Macedonia's New Name | 14 Jan 2019

Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia has voted to change their country’s name to the “Republic of North Macedonia”.

• Macedonia agreed to change its name after signing the Prespa Agreement with Greece in June 2018.
• Prespa is a fresh-water lake in southeast Europe shared by Albania, Greece, and Macedonia.
• With this agreement, a long-standing dispute between the two countries came to an end.
• The dispute was that the region of Greece bordering the Republic of Macedonia is also called Macedonia.
• Neighboring country Greece has objected to its name and said that it implied the Macedonian republic’s territorial aspirations over the northern region of Greece.
• The change of name will now allow the Republic of Macedonia to enter the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) as its accession to both organizations was vetoed by Greece.