Majority back move amid angry cries of ‘traitors’ from nationalists who oppose deal
MPs in Greece have ratified a historic accord that allows the country’s northern neighbour Macedonia to change its name.
In a roll-call vote, punctuated by angry cries of “traitors” from nationalists opposed to the deal, 153 MPs voted in favour of the pact.
Continue reading...Greek parliament to vote this week to ratify proposed new name of its neighbour, the Republic of North Macedonia.
Continue reading...Alexis Tsipras secures majority as opposition claims deal with Skopje is ‘nationally damaging’
The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has won a confidence vote in parliament, clearing a major hurdle for Greece’s approval of an accord to end a dispute over Macedonia’s name and averting the prospect of a snap election.
Tsipras called the confidence motion after his rightwing coalition partner Panos Kammenos quit the government on Sunday in protest at the name deal signed between Athens and Skopje last year.
Continue reading...Russian president claims alleged increase of western influence is ‘destablising’
Vladimir Putin has weighed into the row over Macedonia’s name-change, accusing the US and its allies of destabilising the Balkans by “asserting their dominant role” in the region.
The Russian president criticised what he described as deliberate efforts to increase western influence in a part of the world Moscow has long regarded as falling within its own orbit.
Continue reading...Country will become Republic of North Macedonia when Greece ratifies agreement
Macedonia’s parliament passed an amendment to the constitution on Friday to rename the country Republic of North Macedonia in line with an agreement with Greece to put an end to a 27-year-old dispute.
The two countries struck the deal on the new name in June, but Macedonia will start using it only after the parliament in Athens also ratifies the agreement.
Continue reading...Violence so bad that women wear nappies at night to avoid leaving tents, report says
The EU has been strongly criticised over conditions in Greece’s largest refugee camp, where Oxfam reported women are wearing nappies at night for fear of leaving their tents to go to the toilet.
The British-based NGO described the increasingly dangerous state of the EU-sponsored Moria camp on the island of Lesbos, where a 24-year-old man from Cameroon was found dead in the early hours of Tuesday as temperatures fell below freezing.
Continue reading...Fears for native biodiversity as climate ideal for propagation
The raucous squawking comes first. Then they are seen, banking and diving before they crash-land on trees.
If Greeks had been told, not long ago, that their skies would become the preserve of ring-necked parakeets, the response would have been one of incredulity.
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