Greece and Macedonia setting aside three decades of dispute on Sunday agreed to have a new name for the former Yugoslav republic, paving the way for its possible admission to the European Union and NATO. The foreign ministers of the two countries signed an accord to rename the former Yugoslav republic the “Republic of North Macedonia”, despite a storm of protest over a deal seen as a national sellout by some on both sides. Leaders from the two countries embraced and shook hands in the presence of European and United Nations officials.
The agreement still requires the approval of both parliaments and a referendum in Macedonia. That approval is far from assured, as it faces stiff opposition from the Greek public, and Macedonia’s president has vowed to block the deal.
In the Greek village of Pisoderi, about 3,000 people rallied against the deal and at least six were injured in clashes with police who fired tear gas to disperse an angry crowd on a hillside.
Not far from the Greek border in the Macedonian city of Bitola, thousands protested draped in national flags, chanting “This is Macedonia.”
Following the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991, Greece’s northern neighbour took the name Macedonia. Athens refused to accept it, saying it implied territorial claims over the Greek province of Macedonia and an appropriation of ancient Greek culture and civilisation.
Veteran UN mediator Matthew Nimetz, who has overseen talks for a quarter-century, described the agreement as a fair and honourable deal. It was, he said, an example of “how neighbours can solve a problem if they really work at it”.
