"It is my fundamental right how I want to call my country," Hristijan Mickoski, the leader of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE), the right-wing nationalist formation that won the legislative and presidential elections on May 8, told the 'media'.

"If Greece considers that we have violated the Prespa agreement, there is the International Court of Justice. They can initiate a procedure and we will present our arguments. I do not want that to happen," added Hristijan Mickoski.

The Greek Prime Minister, the conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis, did not react directly to the statements, but assured that the "road to Europe will remain closed" for North Macedonia if Skopje does not respect its commitments.

"If someone thinks that they can not respect their part of the [Prespa] agreement, they should know (...) that their road to Europe will remain closed," said Mitsotakis, during a trip to Veria, a Greek province in Macedonia, as part of the campaign for the European elections on June 9.

In 2018, Skopje concluded a historic agreement with Athens by accepting to add the geographical mention "of the North" to the country's name -- to distinguish it from the Greek province of Macedonia -- and to end a prolonged dispute with its neighbor, which for this reason blocked the small Balkan country's accession to NATO and the accession negotiations to the European Union (EU).

Signed by the then Macedonian social-democratic government and the left-wing executive in Greece led by Syriza, this agreement allowed North Macedonia to join NATO in 2020.

The prolonged dispute, which was considered settled, was reopened last Sunday when the new President of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, used the name "Macedonia" during the swearing-in session, in contradiction with the text that she should have pronounced.

Mitsotakis considered this attitude as "provocative" and an "illegal and inadmissible initiative", assuring that Athens would not accept "such deviations".

Hristijan Mickoski pointed out that he recognized the reality of the country's official name, but would continue to use its old name in public initiatives.

"Let's end the threats, the obstructions, the setbacks. Let's look to the future. These are documents that are part of the legislation," he added.

VMRO-DPMNE won the recent legislative elections and secured 58 of the 120 seats in parliament, imposing a heavy defeat on the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), in power since 2017.

The return to power of the right-wing opposition in the small southern Balkan country, with 1.8 million inhabitants, also risks rekindling tensions with neighboring Bulgaria, which sets its own conditions for the progress of North Macedonia's EU accession negotiations.

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