Abstract
For a variety of historical reasons, Macedonia’s dealings with its neighbours have been difficult. This chapter considers the country’s relations with its immediate neighbours: Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania and Kosovo before focusing on the name dispute with Greece which has hindered Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic ambitions throughout the country’s long transition. Relations with Greece have been and remain crucial for the long-term stability and development of the country. Since independence, due to Greek objections, the admission of Macedonia to membership of the United Nations in April 1993 required the new member state to be provisionally referred to for all purposes within the United Nations as ‘the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ pending settlement of the difference that has arisen over the name of the state. Although the reference was to be used within the United Nations, other international institutions also began referring to Macedonia as a ‘former Yugoslav republic’. Despite reaching a UN-backed interim agreement in 1995 normalising relations between the countries, since 2008 Greece continued to deliberately block Macedonia’s admission to NATO and the beginning of negotiations for EU membership, until the signing of the Prespa Agreement in June 2018. This chapter presents an overview of the dispute and the possible solutions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abizadeh, A. (2004). Historical truth, national myths and liberal democracy: On the coherence of liberal nationalism. The Journal of Political Philosophy, 12(3), 291–313.
Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined communities. Verso.
Bakoyannis, D. (2008, March 31). The view from Athens. International Herald Tribune.
Bourdieu, P. (1989). Social space and symbolic power. Sociological Theory, 7(1), 14–25.
Calhoun, C. (1997). Nationalism. Open University Press.
Craven, M. C. R. (1995). What’s in a name? The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and issues of statehood. Australian Year Book of International Law, 16, 199–239.
Daskalovski, Z. (2005). Minorities in nation-building processes. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
Daskalovski, Z. (2006). Walking on the edge: Consolidating multiethnic Macedonia 1989–2004. Globic Press.
Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation Among States in Accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, GAOR Res. 2625, U.N. GAOR, 27th Sess., Supp. No. 18, at 124, U.N. Doc. A/8018 (1970).
Featherstone, M. (1990). Global culture: Nationalism, globalisation and modernity. Sage.
Floudas, D. A. (1996). A name for a conflict or a conflict for a name? An analysis of Greece’s dispute with FYROM. Journal of Political and Military Sociology, 24(2), 283–321.
Froomkin, A. M. (2004). When we say US™, we mean it! Houston Law Review, 41(3), 839–884.
General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV) of 24 October 1970.
Henkin, L., Pugh, R. C., Schachter, O., & Smith, H. (1993). International law: Cases and materials (3rd ed.). Westgroup.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 1.
Interim Accord (with related letters and translations of the Interim Accord in the Languages of the Contracting Parties), signed in New York 13 September 1995; entered into force 13 October 1995, 1891 U.N.T.S. I-32193; 34 I.L.M. 1461.
Janev, I. (1999). Legal aspects of the use of a provisional name for Macedonia in the United Nations system. American Journal of International Law, 93(1), 155–160.
Janev, I. (2001). Legal responsibility of the United Nations for unlawful admission of Macedonia to UN membership. Macedonian Affairs, 3(1), 53–88.
Jelavich, B. (1983). History of the Balkans. Cambridge University Press.
Kitromilides, P. (1983). The enlightenment East and West: A comparative perspective on the ideological origins of the Balkan political traditions. Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism, 10(1), 51–70.
Klimovski, S. (1994). Ustavno Pravo. Union Trade.
Klekovski, S. (2011). Macedonia name dispute (Public Views in Macedonia). MCIC and IDSCS.
Kofos, E. (2001). Greek policy considerations over FYROM independence and recognition. In J. Pettifer (Ed.), The New Macedonian question (pp. 226–263). Palgrave.
Kofos, E. (2005). The controversy over the terms ‘Macedonians’ and ‘Macedonian’: A probable exit scenario. Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 5(1), 129–133.
Kofos, E. (2009). The current Macedonian issue between Athens and Skopje: Is there an option for a Brbeakthrough? ELIAMEP Thesis 3.
Kofos, E. (2010, October 20). Prospects for resolving the name issue. NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s Rose-Roth seminar, Skopje. http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/Contributions/Prospects%20for%20resolving%20the%20name%20issue.pdf
Leviev-Sawyer, C. (2014, May 18). Plevneliev accepts Ivanov’s offer on good neighbourly relations agreement between Bulgaria and FYR Macedonia. Independent Balkans News Agency.
Lozanovska, J. (2009). The name issue exposing and deconstructing the Greek arguments. Evro Balkan.
Michas, T. (2002). The Unholy Alliance: Greece and Milosevic’s Serbia during the 1990s. Texas A&M University Press.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece. (2016). The FYROM name issue.
Mircev, D. (2001). Engineering the foreign policy of a new independent state: The case of Macedonia, 1990–96. In J. Pettifer (Ed.), The New Macedonian question (pp. 201–225). Palgrave-Macmillan.
Reimer, L. (1995). Macedonia: Cultural right or cultural appropriation? University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review, 53(2), 359–375.
Renan, E. (1996). What is a nation? (Qu’est-ce qu’une nation?). In G. Eley & R. G. Suny (Eds.), Becoming national: A reader (pp. 41–55). Oxford University Press.
Smith, A. D. (1999). Myths and memories of the nation. Oxford University Press.
UN Doc. A / CONF. 67/16 (1975, March 14).
Vesti. (2012, June 8). Borisov: Ne priemame imeto Severna Makedoniia. https://www.vesti.bg/bulgaria/politika/borisov-ne-priemame-imeto-severna-makedoniia-4872431?page=__id__&comments=1
Vienna Convention on the Representation of States in their Relations with International Organisations of a Universal Character, UN Doc. A/CONF. 67/16 (1975, March 14).
Zahariadis, N. (1996). Greek policy toward the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Journal of Modern Greek Studies, 14(2), 303–328.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Daskalovski, Z. (2023). The Impossible Reconciliation of Historical Narratives: The Macedonian Name Dispute and Prospects for the Future. In: Hudson, R., Dodovski, I. (eds) Macedonia’s Long Transition. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20773-0_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20773-0_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-20772-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-20773-0
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)