The Possibilities For Macedonia's Euro-atlantic Integration Regarding The Name Dispute Between Macedonia And Greece

This paper aims to study the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece, which eventually led to veto imposed by Greece during the NATO Summit in Bucharest in 2008. In addition, Macedonia has been EU candidate country since 2005 and is yet to open negotiations for membership due to the name dispute with Greece.Greece opposing Macedonia's constitutional name (Republic of Macedonia) was the only reason for Macedonia's admittance in the UN under its provisional name (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) in 1993. The veto in Bucharest and EU no integration is the negative epilogue of unsuccessful negotiations between neighboring countries to reach a compromise regarding Macedonia's new name.Having into consideration the fact that Macedonia's NATO accession was blocked after applying with its provisional name, one might ask whether the country's name is the real reason for Greece to obstruct Macedonia's Euro-Atlantic integration or there is something else behind the scenes impeding Macedonia to realize its strategic goals since independence, i.e. to join EU and NATO.Finally,this paper will try to picture the potential outcome of the issue regarding Macedonia's Euro-Atlantic integration.