The time has come to see the real facts about the Prespes Agreement, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says in a video message uploaded on his Facebook account titled "The Truth About the Prespes Agreement."
The video, 107 minutes long, includes clips from the signing of the Agreement between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) in on June 17, 2018 and excerpts of the premier's speech in the Athens Concert Hall recently on the Agreement.
"It's time we learned the truth," he is quoted as saying, "With the Prespes Agreement we are shielding our Macedonia. We overcome fear and inertia with self-confidence and open a path to peace and growth."
"Our neighbours are distinguishing their identity, recognising that their language is Slavic and that their culture is not related in any way to the ancient Greek heritage," Tsipras explains. "Through the Prespes Agreement we recognise citizenship, not the ethnicities comprising it. There will be no irredentist references in their textbooks. They are changing the names of monuments, infrastructures, and public spaces. Our neighbours are removing the 16-pointed star of Vergina from every symbol and its right of use reverts exclusively to Greece," he noted.
The Prespes Agreement, he says, "is the foundation stone for a Balkan region of friendship, collaboration and brotherhood of peoples. Learn the truth."