Putin says US wants to 'assert dominance' in Balkans as Macedonia changes nameVladimir Putin has weighed into the row over Macedonia’s name-change, accusing the US and its allies of destabilising the Balkans by “asserting their dominant role” in the region. Photograph: Orestis Panagiotou/EPATsipras is expected to win the motion, with officials telling the Guardian he would probably bring the Macedonia name-change accord to parliament immediately after. Athens has blocked Skopje’s entry to Nato and the EU in opposition to a name it has long argued implied territorial ambitions against Greece’s own province of Macedonia. On Wednesday, the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov also voiced concerns over perceived western meddling in the Balkans, saying Moscow had credible grounds to question the legitimacy of the process by which Macedonia had changed its name. Washington, he said, had decided to step up cooperation with Macedonia “to thwart malicious cyber activity that threatens both our democracies”.

Source: The Guardian January 16, 2019 13:41 UTC