Greek ex-PM Tsipras and North Macedonian PM Zaev nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Record ID: 1436132

  • Title: Greek ex-PM Tsipras and North Macedonian PM Zaev nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
  • Date: 10th October 2019
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) PROTESTER, SAYING: "There is only one Macedonia and it is Greek, we will not give it away to anyone. Macedonia is filled with the blood of Greek warriors, Macedonian warriors." PROTESTERS UNDER BANNER READING: (English) "RESPECT HISTORY PROTESTERS LARGE BANNER READING: (English) "MACEDONIA IS GREEK" PROTESTERS
  • Embargoed: 24th October 2019 14:15
  • Keywords: Greece North Macedonia agreement Tsipras Zaev
  • Location: PRESPES AND PELLA, GREECE
  • City: PRESPES AND PELLA, GREECE
  • Country: Greece
  • Reuters ID: LVA004B0IND53
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and North Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev have been nominated for the Nobel peace prize for resolving a 25 year old dispute over the name of the Balkan state.
    Greece and North Macedonia signed the accord in 2018 to rename the former Yugoslav republic to "Republic of North Macedonia," despite public opposition.
    The landmark accord followed decades of inconclusive talks which had soured relations between the two countries and held up the admission of the Balkan state into the EU and NATO, of which Greece is a member.
    Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said the agreement was a "historic step" to "heal the wounds of the past". Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said with the agreement "we truly moved mountains."
    Tsipras survived a no-confidence vote mounted by Greece's opposition in parliament on the deal, and the signing ceremony was preceded and followed by violent protests in Greece.
    Greece had been in dispute with Macedonia since 1991 over the former Yugoslav republic's name, arguing it could imply territorial claims over the Greek province of Macedonia and an appropriation of ancient Greek culture and civilisation. A majority of Greeks were against the agreement.
    Analysts said the agreement cost Tsipras votes at national polls in July, which he lost to conservative party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, but added it would be remembered as Tsipras' legacy.
    (Production: Vassilis Triandafyllou, Deborah Kyvrikosaios)
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