“There is no other Macedonia apart from ours”, said the Prime Minister of FYROM Zoran Zaev in an interview he gave on Friday.
His provocative statement is interpreted by pundits as part of his effort to rally the citizens in the run-up to the 30 September referendum on the Prespa agreement.
Zoran Zaev said:
“The northern part of Greece is Greece, the western part of Bulgaria is Bulgaria. There is no other Macedonia apart from ours. There is no other in the world. And knowing the prospect and the future, we have to do it for the next generations, for our children. And that is why I believe that there is a serious reason to unite.”
In the same interview, Zaev reiterated that the ratification of the agreement would result in the “Macedonian people” having an internationally recognised homeland with a recognized “Macedonian” language, adding that no one could then refute “our Macedonian identity”.

Zaev, however, acknowledged that the addition of the “North” to the name of their country is not easily accepted by the citizens, but claimed that the benefits of the agreement for his country would outweigh the negative points.