Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has received major backlash after referring to Thessaloniki’s Airport as “Mikra” instead of its official name of “Makedonia” during his speech overnight in Skopje.
Thessaloniki’s airport was referred to as "Mikras airport" until 1992 when it was officially renamed Thessaloniki Airport "Makedonia."
Government officials have come to Tsipras defense, telling iefimerida.gr that Tsipras was referring to Thessaloniki's military airport, not the international airport.
The Greek PM said Greece is willing to take over "military airforce duties in the region of North Macedonia,” with officials adding he was speaking about the agreement between the civil aviation services of the two countries when he mentioned "Mikra airport in Thessaloniki".
During the speech, Tsipras said: "The military assistance we will give to educate the military personnel of North Macedonia, and the technical assistance we will give them through the high-tech radar that we have at Mikra airport in Thessaloniki, to be able to provide significant technical support in the field of flight safety."
Tsipras' statement can be heard in the video here at around the 51:40 mark-