US congratulates Greece, Macedonia over settlement of name dispute

The United States on Saturday lauded the unanimous decision of the Macedonian Parliament to officially change the name of the country to the Republic of North Macedonia.

The United States also extended congratulations to both Greece and Macedonia following the end of the dispute between the two countries over this issue.

A press statement released by the US Department of State stated, "The United States congratulates Prime Ministers Alexis Tsipras and Zoran Zaev and welcomes the historic agreement to resolve the name dispute."

"This resolution will benefit both countries and bolster regional security and prosperity. Prime Ministers Zaev and Tsipras demonstrated vision, courage, and persistence in their pursuit of a mutually acceptable solution. We also commend the commitment of UN mediator Matthew Nimetz for his steadfast efforts over more than two decades to end this dispute. We stand ready to support this agreement, as requested by the two countries," the statement further read.

For decades, Macedonia has been trying to gain membership of the North American Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the European Union (EU). However, Greece raised objections to the official usage of Macedonia's name, arguing that it implies territorial aspirations against a northern Greek region with the same name.

At the same time, Greece also claimed that using Macedonia's name officially was an attempt to annex the ancient civilisation of Macedonia, which was a Greek Kingdom ruled by Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great.

The agreement signed last year on June 12 by the Macedonian lawmakers to change the name of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia would wipe out the last remnant of Yugoslavia's name from the world map.