Greek lawmakers have ratified an historic name change agreement with neighboring Macedonia, giving Greek PM Alexis Tsipras a political win despite widespread public opposition and protests.
How we got here
Both countries have been under pressure to resolve the dispute, as Western nations see the further integration of Balkan countries into the EU and NATO as a way of improving the region’s stability. The move will perhaps even serve as a compromise that can ease other regional disputes. But Moscow openly opposes Macedonia’s aspirations, having long been a major player in the region.
The agreement, first ratified in Skopje, follows the defeat of Macedonia’s nationalist conservatives by the social democrats. It has significantly improved the climate between the two neighboring countries after decades of strong nationalist rhetoric on both sides.
Since the early 1990s, maps have widely circulated in Greece with the landlocked state’s borders extending to the port city of Thessaloniki, Greek Macedonia’s capital, funneling territorial fears. A giant statue of the ancient Macedonian King Alexander the Great erected in Skopje’s central square fueled further claims of cultural plunder.
