question: why did The Republic of Macedonia change its name?
comment: The Republic of Macedonia has had a long running naming dispute with Greece. The traditional region of Macedonia spans both the republic of Macedonia and Greece's northern region which is also called Macedonia. Greece has always objected to Macedonia's name because it implies some sort of claim to Greece's region and the historical legacy of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia (you know, Alexander the Great). That kingdom was culturally Greek where as the current inhabitants of Macedonia the country are slavic. So Greece insisted that Macedonia be called the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the UN, and would block their entry into organisations like the EU and NATO, both of which Greece is a member of. But now they have come to an agreement that Greece won't veto their membership if they change their name to North Macedonia, which they are now doing.
passages: According to the press in the Republic of Macedonia Nimetz now limited his proposal to three names of the five that were proposed in his original framework:
  
  BULLET::::- "Republic of Upper Macedonia"
  
  BULLET::::- "New Republic of Macedonia" or "Republic of New Macedonia"
  
  BULLET::::- "Republic of Macedonia-Skopje"
   Section::::History.:Interim accord.
   In 1963 the People's Republic of Macedonia was renamed the "Socialist Republic of Macedonia" when the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It dropped the "Socialist" from its name a few months before declaring independence from Yugoslavia in September 1991.
  
  Section::::History.:Formation of the Republic of Macedonia.
   Section::::History.:Compromise solutions.
   The country became a member of the United Nations in April 1993, but as a result of a dispute with Greece over the name ""Macedonia"", it was admitted under the provisional description "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (abbreviated as "FYR Macedonia" and "FYROM"), a term that was also used by some other international organisations, FIFA for instance. In June 2018, Macedonia and Greece resolved the conflict with an agreement that the country should rename itself "Republic of North Macedonia". This renaming came into effect in February 2019.
   Section::::History.:Continuing dispute.
   On 3 April 2008, at NATO's summit in Bucharest, Greece presented its case on the non-invitation of the republic. NATO secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer announced the mutually agreed text of the NATO members, which included the following points:
  
  BULLET::::- Reason for no invitation was the inability to find solution in the name dispute
  
  BULLET::::- Open invitation to the government of Skopje for new negotiations for the name under the auspices of the United Nations,
  
  BULLET::::- The wish that those negotiations start as soon as possible,
   More moderate positions suggest that a disambiguating element should be added to the name of the neighbouring state and its people (such as "Vardar" or "New"), so as to illustrate the distinction between not just the two, but all groups of self-identifying Macedonians.
  
  Section::::Positions.:Greek position.:Semiological confusion.
   BULLET::::- And the further wish that they are concluded as soon as possible, without mentioning a specific time frame.
   Cyrus Vance was the witness of Interim Accord as Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
  
  Section::::Stalemate.
   In August 2005, Poland became the 112th country, out of 191 total members of UN, to recognize the then Republic of Macedonia under its constitutional name. Before a permanent agreement between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia about the latter's name had been reached, the proposal was to name it 'Republika Makedonija-Skopje' (with that spelling), but was rejected by the Republic of Macedonia. The UN mediator Matthew Nimetz proposed another form several months afterward, proposing that the name "Republika Makedonija" should be used by the countries that have recognized the country under that name and that Greece should use the formula "Republika Makedonija – Skopje", while the international institutions and organizations should use the name "Republika Makedonia" in Latin alphabet transcription, but this form was rejected by Greece.
   The naming dispute has not been confined to the Balkans, as immigrant communities from both countries have actively defended the positions of their respective homelands around the world, organising large protest rallies in major European, North American and Australian cities. After Australia recognised the "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" in early 1994, tensions between the two communities reached a climax, with churches and properties hit by a series of tit-for-tat bomb and arson attacks in Melbourne.
  
  Section::::History.:Greek embargo.
   In Spring 2018, extensive negotiations in a bid to resolve the naming dispute were held in rounds, with frequent meetings of the foreign ministers of Greece and Macedonia achieving tangible progress on the naming dispute. Eventually, on May 17, at the sidelines of the EU-Western Balkan summit of Sofia, Bulgaria, the Prime Ministers of the two countries met, and discussed a new name, in addition to the 5 other names already proposed by UN Envoy Nimetz:
  
  BULLET::::- "Republika Ilindenska Makedonija" "(Republic of Ilinden Macedonia)"
   Section::::Stalemate.:2014 negotiations.
   Furthermore, the two governments agreed to confidence-building measures that could help improve the relations between the two countries.
  
  The latest options put forward by Skopje in February 2018 are "Republic of North Macedonia", "Republic of Upper Macedonia", "Republic of Vardar Macedonia" and "Republic of Macedonia (Skopje)".
   The Macedonian PM Zoran Zaev said that the Macedonian side is willing to accept this name and have it be used for all purposes, which is one of the Greek conditions for resolving the naming dispute.
   On 7 March 2008, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Daniel Fried, made an unscheduled visit to Skopje, with the message that the two sides must cooperate with Matthew Nimetz to find a mutually acceptable solution for the naming dispute.
   The use of the name "Macedonia" was disputed between the Southeast European countries of Greece and North Macedonia (formerly the Republic of Macedonia, commonly shortened to "Macedonia" in English). Pertinent to its background is an early 20th-century multifaceted dispute and armed conflict that formed part of the background to the Balkan Wars. The specific naming dispute, although an existing issue in Yugoslav–Greek relations since World War II, was reignited after the breakup of Yugoslavia and the newly gained independence of the former Socialist Republic of Macedonia in 1991. Since then, it was an ongoing issue in bilateral and international relations until it was settled with the Prespa agreement in June 2018, the subsequent ratification by the Macedonian and Greek parliaments in late 2018 and early 2019, and the official renaming of Macedonia to North Macedonia in February 2019.
   In December 2006, the newly-elected nationalist VMRO-DPMNE-led government of the Republic announced the intent to rename Skopje Airport "Petrovec" to "Aleksandar Veliki" (Alexander the Great). Matthew Nimetz was invited to Athens in January 2007, where he commented that the efforts to mediate in the issue over the name were "affected and not in a positive way".
  
  Section::::Stalemate.:NATO and EU accession talks.
   Section::::Stalemate.:Developments in 2010.
  
  Section::::Stalemate.:Developments in 2010.:April 2010.
  
  In early April 2010, it emerged that the Greek government considered "Northern Macedonia" a possible compromise name, indicating it was up to the Republic of Macedonia to decide whether to accept that proposal. The Macedonian Prime minister Nicola Gruevski declared he would reject this proposition and called for a vote on the new name.
  
  Section::::Stalemate.:Developments in 2010.:June 2010.
   On 12 June 2018, an agreement was reached between Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev, whereby the name "Republic of North Macedonia" would be adopted. A referendum was held in Macedonia on 30 September 2018, with voters overwhelmingly affirming support for EU and NATO membership by accepting the agreement, albeit with 37% voter turnout. After the agreement was ratified by both sides, it entered into force from 12 February 2019.
  
  Section::::History.
  
  Section::::History.:Background.
   In 2005, Matthew Nimetz, UN Special Representative, suggested using "Republika Makedonija-Skopje" for official purposes. Greece did not accept the proposal outright, but characterised it as "a basis for constructive negotiations". Prime Minister Vlado Bučkovski rejected the proposal and counterproposed a "double name formula" where the international community uses "Republic of Macedonia" and Greece uses "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia".
   Section::::Stalemate.:December 2013 Vergina Sun draft law.
   Section::::Prespa agreement.:Signature.
   List of countries' positions in the Macedonia naming dispute
  
  The naming dispute was resolved in February 2019 after the signing of the Prespa Agreement.
  
  This article is a list of countries and international organisations based on their official position in the Macedonia naming dispute between Greece and the Republic of North Macedonia.
  
  Section::::Countries/entities that used "Republic of Macedonia" for bilateral purposes.
  