European Union candidate North Macedonia on Monday sought to defuse disputes with EU neighbors Greece and Bulgaria that have escalated following the conservative-backed coalition and president’s landslide electoral victory.
North Macedonia changed its name from Macedonia following a landmark 2018 agreement with Greece that ended a years-long dispute over the name in which Greece had claimed one of its regions. . During Sunday’s swearing-in ceremony, President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova referred to her country as “Macedonia,” sparking a furious reaction from Athens.
North Macedonia votes in presidential run-off and parliamentary elections
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the remarks “illegal and unacceptable” in an online post on Monday, adding: “We declare categorically that we will not tolerate further failures of this kind.”
North Macedonia’s new president Gordana Siljanovska Davkova poses for the camera at the entrance of the presidential palace in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Sunday, May 12, 2024. Siljanovska Davkova was sworn in as North Macedonia’s first female president on Sunday. After defeating the left-wing incumbent president in a presidential runoff earlier this week. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)
Siljanovska-Davkova’s comments also drew criticism from the European Commission and a warning from Bulgaria that North Macedonia would be bound by the terms of international agreements signed.
The presidential palace said on Monday that Siljanovska-Davkova respects the country’s international obligations, but added that she retains “the right to use the name Macedonia for personal self-identification.”
The geographical region of Macedonia is divided by the borders of Greece, Bulgaria and North Macedonia. The name dispute has delayed the former Yugoslav republic’s long-standing efforts to join the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
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The country joined the military alliance in 2020.
North Macedonia’s conservative VMRO-DPMNE won a landslide victory in last week’s presidential and parliamentary elections, emerging from long-standing opposition to lead the next government.
