Greece and Macedonia Squabbling Over What Name Greece Calls Macedonia

You would think that Greece has bigger things to worry about but there is a lawsuit at the UN’s International Court of Justice (“ICJ”) stemming from the fact that Greece refuses to call Macedonia by the “correct” name. Macedonia claims that Greece broke an agreement between the two nations by blocking Macedonia’s entrance under its UN name into NATO and other international organizations. Macedonia’s UN or official name is “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.” Because Greece has its own province called “Macedonia,” it doesn’t want to recognize this name and instead calls Macedonia “TFYRM, ” an acronym for the official name. In a decision that came out of the ICJ this week, the UN agreed with Macedonia in the case but declined to order Greece to use the name and honor the earlier agreement. This dispute reminds me of many the argument I have mediated among my children….”He keeps calling me X!”