Greece is reportedly preparing to take stringent measures against North Macedonia, including freezing chapters in North Macedonia's pending EU negotiations and potentially blocking the use of EU funds for the country. 

This move comes after Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis hinted at an undisclosed "secret weapon" to punish North Macedonia for allegedly not respecting the Prespa name agreement.

The Prespa Agreement, which was signed in 2018, requires North Macedonia to use its constitutional name in both domestic and international contexts. However, the recent actions of North Macedonia’s new leadership, including new Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, have sparked concerns in Athens. Both leaders have been referring to the country as "Macedonia" internally.

Despite this, Mickoski has stated that he will use the constitutional name North Macedonia internationally to respect the constitution and focus on securing EU membership.

The Greek newspaper Capital.gr reports, according to North Macedonia’s 24.mk portal, that Greece is contemplating freezing the next chapters in North Macedonia’s EU accession talks, which would establish a direct blockade of its European integration path.

This would be in addition to the existing blockade from Bulgaria. However, Capital suggests that the most significant impact would result from halting the flow of European money to Skopje, causing considerable economic strain on North Macedonia.

"The economic suffocation that will be caused to the neighbouring country if Greece pulls the handbrake on the EU funds that would be directed to Skopje is probably not something of lesser importance for North Macedonia," noted Capital.

In Athens, Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Gerapetritis briefed political leaders and representatives of parliamentary parties on various foreign policy issues, including the situation with North Macedonia, Greek-Turkish relations, and the Cyprus issue. 

Mickoski has responded to the situation by stating that he will take a different approach from previous politicians. According to the Macedonian government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, neither the prime minister nor other ministers have violated the Prespa Agreement.

On the other hand, Mickoski, in his interviews, argued that Greece has not yet fully implemented the Prespa Agreement.