Building Bridges or a Bridge Too Far? The "Macedonia" Name Agreement and the Past, Present and Future of Greek Interstate Relations
Lecture | April 29 | 12-1 p.m. | 201 Moses Hall
Speaker/Performer: Spero Paravantes
Sponsors: Institute of European Studies, Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ISEEES)
The "Macedonia" name issue has been a constant point of contention between Greece and the newly re-named Republic of North Macedonia since the breakup of Yugoslavia. With the origins of the dispute stretching back to the Second World War, the "Prespa Agreement", signed between the two Balkan neighbors in June 2018 (in effect since February 2019) is hoped to be a new beginning in interstate relations in the Balkans. Though Prime Ministers Tspiras and Zeav have adopted warm facades in front of the cameras, significant domestic and international opposition highlights the transnational and international legacy and implications of the dispute.
Dr. Spero Paravantes will examine the history of the dispute over the name "Macedonia" and will explain the Prespa Agreement and some of the controversies surrounding it. He concludes with an assessment of the domestic and international implications of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) becoming the Republic of North Macedonia.
Spero Simeon Z. Paravantes is a Senior Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, Institute of European Studies, and holds posts at the University of Luxembourg and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan. He specializes in the post-WWII history of Modern Greece, the relations with the EU and its place in the Transatlantic order. He is the author of "Britain, the US and Greece after World War II: Anglo-American Relations and the Cold War" (IB Tauris, 2019), and has published in peer-reviewed journals on the early Cold War period of European Integration and international relations. He is currently working on US intervention in Europe in the early Cold War period, and its effects on the European integration process.
Event contact: menghini@berkeley.edu
Spero Paravantes