“The EU perspective of North Macedonia is very present in light of the ratification of the name agreement in Athens and in Skopje, which was clearly prompted by EU leaders last June, although they said it was necessary for the Macedonian authorities to carry out further reforms,” European Commission spokesperson Maja Kocijancic said, responding to a journalist question in Brussels whether the EU believes that the start of accession negotiations with North Macedonia is certain after the ratification of the name agreement in the Greek Parliament, because, despite this, the influential Greek opposition has announced that it will block Skopje’s EU course.