NORTH MACEDONIA AFTER THE RESOLUTION OF THE NAME ISSUE

Abstract

When North Macedonia separated from Yugoslavia and declared its independence in 1991, it chose the Republic of Macedonia as its country name. However, this name was not accepted by Greece because it was the same as a region in northern Greece. Macedonia, on the other hand, argued that its name was a constitutional right, by international law and reflected its national identity. Macedonia was temporarily recognized by the United Nations as the “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, but this name was not accepted by Macedonia either. The name issue between the two countries could not be resolved despite various mediation attempts for 27 years. However, in 2018, a new political will emerged between the two countries, and the Prespa Agreement was signed. According to this agreement, the new name of Macedonia was determined as the “Republic of North Macedonia”. The agreement aimed to normalize Greek-Macedonian relations, accelerate North Macedonia’s NATO and EU membership process, and increase stability in the region. In this study, the historical development of the name issue between Greece and Macedonia will be touched upon and the process that resulted in the solution of the problem with the Prespa Agreement will be examined. In addition, by including the views of the supporters and opponents of the agreement between the public opinion of the two countries, which emerged after the agreement came into force in 2019 having been approved by the parliaments of the two countries, the legitimacy, and permanence of the solution will be explained with the arguments defended by constructivism, one of the theories of international relations.