‘Welcome to North Macedonia’: New Road Signs Go up on Border With Greece
The Macedonian workers of the Republic of Macedonia (the country’s official new name)bearing the country’s name, placed stencils on road signs at the bogorodica border crossing with Greece which is the first step in implementing a landmark deal with Athens.
Both greek and Macedonia agreed on the name last June, also supporting the neighbour’s effort to join the Nato and the European Union, Athens lifted its 27-year veto. In three days Macedonia’s customs office must put stencils with the new name on road signs at all border crossings, at airports of Skopje and Ohrid (under the provisions of the agreement with Athens). Within 4 months all plaques on offices must be replaced.
The issuance of new passports and new banknotes will be by the end of 2019 and by the beginning of 2020, respectively. The country’s previous official name ‘The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ passes to history and the last remnants of the now-defunct six-republic socialist federative republic of Yugoslavia, fell apart in a series of bloody wars(the 1990s). Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro (3 other ex-Yugoslav republics) and other countries in Balkans including Albania, Bulgaria, and Romania have already joined NATO. Serbia (military neutral and having close ties with both NATO and Russia and Bosnia remain outside NATO.
