Greece needs to accept this new reality called "The Republic of Macedonia", where Macedonians live and speak Macedonian. The Greeks are still living with a view from the 19th century: they have created this myth of their existence, from a time when you couldn't check the facts, when there was no Internet, and they are still trapped by this perception that they have created themselves - Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov  said in an interview with Euronews, when asked about his message to Athens to break the deadlock and to prevent further blockades of Macedonia's EU and NATO integration.

President Ivanov said he expected the new government in Greece to respect the reality and to be open for cooperation.

"There is cooperation in business, culture, and arts. Artists, musicians and students exchange ideas. But there has been no meeting between political parties nor between the presidents over the last 20 years, even though I've sent four invitations to the (Greek) President. We expect that with the elections in Greece leaders will emerge who will respect the new reality, both in terms of Macedonia and also in terms of other neighbours. And finally we expect that Greece will take its leading position in the region again," Ivanov stated.

Asked how he perceived the fact that in Skopje huge statues of ancient warriors and heroes were being built, which was seen by Athens as "an unfriendly act", Ivanov said it represented a preservation of the cultural heritage.

"We are a UNESCO member state and that obliges us to preserve, nurture and cherish the entire cultural heritage found on our land. It’s not our fault that there is so much history in our region," the President responded.

Asked to comment recent inter-ethnic tensions in Macedonia, he said that those were isolated cases and that Macedonia had managed to solve these issues related to "mixing political and ethnic background."

"Macedonia is a model of inclusion of all differences and diversities in society. Macedonia, compared to other countries in the region, has managed to implement a real level of integration. There is a problem when politics concentrate on ethnicity, because some individuals try to mobilize voters by abusing the public arena. But Macedonia managed to survive all the problems linked to the ethnicity in politics. Those isolated, individual cases of tensions can not be generalized," says Ivanov.

Rising tensions and violence, according to the President, have taken place prior to the NATO summit in Chicago, which "is often the case before such gatherings."

"Some people don’t want a stabilised Balkans. There are still politicians in the Balkans who are slaves to the perceptions of the past."

Asked whether the 2001 war conflict in Macedonia could be repeated given the recent ethnic tensions, President Ivanov responded:  "There is a description of the Balkans as a powder-keg. But, this keg has never been lit here in our southern part of the Balkans.