After Decades of Crisis, the "Macedonia" Name Dispute is Close to Being Resolved

For 27 years, the question of what to formally call the country informally known as "Macedonia" has been a diplomatic thorn in the side of Europe and the Balkans.  The UN backed negotiations between Macedonia and Greece since the 1990s, but to little avail. Then, this summer there was a major breakthrough.

At issue is a dispute between Greece and Macedonia over historic and cultural claims to a region once ruled by Alexander the Great.

Macedonia became independent upon the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia in 1991. Immediately, though, the question of what to call this new country became a diplomatic and political crisis. Macedonia borders Greece, and the region of Greece that borders Macedonia is called..."Macedonia." So, for decades Greece has systematically blocked Macedonia from calling itself "Macedonia." In fact, at the United Nations, of which Macedonia is a member state, it is known as FYROM, which stands for "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia."

This name dispute has h…