Holy See has published on Thursday a working version of the pope's program in Bulgaria and northern Macedonia.

President Prokopis Pavlopoulos while on an official visit to Montenegro outlined Greece's views on ties with its Balkan neighbours and Ankara and reiterated that Athens steadfastly supports and promotes the EU course of the Western Balkans.