Under the chairmanship of the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sia Anagnostopoulou, a meeting was held today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, regarding the border station at Laimos in the Prespa Municipality.
The meeting was attended by the coordinator of the Decentralized Administration of Epirus - Western Macedonia, Vasileios Michelakis, the Environment, Energy and Transport Deputy Head of Western Macedonia, Konstantinos Gerou, and the Mayor of Prespa, Panagiotis Paschalidis as well as representatives of co-competent ministries.
"I am pleased that the importance of the Prespa Agreement for the local community is becoming obvious," the Alternate Minister noted, while she also called on "each co-competent agency to do in the best possible way whatever must be done to facilitate the implementation of the Agreement regarding the border station". The Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs informed the participants that the agreement between Greece and Northern Macedonia regarding the establishment of a border crossing point in the Prespa Lake area will be ratified by the Greek Parliament next week, and will be followed by the adoption of a Joint Ministerial Decision and a relevant Presidential Decree.
During the meeting, it was stressed that the creation of a border station in the region is a long-standing demand of the local Prespa society, which is supported by the Prespa Municipality and the Regional Unit of Western Macedonia, with a view to improving the wider region, and promoting sustainable tourism development.
Participants presented the progress of studies (road connections, building facilities for police and customs authorities, etc.) while a proposal to join the European program INTERREG was also discussed.
As stipulated by the agreement, within 30 days of its ratification, a Joint Committee of Experts, consisting of representatives from Greece and North Macedonia, will be set up to implement the agreement.
March 27, 2019