Lecture with Erik Sjöberg

We are hosting a lecture with Erik Sjöberg, Professor at the Department of Historical Studies!

What’s in a Name? North Macedonia, Greece, and the Macedonian Name Controversy: As Yugoslavia dissolved in the early 1990s and one of its constituent republics, Macedonia, declared its independence, a heated controversy arose with its southern neighbour, Greece. A member of NATO and the EU, Greece refused to acknowledge the new state, arguing that its very name, Macedonia, passages in its constitution about Macedonian minorities in neighbouring countries, and its official use of historical symbols associated with the ancient kingdom of Alexander the Great constituted a threat to both the territorial integrity, and, indeed, the national identity in Greece. Thus, a protracted diplomatic controversy arose that was defused only recently, with the Prespa agreements in 2018, by which Greece recognised its neighbour state as North Macedonia. In this talk, Erik Sjöberg will explain why the name Macedonia was perceived as a national security threat in Greece, by addressing the so-called Macedonian question and the regional and domestic political contexts in which the conflict evolved.

Fika will be provided!

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