GREECE-NORTH MACEDONIA | A Broken Deal?

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In May 2024, a diplomatic row broke out between Greece and North Macedonia when the new president of North Macedonia, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, used the country's old name “Republic of Macedonia” during her inauguration. This was contrary to the terms of the Prespa Agreement with Greece—a peace deal crucial for ending a long-standing dispute over the name and for the country's EU integration prospects. As the Greek ambassador walked out from the ceremony, European Union officials stressed the agreement's importance and the potential repercussions of disregarding it. To this end, the recent actions by North Macedonia's president have raised concerns about the stability of this international peace agreement. So, could the Macedonian Government really be ready to abandon it?

The country, officially known as the Republic of North Macedonia, lies in Southeast Europe and has a diverse population of around 2.1 million. The wider region of Macedonia has a rich history that stretches from ancient times under Alexander the Great to Roman, Byzantine, Serb, Bulgarian and Ottoman rule. In 1913, the territory was divided between Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria. While the Serbian-held part joined the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, it became one of the six federal republics of Yugoslavia in the 1940s. This lasted until 1991 when it declared independence as the Republic of Macedonia. However, this provoked a thirty-year dispute with Greece, which contested the name. This saw the country admitted to the United Nations under a provisional name, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). In 2018, after decades of contention, the sides reached a settlement, the Prespa Agreement. This agreement renamed the country from the Republic of Macedonia to the Republic of North Macedonia and was crucial for its accession to NATO and its ongoing attempts to join the EU. But could the new VMRO-DPMNE government be about to challenge the deal?

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*VIDEO CHAPTERS*
00:00 Introduction and Titles
00:42 Peace Agreements in International Relations
01:42 North Macedonia: Location and Population
02:20 Macedonia in History
04:01 The Macedonian Name Issue
05:52 The Prespa Agreement and North Macedonia
07:02 The Ratification of the Prespa Agreement
08:43 External and Internal Reactions to the Prespa Agreement
09:42 A New Diplomatic Row over the Name
11:08 A Return to the Macedonia Name Dispute?

*SOURCES AND FURTHER READING*
Ministry of Foreign Affairs | Greece

Ministry of Foreign Affairs | North Macedonia

Interim Agreement (1995)

Prespa Agreement (2018)


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#NorthMacedonia #Greece #Macedonia #PrespaAgreement