Brussels 12.05.2024 “The EU regrets the fact that the new President of North Macedonia, President Siljanovska-Davkova, did not use the constitutional name of the country during the swearing-in ceremony today” reads the statement by the European External Action Service spokesperson on the use of the constitutional name by the new President in her address at the swearing-in ceremony.
“The EU recalls the importance of full respect for existing, legally binding agreements including the Prespa Agreement with Greece”.

Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova was sworn as the first female president of North Macedonia on Sunday and immediately reignited a diplomatic spat with neighboring Greece.

At the ceremony in the country’s Parliament, Siljanovska-Davkova referred to her country as “Macedonia,” rather than the constitutional name “North Macedonia”.

This prompted Greece’s Ambassador to Skopje, Sophia Philippidou, to leave abruptly the inauguration ceremony. The Greek Foreign Ministry later issued a statement saying that the new President’s actions violated an agreement between the two nations and put in question both bilateral relations and North Macedonia’s prospects of joining the European Union.

The use of the name “Macedonia” provokes a strong Greek reaction, with Greece accusing its neighbor of appropriating a Greek name and the history of the Ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedonia, which existed centuries before Slavic people, such as the contemporary ethnic Macedonians, arrived in the area.

Macedonia, a small kingdom in northern Greece, established a growing empire from 359 B.C. to 323 B.C. through the reign of several powerful kings. With Alexander the Great, Macedonia would come to conquer many lands and usher in the Hellenistic age in the region, and beyond.

Nowadays the decades-old dispute was resolved. In 2018 both sides signed an agreement and the constitutional name “North Macedonia” was adopted. Greece then lifted its objection to North Macedonia joining NATO and applying for membership in the European Union.