Macedonia Agrees to Change Its Name to Resolve Dispute With Greece

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/world/europe/macedonia-greece-name-dispute.html

 ATHENS  — Macedonia agreed to change its name to resolve a decades-old dispute  with Greece, the two countries said on Tuesday, and Greece said it would  drop its objection to the neighboring country’s entry into the European  Union and NATO if the changes are formally adopted.Greece’s  prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, said the country’s new name will be  Severna Makedonija or Republic of North Macedonia. Greece had long  opposed the name “Macedonia,” saying it implied territorial aspirations  over a northern Greek region of the same name.“I  am deeply convinced that the agreement is a diplomatic success and a  historic opportunity,” Mr. Tsipras said. He called it a “historic moment  for the Balkans and our nations” and said it “opens a window to  solidarity, friendship, cooperation, prosperity and mutual growth.”Greece,  which has blocked Macedonia from joining NATO and the European Union,  said the deal will pave the neighboring country’s way into the two  alliances as long as it follows through and formally adopts the name  change.“We  said ‘yes’ to Macedonia’s future. And that future lies within E.U. and  NATO,” Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said in a speech to his  nation. “The chance is here and it must be taken, boldly and  patriotically,” he added. “We are solving a dispute that lasted 25  years,” one that has been “holding us down from prosperity.”
The  agreement was the culmination of many years of United Nations-mediated  negotiations that had intensified in the past six months. In recent  weeks, the talks edged forward amid hopes by Western governments that a  breakthrough would allow Macedonia to join the international alliances  and would stabilize the western Balkans.You have 4 free articles remaining.Subscribe to The TimesMr.  Tsipras told President Prokopis Pavlopoulos of Greece about the  agreement in a televised exchange after speaking by telephone with Mr.  Zaev. It was the second call in two days.The European foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, and its enlargement commissioner, Johannes Hahn, issued a joint statement calling it a “historic agreement” that “contributes to the transformation of the entire region.”Matthew Nimetz, the United Nations mediator in the dispute for more than 25 years, also welcomed the deal.

EDITORS’ PICKS

Summer Reading Picks for Every Taste and Topic

Speaking, Not Sexually, With Dr. Ruth at 90

Origins of Opioid Plague: Drug Maker Knew of Wide Abuse

“I  have no doubt this agreement will lead to a period of enhanced  relations between the two neighboring countries and especially between  their people,” he said.Mr. Tsipras  said that the new name would be used both domestically and  internationally and that Macedonia would change its Constitution to  reflect the changes — two key demands by Athens.The  new name offers a “clear distinction” between the Greek region and the  neighboring country, Mr. Tsipras said. Apart from the name change, the  deal also stipulates that the neighboring country “can claim no relation  to the ancient Greek civilization of Macedonia,” he added.The  deal is far from watertight. Mr. Zaev has promised to put it to a  referendum, probably in September, and it must be approved by the  parliaments of both countries.Objections by the political opposition in both countries could also pose obstacles.Mr.  Tsipras’s coalition partner Panos Kammenos, who is also Greece’s  defense minister, reiterated on Tuesday his party’s opposition to a deal  that includes the name Macedonia. He said his party, the right-wing  Independent Greeks, would not back such an agreement in Parliament, and  he threatened to eject any lawmakers who stray from the party line.Greek  opposition parties have also expressed concerns about the deal. The  leader of the conservative New Democracy party, Kyriakos Mitsotakis,  asked to see the Greek president on Tuesday to express worries about the  government’s handling of the negotiations.He  called on Mr. Tsipras not to sign what he called a bad agreement which  includes “unacceptable national concessions” and would divide Greeks.The developments came a week after thousands of Greeks took to the streets in cities across the country to protest a compromise in the Macedonia name talks, which some see as a potential threat to Greek territory. There have been protests, too, in the capital of Macedonia, Skopje, where many see Greek demands as unreasonable.In Greece, the Macedonia dispute touches on issues of identity, culture and history.The  Greek region of Macedonia was the center of the kingdom of Alexander  the Great, the ancient Greek warrior king. The region was carved up  after the Balkan wars in the early 20th century following decades of  fighting among Turks, Greeks, Serbs and Bulgarians. About half the  territory became part of Greece, with most of the rest going to Serbia  and Bulgaria.Slavs who identify  themselves as ethnic Macedonians had long pressed for a separate state.  Greek fears about a renewed territorial threat resurfaced with the  breakup of Yugoslavia and have resurged in recent weeks as leaders in  Athens and Skopje negotiated a deal.News  of an agreement fueled feverish commentary on social media in Greece.  Some accused the government of selling out and betraying the country,  while a few expressed relief that the resolution of a longstanding and  bitter dispute might be within reach. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Severna_Makedonija/