Ageler: We will help the new government in Skopje deal with malign Russian influence

The US Ambassador to Skopje, Angela Ageler, has welcomed the decision of Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and the new ministers to take the oath with the new constitutional name. This decision comes after President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova was sworn in to use the country’s old name “Macedonia”, which provoked strong reactions from Greece for violating the Prespa Agreement, a document that settled the name issue between the two countries and lifted the Greek veto on the Euro-Atlantic integration process. The new government composition is expected to be voted in parliament on Saturday and consists of the right-wing political spectrum VMRO-DPMNE, VLEN and ZNAM.

“There are differences in the Prespa agreement – the use of the formal constitutional name and the colloquial use.” I know many lawyers on all sides who have watched this closely … We’re not the ones writing it, they’re paying attention to the outcome, I’m honest, the US wants to show respect The Prespa Agreement. As I said, we welcomed the new Prime Minister’s decision to use the constitutional name at the swearing-in ceremony. “We hope that all ministers will follow suit and then move on to the next important meetings, where they will discuss topics such as support for Ukraine, the country’s economy, energy and other important issues,” Ageler said.

In an interview for the Macedonian-language portal “360 Grad”, she also spoke about Russian influence in North Macedonia and promised the new government support in preventing malicious Russian influence.

“It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where this influence comes from. But of course it is there and we are all aware of it. It may not be as present here in North Macedonia as it is in other countries in the region. But of course we are aware of it and there is always the possibility of even more malicious influence from the Russians. “We are aware of that and we will continue to share the information we have about these efforts with the next government, as we did with the previous government,” Ageler said.

She said she expected North Macedonia’s assistance to Ukraine to continue with the arrival of the new government.

“They have told me that they will. I look forward to these talks with the next defense minister and other members of the government. It is vitally important… The president was at the conference on aid to Ukraine and this is clearly a priority for the United States and will be one of the most important issues at the NATO summit in Washington next month,” he said. Ageler.

On the nomination of Ivan Stoilkovic as Minister or Deputy Prime Minister, the political leader of a party of ethnic Serbs from RMV, which is in coalition with VMRO-DPMNE and is openly pro-Russian, Ambassador Ageler replied: “I did not do that.” I had heard of the person until I heard about the nomination the day before. I never met him. Since then, I have read some of the things he has said. I find it shocking and frankly reprehensible. But I don’t see a pattern of action. There seems to be a long string of very regrettable and offensive comments, statements and posts … But I can say that we will be watching this closely.”

/The Geopost