Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the likely next Prime Minister of Greece, said that he will do all he can to block the opening of European Union accession talks for Macedonia, despite the ratification of the deal under which the country has to rename itself into North Macedonia.

I spoke about the immense difficulties coming with the implementation of the agreement. But I also commit myself to stand firm on the issues of national duty: I will not give away Greece’s right to veto Skopje’s integration into the European Union. I will fight will all my strength to soften the negative consequences which will certainly come from this problematic agreement, Mitsotakis said.

His New Democracy party, which has a significant lead in the polls ahead of the elections expected in late 2019. Under New Democracy and Mitsotakis’ sister Dora Bakoyannis, Greece violated its obligation from the 1995 Interim Accord and blocked Macedonia from joining NATO as the “former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”.

Under the new agreement, Greece again promises not to block Macedonia’s entry into NATO and EU, this time as the “Republic of North Macedonia”.