ATHENS

Greece on Monday highlighted the need for fair sharing within the European Union of the bloc's migration burden.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Athens with visiting French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne, Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said: “We highlight the need for a fair sharing of burdens, within the framework of the (EU) Pact on Migration and Asylum. “

“At the same time, we need to address the external dimension of migration and coordinate our actions to combat the networks of traffickers who exploit people's need and pain,” he added.

Against this background, Gerapetritis added that he and Sejourne discussed the coordination of French and Greek actions on the pact.

On the war in Gaza, which is approaching its first anniversary, he said: “We discussed the situation in the Middle East and the need for an immediate cease-fire to prevent further humanitarian catastrophe and stop the crisis from spreading further.”

Maintaining that Greece, like France, continue to support EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, Gerapetritis peculiarly pointed out to Northern Macedonia, which he said should be in full compliance with the 2018 Prespa Agreement, under which it added the word “northern” to its official name.

“I repeat that, as an international treaty, it has a mandatory character, binds the contracting parties and creates obligations, which must be respected to the fullest,” he said.

On June 28, Greece accused North Macedonia of backtracking following President Gordana Siljanovska writing on social media that she had met a delegation of ethnic Macedonians from “Aegean Macedonia,” in reference to Greece's northern region of Macedonia.

The Prespa Agreement saw the renaming of Macedonia to North Macedonia and paved the way for its membership in NATO.