Why North Macedonia calling itself ‘Macedonia’ irks Greece

The matter was taken to the UN, and a compromise was brokered six years ago, with Greece’s northern neighbor agreeing to call itself North Macedonia under the Prespa Agreement. However, the disagreement was disinterred when Siljanovska-Davkov, a VMRO-DPMNE party politician, in her oath-taking ceremony, said, “I declare that I will exercise the office of President of Macedonia conscientiously and responsibly, respect the constitution and the laws and protect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Macedonia.”

In retaliation, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated his intention to thwart North Macedonia’s bid to join the European Union. According to the Prespa agreement, the Greek parliament was to approve three memoranda which included speeding up processes for North Macedonia’s EU accession, but Athens is waiting to see if its neighbour fully implements the terms of the accord.

“We will not ratify the memoranda unless we are absolutely convinced that the other party complies with all provisions of the agreement,” the Greek PM said in an interview with Skai TV.

(With inputs from Deutsche Welle and Reuters)