At a press conference on the sidelines of the NATO meeting in Washington, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was asked about the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Christian Mitskoski, who continues to disregard the Prespa agreement on the use of the country's constitutional name.

Asked whether Greece is considering making use of the provisions of Article 19 of the agreement, the prime minister said, according to Athens News Agency: "I had the opportunity to inform my colleagues about the fact that the prime minister of North Macedonia has chosen not to implement a crucial article of the agreement as regards its constitutional name vis-à-vis everyone. Within its borders, he refers to his nation as the "Republic of Macedonia," which the agreement apparently expressly forbids. I want to point out, of course, that in the Chamber and in the presence of all the NATO leaders, he did not follow this tactic and used the constitutional name of his country. Beyond that, I think that one way or another, the leadership of the neighbouring country will realise that this tactic is totally counterproductive."

"Agreements must be respected; it is something I stressed yesterday in the NATO plenary session. It is something that I think all our allies understand. We want North Macedonia to take steps towards European rapprochement, but this requires respect for international law and respect for the agreements that the country has signed, obviously. I believe that in one way or another, this is something that the Skopje leadership will understand. In any case, Greece will not reveal at this moment the weapons that it has at its disposal to respond to the possible insistence of the leadership of the neighbouring country on this tactic."

On the Cyprus issue, when asked if there was a reaction from Recep Tayyip Erdogan when he raised it at their meeting and whether developments should be expected, the prime minister noted: "First of all, the Greek government and I personally have expressed our satisfaction with the fact that there is a UN initiative, and indeed, the special envoy has submitted her first conclusion to the Secretary General, I do not know the details of its content, and obviously, I cannot comment on it.

"But the Greek government continues to support the resumption of talks between the two communities, obviously on the basis of the UN resolutions. It is a position from which Athens and Nicosia do not deviate. I will have the opportunity to be in Cyprus on July 20. I was invited by President Christodoulides to participate in an event at the Presidential Palace. From there, I will also discuss tomorrow with the Secretary-General how he could be involved in another effort which we consider imperative to make so that this great wound can finally be closed. Fifty years after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Cyprus should finally cease to be the last second-division island within European territory and there should be a just, viable and sustainable solution to the Cyprus issue".