Greece's economy and development ministry announced in a report on Friday that Greece will protect the 'Macedonia' trademark for Greek products assuring that Skopje has ''not registered any trademark under the term 'Macedonia' on a European level.''
The report notes that Greece has registered 19 trademarks so far under the brand 'Macedonia, with the Economy and Development Minister and vice-president of the government, Yiannis Dragasakis, rebuking statements made by New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis which questioned the government's actions on the issue.
Dragasakis met with representatives of the Greek Exporters' Association and presented a report saying: "Last week, in meetings held with representatives of northern Greece producer agencies, the New Democracy leader made five commitments, which are based either on false data or are currently implemented by the ministry".
The ministry said that it has already announced the start of a communication campaign on the protection of the "Macedonia" brand, which will be financed with regional and national funds.
According to the ministry statement, the government makes it easier for enterprises to register trademarks for the protection of their products, not only on a national but on a European-wide level, a programme which began in 2018 offering subsidies of 2,000 and 8,000 euros. The report noted that Greek enterprises should seek to register more Macedonian products with EU authorities.
It stressed that the "Macedonia" brand for wines as a protected sign has been registered with the E-Bacchus official community base and covers Greek wines from the geographical area of Macedonia. Similar protection has been registered for Macedonian Tsipouro and Macedonian Ouzo.
The report stressed that a ministerial decision was expected to be issued soon, automatically offering the "GR" sign to all products by Macedonian enterprises that have registered the Macedonia trademark, while it added that Greece could veto the neighbouring country's road towards the European Union as long as Greek national interests were not protected or until all problems related to Macedonian products were resolved.
