Greeks Protest to Defend Right to the Name ‘Macedonia’<br />The NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, told officials in Skopje, Macedonia’s capital, last month<br />that the name dispute with Greece would have to be resolved before the Balkan country could be considered for membership in the alliance.<br />4, 2018<br />ATHENS — More than 100,000 people gathered in the Greek capital on Sunday to stage the biggest demonstration in decades against the inclusion of<br />the word "Macedonia" in the name of a neighboring former Yugoslav republic, saying it implies a territorial claim on a northern Greek region.<br />Greece and the Republic of Macedonia began United Nations-mediated talks last month to try to settle the 25-year name dispute.<br />After the United Nations’ special envoy in the dispute, Matthew Nimetz, indicated last week<br />that Athens did not appear to be "denying the identity of the Macedonian people," he received an angry call from Mr. Kotzias, the Greek foreign minister.<br />The talks have also contributed to a rift in Greece’s governing coalition, with the leftist prime minister, Alexis<br />Tsipras, saying it is "not unreasonable" for the word Macedonia to be used in a compound name for the country.<br />His coalition partner, Panos Kammenos, who leads the right-wing Independent Greeks party and who is defense minister, has insisted<br />that the word Macedonia must not be part of the neighbor’s name.
