REFLECTIONS

Macedonia: A Name Worth Fighting For

Feb 3, 2018 | 15:05 GMT

(BOGDANSERBAN/OUTCAST85/iStock/Stratfor)

Highlights

  • After years of deadlock, Greece and Macedonia are looking to finally solve their name dispute, which is at its core about much more than semantics.
  • Domestic politics in both countries will complicate the process.
  • Regardless of the outcome, the conflict demonstrates that questions of national identity still often supersede other considerations. 

Greece and Macedonia have spent decades bitterly arguing over the latter's name, but recent developments have put the two on better terms than they've been in years. Officials from both countries have met several times since mid-2017; most recently, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met his Macedonian counterpart, Zoran Zaev, during the World Economic Forum in Davos, where they exchanged gestures of goodwill and promised to continue negotiations to resolve their differences. Then from Jan. 30-31, a U.N. mediator visited Athens and Skopje to build bridges between the governments. These are not minor developments for two countries that have spent decades accusing each other of trying to steal the other's identity and territory....

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