Zoran Zaev

The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris discuss French President Emmanuel Macron’s stunning decision to block EU accession talks for North Macedonia and Albania.
France is now facing enormous pressure from the United States and Merkel centric EU oligarchs, further dividing Brussels over the question of further enlargement, that has become a defining test of the EU’s post-Brexit strategy.

The Duran’s Alex Christoforou and Editor-in-Chief Alexander Mercouris take a look at the Greek Parliament vote on Friday that delivered the Prespes Agreement and created the nation of The Republic of North Macedonia.
North Macedonia is now on the fast track to enter NATO and the European Union.
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NATO and the EU are full of joy with the Prespes agreement, which is sure to pass the Greek Parliament and fast rack the newly minted Republic of North Macedonia into NATO and the EU.
Meanwhile in Athens and Skopje, anger is reaching dangerous levels, as each side debates the pros and cons of the deal inked by Tsipras and Zaev.

Authored by Aleksandar Pavic via The Strategic Culture Foundation:

Could it be the case that the long-standing dispute between Greece and the “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” (FYROM) over the name “Macedonia” is headed towards a resolution?

The fallout from the “North Macedonia” deal continues to pick up strength, as both sides begin to question the merits of the “solution” worked out by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his northern FYROM counterpart Zoran Zaev.
Greek lawmakers are debating a no-confidence motion in the government brought by the main New Democracy opposition party over a name dispute deal which ends up recognizing a Macedonian language, a people known as Macedonians, and citizens belonging to a country with the term “Macedonia.”

Hours after the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his FYROM counterpart Zoran Zaev declared that they had reached an agreement that would see the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia rename itself the “Republic of North Macedonia”, the nation’s president refused point-blank to sign the deal.
“My position is final and I will not yield to any pressure, blackmail or threats,” president Gjorge Ivanov, who is backed by the nationalist opposition, told a news conference in Skopje.

During Macedonia’s long political crisis, which has now entered a new and equally if not more worrying phase, many commentators spoke of Zoran Zaev Social Democratic Union attempting to form a government in coalition with ‘Albanian parties’, but little was discussed about who these parties were and what aims they had for government.

After refusing to do so for months, Macedonia’s President Gjorge Ivanov has capitulated to foreign demands and pressure from the Socialist Party and has given Socialist leader Zoran Zaev a mandate to form a coalition government.
Ivanov has made Zaev pledge not to undermine Macedonia’s Constitution nor sovereignty. It also contained a pledge to reject the infamous Tirana Platform. It is a face saving gesture that few believe will be adhered to by Zaev’s coalition.

A new political force is being formed in Macedonia to counter the ambitions of Zoran Zaev. Zaev is the Macedonian socialist leader who has formed an alliance with radical Albanian parties, including separatists and has attempted to form a government against the stated wishes of Macedonia’s President Gjorge Ivanov.
The People’s Movement is set to be a widespread patriotic coalition which will oppose Zaev and his Albanian nationalist and ultra-nationalist cohorts.