ICJ criticises Greece over Macedonia name row

The International Court of Justice has ruled Greece was wrong to veto Macedonian NATO membership after a row concerning the country’s name.
 
Following a dispute in which both nations claim the name Macedonia, Greece blocked the former Yugoslav state from joining the alliance in 2008.
 
Greece feels that the eastern European state’s use of the name implies territorial ambitions towards its own northern province also called Macedonia.
 
Since adopting the moniker in 1991, Macedonia refuses to back down and has erected an 11-metre statue of Alexander the Great in the capital Skopje.
 
Greece initially agreed to the use of the name ‘Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’, but has still blocked the country’s NATO and EU memberships.
 
The ICJ ruling does not solve the name argument.

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