There is a form of political audacity that no longer hides even behind pretenses. Former Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, in his recent interview on a nationwide channel, was not content with defending the Prespa Agreement for the umpteenth time. He climbed… to the podium and taught a lesson to those who consider it nationally detrimental . The architect of an agreement that deeply wounded the national conscience, instead of bowing his head, appears to be… teaching .
The method is old and transparent. It shifts the discussion from the essence to the details, hoping that no one will notice the central issue. It invokes that the term “Macedonian language” was already circulating in international forums during the Karamanlis governments. However, it intentionally omits a crucial difference. The existence of a term in some documents is one thing, and its official, bilaterally signed and internationally guaranteed acceptance by the Greek state itself is another. In Prespa, “a reality was not recorded,” as it likes to say. Political legitimacy was granted where none existed.
And he proceeds silently about the biggest trophy he gave to Skopje. For the first time in its history, Greece internationally recognized ” Macedonian ” nationality and citizenship . This is not a technical detail. It is the symbolic capital that the neighbors will cash in on for decades and the reason why a huge part of the people, especially in our Macedonia , continues to be justifiably angry.
But instead of even a sincere answer, Mr. Kotzias chooses irony and contempt. Anyone who disagrees with him is treated as ignorant , as graphic , as incapable of understanding the “fine print” . This is an attitude that directly offends the national sensitivity of millions of Greeks and insults them in cold blood.
The former Foreign Minister, instead of denouncing the systematic capitulation to Turkish provocations —an inertia that leaves Ankara to thrash around in the region by exploiting religious, economic and military ties— discovered that the fault lies in… the non-ratification of the cooperation memoranda. At the one and only point where some nuggets of dignity were saved, he finds fault. This is not analysis. It is a crude maneuver to save his personal prestige.
Let’s be clear. The problem is not Kotzias’ opinions . Everyone has the right to have opinions. The problem is the style. The style of a politician who does not appear regretful for a decision with a heavy national cost , but as an authority who demands applause . After the rallies, the objections of constitutionalists and diplomats, the roar of society and the ever- increasing audacity of the Skopje people , one would expect a little shame , a little restraint. Instead, he serves us arrogance.
History will judge the Prespa Agreement mercilessly . Until then, one thing is certain: political arrogance does not replace dialogue and does not buy out the judgment of citizens. And those who handed over elements of our identity to Skopje — nationality and language — long ago lost the moral right to stand today as honorees of those who criticize them.
MAXIMOS TH. KYPRIANOU
