The Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Kotzias said the government would consider a component name for FYROM with “a Slavic nuance”. Mr Kotzias commented on the number of participants in Sunday’s rally, during an interview with Euronews, saying he estimated the crowd between 120-140 thousand.”The rally was not as big as its organisers had expected, considering that it was backed by the entire center-right, the right, and the far-right opposition, as well as the church and other organisations. So it was a message that the people do not give the same importance to the issue as New Democracy does”, he underlined.

Surprisingly, one of the groups that supported the rally was the “Pratto” movement, of which Mr Kotzias is a member. The Foreign Minister said the government approach would not change policy on the issue. “It was an event to be taken into consideration but it does not change the policy of the government and the responsibility we have to solve the problems”, he noted and clarified that the Greek government would continue to push for a compound name with a geographical component.