Prespa Agreement

The Prespa Agreement, also known as the Treaty of Prespa, the Prespes deal or the Prespa accord, is an agreement reached in 2018 between Greece and the then-Republic of Macedonia, under the auspices of the United Nations, resolving a long-standing naming dispute between the two countries. Apart from resolving the terminological differences, the agreement also covers areas of cooperation between the two countries in order to establish a strategic partnership.

Signed beside the shared Lake Prespa, from which it took its name, and ratified by the parliaments of both countries, the agreement went into force on 12 February 2019, when the two countries notified the UN of the deal's completion, following the ratification of the NATO accession protocol for North Macedonia on 8 February. It replaces the Interim Accord of 1995 and sees the Republic of Macedonia's constitutional name changed to the Republic of North Macedonia erga omnes.

The Prespa Agreement is the short, informal name for the agreement, named after the place where it was signed, Lake Prespa. Its full name is Final Agreement for the settlement of the differences as described in the United Nations Security Council resolutions 817 (1993) and 845 (1993), the termination of the Interim Accord of 1995, and the establishment of a strategic partnership between the Parties.

Following the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, use of the name "Macedonia" was disputed between the Southeastern European countries of Greece and the then-Republic of Macedonia. The dispute arose from the ambiguity in nomenclature between the former Yugoslav republic, the adjacent Greek region of Macedonia, and the ancient kingdom of Macedon. Citing historical and irredentist concerns, Greece opposed the use of the name "Macedonia" by the Republic of Macedonia without a geographical qualifier like "Northern" or "Upper" for use "by all... and for all purposes".

Approximately two million ethnic Greeks identify themselves as Macedonians who typically view themselves as being unrelated to the ethnic Macedonians. Consequently, Greece further objected to the use of the term "Macedonian" for the neighboring country's largest ethnic group and its language. Greece further accused the Republic of Macedonia of appropriating symbols and figures that are historically considered part of Greek culture, such as the Vergina Sun and Alexander the Great. Moreover, Greece claimed that the Republic of Macedonia was promoting the irredentist concept of a United Macedonia, which involves territorial claims on Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, and Serbia.

Prior to the Prespa agreement, international organizations provisionally referenced the Republic of Macedonia as "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (sometimes abbreviated as "FYROM").

The agreement provides that the Republic of Macedonia takes the name of Republic of North Macedonia (Macedonian: Република Северна Македонија, romanized: Republika Severna Makedonija; Greek: Δημοκρατία της Βόρειας Μακεδονίας). This new name is to be used for all purposes (erga omnes), that is, domestically, in all bilateral relations and in all regional and international organizations and institutions.

The deal includes recognition of the Macedonian language in the United Nations, noting that it is within the group of South Slavic languages, and that the nationality of the country will be called Macedonian/citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia. Also, there is an explicit clarification that the citizens of the country are not related to the ancient Hellenic civilization that inhabited the northern regions of modern-day Greece. Specifically, Article 7 mentions that both countries acknowledge that their respective understanding of the terms "Macedonia" and "Macedonian" refers to a different historical context and cultural heritage. When reference is made to Greece, these terms denote the area and people of its northern region, as well as the Hellenic civilization, history and culture of that region. When reference is made to the Republic of North Macedonia, these terms denote its territory, language and people, with their own, distinctly different, history and culture.