Greece, Macedonia sign deal to end yearslong name dispute
One of the world's longest -- and arguably most arcane -- diplomatic disputes moved a step closer to being resolved on Sunday after Greece's Nikos Kotzias and Nikola Dimitrov of Macedonia met at the Prespes Lake district to sign the historic accord.
- World
- Agencies and A News
- Published Date: 12:00 | 17 June 2018
- Modified Date: 01:18 | 17 June 2018
On Sunday, Greece and Macedonia signed a deal that, if ratified, will resolve a decades-old dispute concerning Macedonia's name.
Ending a dispute that began 27 years ago, but the roots of which date back centuries, Greece's Nikos Kotzias and Nikola Dimitrov of Macedonia met at the Prespes Lake district to sign the historic accord, brokered after months of diplomatic haggling.
The two countries' prime ministers, Greece's Alexis Tsipras and Macedonia's Zoran Zaev, attended the signing of the deal Sunday by the two countries' foreign ministers, along with U.N. and EU officials.
The village of Psarades, on the shore of the Great Prespa lake, was chosen as a symbolic site, since it lies near where the borders of the two countries, as well as Albania, meet.
Zaev arrived by boat from across the lake before he was greeted by Tsipras.
Police have cordoned off all approaches to the village to prevent protesters from reaching the site. A protest by nationalists will be staged almost 40 kilometers (25 miles) away.