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Macedonia Formally Changes Name to "Republic of North Macedonia"

posted by martyb on Friday June 22 2018, @08:37AM   
from the What's-in-a-name?-(Juliet) dept.

takyon writes:

The Macedonian parliament has begun the process of changing the country's name, ending a long-running dispute with Greece:

Macedonia's parliament has ratified an agreement with Greece to change the former Yugoslav republic's name at a plenary session that was boycotted by the main opposition party.

Lawmakers on June 20 voted 69-0 to ratify the agreement, which changes the country's formal name to the Republic of North Macedonia. [...] Lawmakers on June 19 launched the process of ratifying the accord, as hundreds of protesters gathered in the center of Skopje for a third day to vent anger over the deal.

[...] The agreement, signed by the two countries' foreign ministers on June 17, ends a 27-year dispute between Athens and Skopje and paves the way for Macedonia to begin membership talks with the European Union and NATO.

But it will take months to complete and faces several hurdles along the way, with President Gjorge Ivanov pledging to veto the deal. That would force lawmakers to repeat the vote, and if the deal is ratified again – this time with an absolute majority -- then Ivanov will be unable to block it.

Also at NPR and Reuters.

See also: Why all the furor over Macedonia name change? It goes back to Alexander the Great

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Original Submission

• Re:Why does nationalism require lies? Re:Why does nationalism require lies? (Score: 3, Informative) by tangomargarine on Friday June 22 2018, @03:12PM (1 child)

  by tangomargarine (667) on Friday June 22 2018, @03:12PM (#696776)

  After gaining control of the former Achaemenid satrapy of Gandhara, including the city of Taxila, Alexander advanced into Punjab. The Battle of the Hydaspes river against a regional Indian King, Porus, is considered by many as the most costly battle fought by Alexander and his armies. Subsequently, his army refused to cross the Beas River, fearful of the powerful Nanda Empire which lay to the East along the banks of the Ganges. Therefore, Alexander turned south, advancing through southern Punjab and Sindh, along the way conquering more tribes along the lower Indus River, before returning into the west.

  It sounds like he did conquer parts [wikipedia.org] of India. India wasn't a unified thing until circa WWII.

  Admittedly they sound like small parts of India.

  --
  "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"

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• Re:Why does nationalism require lies? (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday June 22 2018, @03:21PM

  by Thexalon (636) on Friday June 22 2018, @03:21PM (#696782)

  It of course always depends on what you consider part of "India". If you include what is now Pakistan, which historically was a part of India, then Alexander conquered quite a lot of India. If you only consider what is now India, then he only conquered one of the fairly major provinces.

  It's also worth noting that the reason he stopped had everything to do with his subordinates refusing to go any further, and nothing to do with losing battles (unless the historical accounts were falsified to make Alexander look better, of course).

  --
  The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.

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