FYROM’s Journalists Condemn President Statement

FYROM’s Journalist’s Association, ZNM, condemned President Georgi Ivanov’s recent attack on local journalists, accusing him of attempting to ”discipline” journalists.

 

Photo @ Wikipedia.org

Ivanov had earlier accused journalists of spreading speculations regarding the on-going name spat with Greece, that Athens could use to their advantage.

“This is an attempt to discipline journalists,” ZNM said. The association said Ivanov is not the first state official who has divided journalists into two groups, patriots and traitors.

The president’s cabinet was quick to denounce the accusations, saying Ivanov was misunderstood, but noted that the president continues to stand behind his comment that Greece is using journalists’ reports to build its case against FYROM at the International Court of Justice, ICJ.  “I hear many of the arguments will be from our journalists who gave statements, spread speculations and gave false information, which the Greek side is using to their advantage,” Ivanov stated on Tuesday.

Skopje last year brought its dispute with Athens to the ICJ, accusing Greece of breaching the 1995 UN Interim Accord over Macedonia’s name by blocking its accession it to NATO. Under the accord, Greece agreed that it would no longer block FYROM’s accession into international organisations as long as it entered these organisations under the name the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

However Athens insists that Skopje breached the accord well before it blocked the country’s accession into NATO.

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