Greek President Prokopis Pavolopoulos called on Macedonia to stop spreading irredentism, which, he said, undermines Macedonian's European path. Pavlopoulos made the remarks during a meeting with the Greek U-17 women's handball team which withdrew from a game against Macedonia, refusing to play because the Macedonian players had the word "Macedonia" on their shirts.
“True sportsmanship is not compatible with such crude forgery of history, which in fact carries irredentist aspirations, and which is in violation of international and European law”, said Pavlopoulos. The Greek President thanked the team for, as he said, “defending the nation"
