The small Balkan country Macedonia has officially renamed North Macedonia. The renaming comes into effect with effect from Tuesday, the government in Skopje announced in the evening. The new name is part of the implementation of an agreement with Greece in June of last year. Corresponding constitutional amendments were endorsed by the parliament in Skopje last month.
Athens had insisted since the independence of Macedonia 27 years ago that its northern neighbor change its name, because a region in the north of Greece is also named. As an EU and NATO member, Greece had vetoed any rapprochement of Macedonia with the Western alliances.
With the renaming the name dispute with Greece is enclosed. Meanwhile, the accession of North Macedonia to NATO has been initiated. The Greek parliament had ratified the protocol in the previous week.