Skopje has resolved a festering dispute with Athens over the name of the Balkan nation that emerged following the disintegration of Yugoslavia. The landmark agreement signed with Greece this month, to rechristen Macedonia as the Republic of North Macedonia, opens the doors for its admission, long vetoed by Greece, to the principal Western economic and security blocs. The two governments have locked horns on the issue for nearly 30 years, ever since the independent Slav state proclaimed itself the Republic of Macedonia in 1991. Greece refused to accept this, as one of its own provinces goes by that evocative name. More than 100 countries in the United Nations — including the United States, Russia and China — have recognised the country’s official name. But Greece has so far insisted on referring to its northern neighbour as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), as per a UN-negotiated interim arrangement. According to the agreement signed this month, the Republic of North Macedonia will be the name used in Skopje’s dealings with other countries too. Many attempts to break the deadlock had failed earlier, including a Macedonian offer to change its name in exchange for handsome financial aid and investment. It did not help that Greek apprehensions were heightened when the port city of Thessaloniki, the capital of Greek Macedonia, was depicted on the maps of the new republic. Matters also heated up with the erection of a grand statue closely resembling Alexander the Great in the central district of Skopje, as Greeks resist any signal that the Slav republic may be laying claim to their ancient civilisation.
A more diplomatically ticklish issue was Greece’s insistence on a constitutional amendment to clarify that Skopje had no territorial right over the Greek region. Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev held that such changes were in the realm of domestic law, and that in any case these can always be reversed by a future government. Among the concessions the Macedonian government has made in recent months is to change the name of the Alexander the Great airport to Skopje International. It has also renamed a motorway named after Alexander. It has not been easy for Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras either — he survived a vote of no confidence on the issue last week, and is still to secure parliamentary ratification without support from his nationalist coalition partner. His counterpart in Skopje similarly faces the awkward prospect of the President rejecting the deal, besides having to win a popular referendum. But none of these hurdles is insurmountable. The resolution of the dispute now clears the way for talks on the Republic of North Macedonia’s membership of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
