Decades long conflict in Balkan region comes to an end

The Republic of Macedonia’s name has been a source of contention for Greece for nearly three decades. However, on January 22, Greece’s parliament ratified an agreement that will end this dispute; Macedonia agreed to officially change their name to “Republic of North Macedonia,” and in return, Greece will stop objecting to Skopje’s entrance into NATO.

This resolution was not reached easily. In both Greece and the Republic of Macedonia, there have been multiple street protests and heated debates between the two countries. After years of dilemma and difficulty, the two countries finally reached a solution in the summer of 2018, led by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev.

In a symbolic ceremony representing peace between the two ex-enemies, held by Lake Prespa where Greece, Albania and the Republic of Macedonia’s borders meet, the two countries signed the “Prespa Accord”, an infinitely binding contract ratifying Macedonia’s transition to become “Northern Macedonia.”

Greece was vehemently opposed to any name including “Macedonia” without clarification of its geographical location because millions of ethnic Greeks also identify as “Macedonians.”  However, these Greeks are referring to the region of ancient Greece called Macedonia, and have no relation to the Slavic people of Republic of Macedonia.

Greece had also accused the Republic of Macedonia of appropriating symbols and figures that are considered part of ancient Greek culture, including Vergina Sun and Alexander the Great. There is a giant statue of the ancient King Alexander the Great built in Skopje’s central square which fueled Greece’s anger over the usage of the name “Macedonia”.

In 1995, under the United Nations, the two countries began forming bilateral relations and negotiating in an attempt to come to a resolution. Before the solution of “North Macedonia” was reached, the Republic of Macedonia was known as “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” (FYROM) in international organizations.

Western nations want to see the integration of Balkan countries into NATO and the EU to stabilize the Balkan region, and this name change seems to be a step in the right direction.

Article by MoCo Student staff writer Faith Cheung of Richard Montgomery High School