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The Prespa Agreement between Greece and North Macedonia, signed in June 2018, although hailed as a major breakthrough for peace and stability in the Balkans, prompted strong political and societal reactions in both countries. In Greece, the left-wing SYRIZA government led by Alexis Tsipras faced strong opposition of almost all other political parties, and risked being overthrown by its coalition partner, the nationalist right-wing ANEL. Both the conservative New Democracy (ND) and the centrist KINAL vigorously denounced the Prespa Agreement, even though they had been in favour of a compound name solution in the previous years. In addition, the heated ethnocentric rhetoric of several smaller far-right parties contributed to the culmination of ultra-nationalist reactions and to the organisation of massive protest rallies. Thus, from early 2018, when the negotiations started, until the ratification of the Prespa Agreement by the Greek Parliament in January 2019, the Macedonian issue dominated the Greek political debate, causing strong polarisation between the two bigger parties (SYRIZA and ND) in the period leading to the 2019 triple elections and contributing to ND’s victory. This chapter will focus on the two rival discursive strategies in favour and against the Agreement and on the party choices that reflected the growing political polarisation. The analysis will draw on the corpus of parliamentary debates and political statements, as well as on media reports and social media posts by political parties and politicians during the period December 2017–July 2019.

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The Nation Under Threat. Greek Political Debate on the Prespa Agreement: Polarisation and Realignment

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Athena Skoulariki

摘要

The Prespa Agreement between Greece and North Macedonia, signed in June 2018, although hailed as a major breakthrough for peace and stability in the Balkans, prompted strong political and societal reactions in both countries. In Greece, the left-wing SYRIZA government led by Alexis Tsipras faced strong opposition of almost all other political parties, and risked being overthrown by its coalition partner, the nationalist right-wing ANEL. Both the conservative New Democracy (ND) and the centrist KINAL vigorously denounced the Prespa Agreement, even though they had been in favour of a compound name solution in the previous years. In addition, the heated ethnocentric rhetoric of several smaller far-right parties contributed to the culmination of ultra-nationalist reactions and to the organisation of massive protest rallies. Thus, from early 2018, when the negotiations started, until the ratification of the Prespa Agreement by the Greek Parliament in January 2019, the Macedonian issue dominated the Greek political debate, causing strong polarisation between the two bigger parties (SYRIZA and ND) in the period leading to the 2019 triple elections and contributing to ND’s victory. This chapter will focus on the two rival discursive strategies in favour and against the Agreement and on the party choices that reflected the growing political polarisation. The analysis will draw on the corpus of parliamentary debates and political statements, as well as on media reports and social media posts by political parties and politicians during the period December 2017–July 2019.