Macedonia Agrees to Change its Name to Resolve Dispute With Greece

Demonstrators in Pella, Greece, protesting the use of the name “Macedonia” in any solution to a dispute between Athens and Skopje over the former Yugoslav republic’s name.CreditAlexandros Avramidis/Reuters

Macedonia agreed to change its name to resolve a decades-old dispute with Greece, the two countries said on Tuesday, and Greece said it would drop its objection to the neighboring country’s entry into the European Union and NATO if the changes are formally adopted.

Deal for Macedonia Name? High Treason, Some Greeks Say

Tens of thousands of people protested in Thessaloniki, Greece, earlier this year against allowing a neighboring Balkan country to use the name Macedonia.CreditNicolas Economou/NurPhoto, via Getty Images

To understand how deeply the name Macedonia is embedded in the Greek psyche, look no further than Greece’s second city, Thessaloniki. It’s the capital of the northern region of Macedonia, the historical center of a long-running feud with the neighboring country of Macedonia, whose claim to the name is the focus of United Nations-mediated negotiations.