Greeks Protest to Defend Right to the Name ‘Macedonia’
The NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, told officials in Skopje, Macedonia’s capital, last month
that the name dispute with Greece would have to be resolved before the Balkan country could be considered for membership in the alliance.
4, 2018
ATHENS — More than 100,000 people gathered in the Greek capital on Sunday to stage the biggest demonstration in decades against the inclusion of
the word "Macedonia" in the name of a neighboring former Yugoslav republic, saying it implies a territorial claim on a northern Greek region.
Greece and the Republic of Macedonia began United Nations-mediated talks last month to try to settle the 25-year name dispute.
After the United Nations’ special envoy in the dispute, Matthew Nimetz, indicated last week
that Athens did not appear to be "denying the identity of the Macedonian people," he received an angry call from Mr. Kotzias, the Greek foreign minister.
The talks have also contributed to a rift in Greece’s governing coalition, with the leftist prime minister, Alexis
Tsipras, saying it is "not unreasonable" for the word Macedonia to be used in a compound name for the country.
His coalition partner, Panos Kammenos, who leads the right-wing Independent Greeks party and who is defense minister, has insisted
that the word Macedonia must not be part of the neighbor’s name.