This article is more than 6 months old

This article is more than 6 months old

After almost three decades of diplomatic dispute, punctuated by high drama with Greece, a new state called North Macedonia has finally assumed its place on the map of western Balkan nations.

The freshly named country celebrated the event with a flag-raising ceremony marking its prospective – and long-awaited – accession to Nato. Under cloudy skies, the military alliance’s distinctive flag was hoisted outside the main government building in Skopje, the former Yugoslav republic’s capital.

Addressing assembled dignitaries in front of the building where workers were poised to replace a Republic of Macedonia sign removed earlier in the week with the state’s new name, prime minister Zoran Zaev luxuriated in the moment, saying a “historic goal” had been achieved.

“Long live the Republic of North Macedonia,” the social democrat leader tweeted.

As a result of its new name, North Macedonia could finally join Nato – a long-held dream for the small, multi-ethnic country which only narrowly escaped civil war in 2001.

Зоран Заев (@Zoran_Zaev) Иднината веќе не ни е судбина. Успеавме! Нашата татковина е на вистинскиот пат. Стануваме 30-тата полноправна членка на #NATO. Стануваме безбедна земја. Ова е нова страница во нашата историја.



Да живее Република Северна Македонија! 🇲🇰#WeAreNATO pic.twitter.com/TiddOlloUa

Athens had blocked Skopje’s membership of the alliance arguing its northern neighbour’s use of the name without geographic qualification amounted to theft of its own history, identity and cultural heritage.

The Greek province of Macedonia, abutting the tiny republic, has long been associated with Alexander the Great, the most famous Macedonian of all. Successive Greek governments had insisted the landlocked state’s determination to be known as Macedonia implied territorial ambitions against the Greek region.

Under the landmark pact struck last year between Zaev and his leftwing counterpart in Athens, Alexis Tsipras, Greek MPs became the first Nato member parliament on Friday to pass a protocol agreement paving the way to North Macedonia’s entry into the alliance.

The strategic Balkan state will become Nato’s 30th member once ratified by other signatories – a prospect slammed by Russia which regards the Balkans as a traditional sphere of influence.

In a last move that effectively crossed the rubicon, the Greek government sent a diplomatic note late on Wednesday informing Skopje that, with passage of the historic accord and Nato protocol, it had officially fulfilled its side of the deal.

Thousands of Greeks protest over name change for Macedonia Read more

With the United Nations poised to be informed of the name change, Macedonian authorities will have five years to alter the country’s name both domestically and internationally but, as in Greece where the compromise accord ignited fierce protests, opposition has been intense.

“Everything from official documents to passports will be changed,” said Athens’ deputy foreign minister, George Katrougalos, noting that over 1,000 signs with the republic’s new name had been ordered.

One of the first appellations to be altered will be at the border crossing North Macedonia shares with its neighbour to the south.

“There will be changes on our side, too, but nothing like the challenge faced by them,” the Greek foreign ministry’s spokesman, Alexandros Yennimatas, told the Guardian. “A circular has been sent to [our] public and local administration informing them to adopt the new name.”

Implementation will not be easy. Many Macedonians feel humiliated by the compromise with 60% failing to vote on the issue when put to referendum in September. Opponents have been incited to take to the streets and deface signs bearing the republic’s new moniker by the nationalist VMRO main opposition party.

Within an hour of Skopje receiving the notice from Athens, Nikola Dimitrov, the republic’s foreign affairs minister, tweeted: “May today be the beginning of a long friendship between Greece and North Macedonia. We can’t change our past, but we can and we will shape our future of friendship, partnership and cooperation.”</s>Macedonia has formally renamed itself to North Macedonia, in line with an agreement struck with Greece, the government in Skopje said on Tuesday.

"The conditions for the entry into force of amendments of the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia... are met. They come into force today, on February 12, 2019 with a corresponding announcement by the government in the Official Gazette," the government said in a statement.

Skopje will notify the United Nations about the name change in the coming days, when the use of it will start worldwide, according to a foreign ministry spokeswoman.

Since 1991, Athens had objected to its neighbor being called Macedonia because Greece has a historic northern province of the same name. Greece has blocked Macedonia's NATO and EU integration until it changed the name.

The two sides ended their 27-year dispute when they reached an agreement in June to add "North" to Macedonia.

Last week, NATO allies have signed an accession protocol with Macedonia, taking a key step toward the Balkan state becoming its 30th member.

Earlier on Tuesday, Macedonia raised a NATO flag at its main government building, as members of the alliance continued to ratify the country's accession agreement.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, speaking at a ceremony in the capital Skopje, said Macedonia had achieved a "historic goal" in being accepted into NATO under its new name, North Macedonia.</s>Macedonian officials on Wednesday symbolically installed at the main border crossing with Greece the first sign showing the new name of the country after a decades-long dispute between the neighboring nations was resolved.

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) has officially changed its name to the Republic of North Macedonia, a move that makes a distinction between the country and a region in northern Greece, also known as Macedonia.</s>The small Balkan country of Macedonia officially changed its name Tuesday by adding a geographic designation that ends a decades-old dispute with neighboring Greece and secures its entry into NATO.

A government press release said the young country now is formally called the Republic of North Macedonia. A series of practical adjustments -- ranging from new road signs to updated passports and currency -- will be made gradually, and started with the government website late Tuesday.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said his country would press ahead with all the changes needed to fulfill its end of the historic deal he reached with the prime minister of Greece last year.

"At the end of the day we must show that we are implementing our part of the obligations," he said. "I believe that all institutions are ready to act."

Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov said the move followed a final exchange of diplomatic notes with Greece.

"May today be the beginning of a long friendship between Greece and North Macedonia," he said in a tweet. "We can't change our past, but we can and we will shape our future of friendship, partnership and cooperation."

The name change resolves a dispute with Greece dating back to Macedonia's declaration of independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

Athens had long argued that its small, landlocked neighbor's name implied claims on the northern Greek province of Macedonia, and on ancient Greek cultural heritage.

Although more than 130 countries formally had recognized the country as Macedonia, the United Nations and other international bodies used the "Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia," the cumbersome moniker Greece and Macedonia settled on for an interim accord in 1995.

A breakthrough in their name dispute came last summer when Zaev and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed to a compromise under which Greece also lifted its objections to Macedonia joining NATO and the European Union.

Despite opposition on either side of the border, the deal was ratified by both parliaments.

North Macedonia's deputy foreign minister, Andrej Zernovski, told local Telma TV that authorities would change, within three days, road signs at border crossings, airports and customs checkpoints.

Within four months, the Interior Ministry will start issuing new car license plates with the abbreviation NMK, while new passports will be issued at the end of this year, Zernovski said.

The country plans to give the U.N. and its member states formal notice of the name change within days, he said.

A government press release said that changes will also be made to notice boards at airports, while the country's central bank will draft plans for replacing the circulating currency with the old one-word name.

Earlier Tuesday, Macedonia raised a NATO flag at its main government building, as more member nations approved making it the alliance's 30th member.

Speaking at a ceremony in the capital of Skopje, Zaev said the country had achieved a "historic goal" in being accepted into NATO.

All of NATO's 29 current members must ratify the accession agreement. Slovenia on Tuesday became the second country to do so after Greece, which made the move last week.</s>The United Nations has confirmed that it has been officially informed by the Macedonian government that the country's new name is North Macedonia.

At the United Nations, the country had been known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia because Greece objected to the use of Macedonia, the name used for its own northern region.

The UN announcement on February 13 came after Macedonia's government on February 12 said the country was officially renamed the Republic of North Macedonia, under a landmark agreement to normalize relations with Greece that also allows Macedonia to enter NATO.

The name change resolves a dispute with neighboring Greece that has gone back decades.

 

 However, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev were able to push through their accord last year as part of efforts to normalize relations.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, and dpa</s>ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The Latest on Greece-Macedonia relations (all times local): 10 p.m. Greece’s parliament has approved a measure for Macedonia to join NATO, ending a decades-old dispute. Lawmakers late Friday voted 153-140 to…

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The Latest on Greece-Macedonia relations (all times local):

Greece’s parliament has approved a measure for Macedonia to join NATO, ending a decades-old dispute.

Lawmakers late Friday voted 153-140 to back the NATO protocol that must now also be approved by all other alliance members.

The Greek vote means the former Yugoslav republic will now formally change its name to North Macedonia, settling a dispute of the country’s name which Greece’s saw as a potential threat to its own northern region of Macedonia. Greek opposition parties said the agreement made too many concessions to Macedonia.

Greek lawmakers are set to approve Macedonia’s NATO accession, ending a process to normalize relations between the two neighbors and anchor the country — renamed North Macedonia — firmly within the western sphere of influence.

Greek opposition parties reject the move, arguing that the name deal, which will end a 27-year dispute, concedes too much to Macedonia. But the left-led government in Athens controls enough seats in parliament to win the vote, expected late Friday.

Greece and the former Yugoslav province — independent since 1991 — struck the historic agreement last summer. Despite strong misgivings from opposition parties and public opinion, both ratified it in parliament.

Greek approval of Macedonia’s NATO accession bid is the final step in the deal. Macedonia will then formally implement the name change.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>The United Nations confirmed on Wednesday that it has been officially informed by the Macedonian government that the country's new name is North Macedonia.

At the United Nations, the country had been known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) because Greece objected to the use of Macedonia, the name used for its own northern region.

The 27-year-old dispute was finally settled in June during UN-brokered talks.

The new name came into force Tuesday after constitutional changes were published in the Official Gazette and Skopje's foreign ministry said both countries had informed the UN by letter that the change is now in force.

A UN official said a notice would be sent to the General Assembly and the Security Council to inform them of the change.

Since 1991, Athens had objected to its neighbor being called Macedonia because Greece has a historic northern province of the same name. Greece has blocked Macedonia's NATO and EU integration until it changes the name.</s>SKOPJE, Macedonia — Macedonian authorities began Monday removing official signs from government buildings to prepare for the country’s new name: North Macedonia.

“Government of the Republic of Macedonia” signs were removed from the country’s main government building in the capital Skopje. Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev is scheduled to speak at ceremony Tuesday at the site, where organizers said the NATO flag is due to be raised.

Authorities well also preparing to replace signs at the country’s border with Greece.

The small Balkan country will change its name to North Macedonia after reaching a landmark agreement over the summer with neighbouring Greece, which has a neighbouring province called Macedonia.

Macedonia is due to become a NATO member now that Greece’s parliament approved a measure Friday that would allow the country to join the alliance. Greece had blocked Macedonia’s accession to NATO for more than a decade.

Macedonia will now publish the deal with Greece in its government gazette so that the agreement can take effect.

The Greek and Macedonian governments want to implement the deal swiftly, faced with strong opposition from their domestic political opponents and skeptical public opinion on both sides of the border. More than two-thirds of Greeks opposed the agreement, according to several recent opinion polls, while a referendum on the deal in Macedonia last year saw more than 60 per cent stay away from the vote.

“The government building has been left with no official sign — it’s an embarrassing action by the prime minister,” said Naum Stoilkovski, a spokesman for Macedonia’s conservative opposition party VMRO–DPMNE.

“The Republic of Macedonia has been dishonoured and disfigured.”

With a struggling $11 billion economy, Macedonia has craved stability since gaining independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, but its integration with other European countries was held back by its dispute with Greece and international tension about Macedonia’s future NATO membership, which is strongly opposed by Russia.

Boris Grdanoski in Gevgelija contributed to this report.</s>The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has formally renamed itself the Republic of North Macedonia, the government in Skopje said on Tuesday.

The amendment that changed the country's name became law with its publication in the official gazette, a month after the parliament approved the move.

North Macedonia also formally notified the United Nations about the name change, the government said.

The move ends a long-running dispute between North Macedonia and its southern neighbor, Greece, and has opened a path for Skopje to join the NATO military alliance and the European Union.

Read more: Macedonia: What's in a name?

Athens had blocked its northern neighbor from joining either bloc because it claimed "Macedonia" and the name's historical associations for one of its northern provinces.

Greece only allowed Skopje to join the UN in 1995 as the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia," a reference to the country's former membership of Yugoslavia.

Both countries' leftist governments eventually agreed on the compromise "North Macedonia" in June 2018 and won parliamentary approval in Skopje and Athens for the deal in January.

Greece has ratified an accession protocol that North Macedonia signed with all 29 members of NATO last week. North Macedonia will formally join the alliance once all members ratify the accord.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.</s>SKOPJE (Reuters) - At the Bogorodica border crossing with Greece, Macedonian workers on Wednesday placed stencils on road signs bearing their country's official new name, the Republic of North Macedonia, making a first step in implementing a landmark deal with Athens.

Greece and Macedonia agreed on the new name last June and Athens lifted its 27-year veto on its tiny neighbour's efforts to join NATO and the European Union. Greece had said use of the name Macedonia implied a territorial claim on a northern Greek province of the same name.

"May today be the beginning of a long friendship between Greece and North Macedonia," Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov said in a tweet.

"We can’t change our past, but we can and we will shape our future of friendship, partnership and cooperation."

Under the provisions of the agreement with Athens, Macedonia's customs office must put stencils with the new name on road signs at all border crossings and also at the airports of Skopje and Ohrid within three days.

All plaques on offices must also be replaced within four months, while the Interior Ministry should start issuing new passports by the end of 2019. The central bank in Skopje will start issuing new banknotes by the beginning of 2020.

Last week, Macedonia signed an accession protocol with NATO despite Russian criticism that further expansion by the alliance in the Balkans would undermine regional stability.

The protocol must now be ratified by all allied governments, a process that typically takes about a year.

Under the deal with Greece, the country's previous official name 'The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia' passes into history, and with it the last vestiges of the now-defunct six-republic Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, which fell appart in a series of bloody wars in the 1990s.

Three other ex-Yugoslav republics - Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro - have already joined NATO, as have other countries in the Balkans including Albania, Bulgaria and Romania.

Of the six ex-Yugoslav republics, Serbia - which is militarily neutral and seeks close ties with both NATO and Russia - and Bosnia remain outside NATO.
The Republic of Macedonia officially changes its name to North Macedonia, ending a long-standing naming dispute with neighbouring Greece.