In early 2019, a nearly three decade old naming dispute came to an end between Greece and (North) Macedonia through the Prespa Agreement’s ratification. The dispute started in the early nineties...Show moreIn early 2019, a nearly three decade old naming dispute came to an end between Greece and (North) Macedonia through the Prespa Agreement’s ratification. The dispute started in the early nineties after the former Yugoslav Republic declared itself independent under the name of ‘Republic of Macedonia’. Since Greece perceives Ancient Macedonian history and heritage as part of its national identity, the country refused to recognize its neighboring country’s name. In the time period between 1991 and 2018, domestic politics in both Greece and Macedonia showed mutually exclusive characteristics regarding the ownership of the symbolism of Macedonia. Considering the three decade long non-settlement of the naming issue, it only took a rough six months to come to the Prespa Agreement. Through the use of discourse analysis, speech acts of Greek and Macedonian governments have been analyzed in order to grasp how it was possible to come to such a quick consensus after many years of non-agreement. In this research will be argued that the Prespa Agreement was possible through the shift from arguing to bargaining the naming issue. Furthermore, the Prespa Agreement was strategically used by both nation states to negotiate the boundaries between the two national identities.Show less
The nearly three decades long Macedonian Name Dispute was the biggest obstacle for North Macedonia on its path towards not only Euro-Atlantic integration, but world recognition as well. This thesis...Show moreThe nearly three decades long Macedonian Name Dispute was the biggest obstacle for North Macedonia on its path towards not only Euro-Atlantic integration, but world recognition as well. This thesis analyzes the role which two seemingly unrelated to the name dispute events, had in precipitating the resolution of Skopje’s bitter feud with Athens. By establishing the historical context behind the name dispute, in addition to providing a detailed analysis of the 2017 Bulgarian-Macedonian Friendship Treaty and the 2018 Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, this study uncovers one of the many factors that led to the signing of the 2018 Prespa Agreement, which marked the official conclusion of the 27 years long Macedonian Name Dispute.Show less
