Defense & Security
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Secretary of State Pompeo begins short Balkan swing
Despite the turmoil in Washington which has practically everything except his current European trip in focus, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo departed Italy on 4...
Archive
Washington and Athens agree on new defence agreement
The US and Greece have agreed on the text of a new document which will modify the existing bilateral Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA)...
Archive
Zaev-Mitsotakis New York meeting – breaking the ice
The prime ministers of Greece and North Macedonia held their first face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)...
Analysis
The mother of all hearings
As soon as the new European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, revealed on 10 September that Hungary’s former Minister of Justice Laszlo Trocsanyi...
Archive
Mitsotakis government’s foreign policy inevitably points to Washington
In view of ongoing tension between Turkey, the EU and Washington, it was completely reasonable for the new Greek government of Prime Minister Kyriakos...
Archive
Zaev hints at early elections
Prime Minister Zoran Zaev of North Macedonia hinted on 5 June, and again the next day, that he would consider calling early elections if...
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Kosovo-Serbia relations again disrupted
Raids by Kosovo police on 28 May in a large anti-corruption operation triggered a serious deterioration of already-strained Kosovo-Serbia relations in the following days,...
Archive
North Macedonia’s presidential election results calm West’s worries
North Macedonia’s presidential runoff election on 5 May produced results guaranteed to calm fraying nerves in Athens, Washington, Brussels, Paris, and Berlin as the...
Analysis
Name Dispute chills North Macedonia’s presidential election
What would normally be an inconsequential election for the largely ceremonial post of president in North Macedonia has crystallised into an unofficial referendum on...
Analysis
New legislation energizes US policy in the Eastern Mediterranean
Important new bipartisan legislation has been introduced by two ranking US Senators to reshape and energize US strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean, taking into...
Albania
Tsipras visits Skopje hoping to cement his Prespes accomplishments
Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras visited North Macedonia’s capital Skopje on 2 April, his second visit to the country since signing the Prespes Agreement. ...
Analysis
Tsipras heads to Skopje to salvage his Prespes gambit
Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is set to deliver on his promised trip to North Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, on 2 April, which was announced...
Analysis
Name Dispute: Important issues progressing while public attention fades
While the Name Dispute between Greece and the newly-renamed Republic of North Macedonia has fallen out of the headlines, several notable developments occurred in...
Archive
Delphi Economic Forum – A small US official presence, but long American shadow
DELPHI, Greece - At the February 28-March 3 Delphi Economic Forum, (DEF) entitled “The Challenge of Inclusive Growth” the long list of invited American...
Analysis
Name Dispute: Nationality tussles highlight Prespes Agreement flaws
If there is an area where the June 2018 Prespes Agreement’s legions of detractors and a reasonable number of its mainstream but unenthusiastic supporters...
Analysis
Name Dispute: North Macedonia’s name change takes hold
Following Greece’s ratification of the NATO Accession Protocol for North Macedonia February 8, over the past week, Europe witnessed a series of implementation steps...
Archive
Athens clears path for North Macedonia’s NATO admission
NATO’s 29 members and the soon-to-be-renamed Republic of North Macedonia signed the country’s NATO Accession Protocol in Brussels on February 6. Since the Name...
Analysis
Political landscape reshaped after blistering Prespes Agreement ratification battle
While Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras successfully avoided triggering national elections over the painful ratification battle for June’s Prespes Agreement with the newly renamed...
Analysis
Deeply polarised Greece ratifies Prespes Agreement
Greece completed its rushed and contentious ratification procedure for the Prespes Agreement in a vote delayed to January 25, aiming to resolve the Name...
Archive
Tsipras narrowly wins self-imposed confidence vote
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras won the closest of confidence challenges late January 16 with 151 votes in favour and 148 against. Although at...
Analysis
Tsipras co-opts Independent Greeks in confidence vote, expected to get North Macedonia seal of approval
All the pieces are now in place for a one-two process that will see the Prespes Agreement, which seeks to resolve the Greece-Macedonia/FYROM Name...
Archive
Name Dispute: Western leaders rejoice, Greece melts down
After a confused post-holiday week marked by conflicting statements and signals from key Greek leaders in the ruling coalition government, political developments in Athens...
Analysis
Name Dispute: Prespes ratification issue is front and center
Like the slowly ticking time bomb it actually represents for the Greek political world, the Prespes Agreement ratification procedure rolls almost inexorably towards completion...
Analysis
UN face off over Kosovo army vote
The Kosovo Parliament’s December 14 vote to formally create a military structure triggered the almost-automatic UN Security Council (UNSC) face off December 17 in...
Analysis
US-Greece strategic dialogue inaugurated
In an atmosphere of already close bilateral relations, the US and Greece inaugurated their “Strategic Dialogue” in Washington on December 13. US Secretary of...
Archive
Kosovo votes to transform civil defence force into formal military structure
The Kosovo Parliament voted almost unanimously on December 14 to begin the process of upgrading the country’s existing NATO/KFOR-trained paramilitary force, the Kosovo Security...
Analysis
Name Dispute: Independent Greeks on the rocks
The ratification process for the Prespes Agreement, signed by Greece and Macedonia/FYROM last June in attempt to resolve the Name Dispute between them, rolls...
Analysis
Name Dispute: Flaws in Prespes Agreement fuel new Greek firestorm
With the Prespes Agreement ratification steamroller moving almost inexorably forward in Macedonia/FYROM, public attention to the issue in Greece has refocused and the subject...
Analysis
Hungary grants former Macedonia/FYROM PM Gruevski asylum
The flight of former Macedonia/FYROM Prime Minister Hungary Nikola Gruevski to Hungary took on wider implications as Budapest reportedly granted Gruevski’s asylum request. In...
Albania
FYROM's nationalist former prime minister on the run
By far the most interesting development related to the Name Dispute between Greece and Macedonia/FYROM this week was the departure in stealth mode of...
Archive
Name Dispute: Work progresses on Prespes Agreement implementation
With Greece currently distracted by a wide range of political issues and debates, legislators in Skopje are hard at work debating the constitutional amendments...
Archive
Name Dispute: Zaev scores stunning victory from failed referendum
In a late-night vote October 19th, Macedonia/FYROM Prime Minister Zoran Zaev collected the required 80 yes votes, or a 2/3 majority, to approve the...
Archive
Name Dispute: Greece’s odd couple stays the course
The fate of the yet-unratified Prespes Agreement, signed last June as the vehicle for resolving the so-called Name Dispute between Greece and Macedonia/FYROM, was...
Archive
Name Dispute: Questions raised over Greek commitment to Prespes Agreement
Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos displayed to his American interlocutors a total lack of policy coordination within his country’s coalition government when he proposed...
Archive
Greek Defence Minister proposes new Balkan alliance and US base offers
Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos used a scheduled Washington visit and meetings on October 9 to drop two headline-grabbing proposals. He first proposed the creation...
Analysis
Name Dispute: Taking stock in Skopje after the disappointing referendum
Shockwaves continue from the low turnout in the referendum in Macedonia/FYROM, which had been hoped to approve June’s Prespes Agreement settling the Name Dispute...
Analysis
Name Dispute: Referendum results wound two Balkan leaders
Zero hour has passed in the Name Dispute.
Surprisingly low turnout for the September 30 referendum in Macedonia/FYROM to approve June’s Prespes Agreement settling the...
Analysis
Zero hour for Name Dispute
In the run-up to Macedonia/FYROM’s referendum on settling its three-decade-old Name Dispute with neighbouring Greece, the rival parties involved in the vote made impassioned...
Analysis
Name Dispute: Parade of stars to Skopje continues as referendum approaches
A wave of important visitors before the September 30 referendum on the Prespes Agreement -- which aims to settle the Name Dispute between Greece...
Analysis
Name Dispute: Leaders line up to support “Yes” vote in September 30 referendum
A flood of important visitors has hit Skopje, and this is continuing, clearly part of a coordinated work program to “save the referendum” by...
China
A revived role for the US in Northern Greece requires dynamic action and focus
As a former US diplomat who served as Consul General in Thessaloniki, it’s impossible not to become a lifelong booster of the Thessaloniki International...
Analysis
Greece’s Thessaloniki International Fair focuses on the American factor
The Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) has for 83 years marked the traditional high point of the Greek economic calendar and forms the venue for...
Archive
WikiLeaks revelations propel Name Dispute issue back to center stage
The Prespes Agreement - the latest attempt to end the quarter-century-long Name Dispute between Greece and its neighbour FYROM/Macedonia by renaming the latter 'the Republic of North...
Archive
Trump-Erdogan spat, Iran sanctions, Maduro’s Venezuela could spike oil prices
Growing tensions between the United States and Turkey, fresh US sanctions against Iran, and falling oil production in Venezuela have increased the possibility of...
Archive
Name Dispute: A week for summitry and skullduggery
In the context of the shrill NATO-US debate over President Donald J. Trump’s demands for higher European defence spending, the situation involving the potential...
Archive
Trump vs Nord Stream-2
At an early breakfast meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels on July 11, US President Donald J. Trump launched an attack on the...
Archive
Name Dispute: Prespes Agreement reaction destabilises Greek political scene
In Greece, the furore over the Prespes Agreement that was intended to resolve the Name Dispute between Greece and Macedonia/FYROM continues to grow, and...
Archive
Name Dispute: Furious reaction to Prespes Agreement expands
Strong public and political reactions have continued throughout Greece following the June 17 signature of the Prespes Agreement that was intended to resolve the...
Archive
Name Dispute: Rough sailing for ratification procedures despite quick work in Skopje
The Parliament in Skopje quickly ratified the historic June 17 Prespes Agreement resolving the Name Dispute with Greece, but the required steps to get...
Archive
With the signing over, the long battle for ratifying the Name Dispute agreement begins
Greece’s ruling coalition survived a no-confidence motion on June 16, which was followed the next day with the signature of a bilateral agreement formally...
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