RUSSIA MAY BLOCK NAME CHANGES IN THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL: The will of the people of Macedonia must be respected!

On September 30, the Republic of Macedonia held a referendum on the Prespa Agreement, which envisions changing the country’s name in Northern Macedonia. The turnout of 36.8 percent means that the referendum cannot be recognized as valid (the turnout must be at least 50 percent). It is clear that Macedonian voters chose to boycott solutions imposed on Skopje and Athens on the outside – because leading politicians from NATO and EU member states directly participated in this major propaganda campaign, freely interfering in the internal affairs of this Balkan state.

Despite the fact that two-thirds of the Macedonian population did not vote in favour of the Prespa Agreement, the results of the vote were immediately welcomed by EU and NATO leaders, as well as from Washington. The desire to secure and accelerate Skopje’s NATO accession is evident, despite the will of the people of Macedonia.

Our principled stance remains the same: the long-term solution can only be negotiated by both parties independently, without any external interference, and only within the framework of the law and with broad public support. The Prespa Agreement clearly does not meet these criteria. It is not in accordance with international law and the Constitution of Macedonia, which has been repeatedly pointed out by Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov, including the UN General Assembly.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia closely monitors the development of this situation. We are starting from the fact that according to paragraph 3 of UN Security Council Resolution 845, the results of the talks between Skopje and Athens will be discussed at the UN Security Council, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

– by the Information and Press Department on the results of Macedonia’s referendum

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