Former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsiphras, who signed the Prespa Treaty with Zoran Zaev, gave a shocking revelation into the Greek thinking at the time.

According to Tsipras, international pressure was about to get so strong to bring Macedonia into NATO, presumably especially from the US, that in a short while Greece could have been forced to lift its veto without forcing Macedonia to change its name. Speaking at an event to mark the anniversary of the treaty that was imposed on Macedonia. Tsipras practically bragged that Greece forced Macedonia to change its name and to rewrite its history at the last moment when it was possible to be done.

Was it the right time? Not only it was the right time, but if he did not do it then, things could have gone sour. Six years later things have changed a lot. Looking at what is happening in the wider neighborhood, there is conflict, war, in the north, and another one in Gaza. When even Scandinavian countries Sweden and Finland wish to join NATO, I wonder what pressure we would be receiving, regardless of the party in power, to accept the constitutional name of our neighboring country, Tsipras said during the event.

Zaev and his SDSM party insist that time was not working for Macedonia and that any future compromise would have been worse for us. But Tsipras’ comments make it clear that the growing necessity to expand NATO could have materialized in the form of pressure aimed at Greece, and not just at Macedonia.