There were strong reactions from the public on social and traditional media in Macedonia today following Prime Minister Zaev’s “mistake” for calling the national football team “Macedonian” in a tweet during the European Championship.
“Sometimes, it’s normal to make mistakes, precisely in the Prespa Agreement. But I’m 46 years old. It’s normal in 47 years to mention it in one sentence and to repeat it sometimes,” said Zoran Zaev, referring to the word Macedonian.
“The problem is that you are looking for a way to fool the public as a dishonest approach to what is a guarantee of the future. When the state is represented, and the national team represents the state, then the national team of Northern Macedonia is used. This is clearly confirmed in the Prespa Agreement. Macedonian is used in all other forms of communication and communication of views. That is what is correct and to correct oneself when something is contrary to the Prespa Agreement,” Zaev said.
Zaev has now said the Macedonian Football Federation must change its name after Foreign Minister Osmani rejected Greek calls for a name change of the Federation as it was not breaking the Prespa Agreement.
The public in Macedonia is slowly realizing the implications of the illegally ratified agreement, which the former Macedonian President Ivanov called “the legal abolishment of the Macedonian nation”, while many institutions in the country still reject it and say it destabilizes the region.
