North Macedonia's new president, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, reignited an old debate with her swearing-in ceremony in parliament on Sunday. Instead of "North Macedonia," the country's new name after the deal with Greece, she used the name "Macedonia." The Greek ambassador to the country, Sophia Philippidou, walked out of the chamber in protest. The Foreign Ministry in Athens also reacted, later stating that the country's new president's stance jeopardizes bilateral relations and North Macedonia's path to the EU. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged the country to respect the agreements reached if it is to remain on track for EU membership.

The new election winners want to use the old name

Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova clearly won the presidential election on Wednesday as the candidate of the nationalist party, VMRO-DPMNE, against the then incumbent social democratic candidate, Stevo Pendarovski. In the parliamentary elections, VMRO was also elected the most powerful parliamentary force, and probably the head of the party, Hristijan Mickoski, will form the new government. As the new president, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, VMRO politicians also announced in the election that they would no longer use the new official name of the country but the former Macedonia.

North Macedonia has been a candidate for EU membership since 2005. But the start of accession talks was delayed due to a name dispute with Greece. In 2027, the ruling Social Democrats reached an agreement with Greece on a name change, which was implemented in 2019. Athens insisted on changing the name to Macedonia, as a region in northern Greece bears the same name. The name change to North Macedonia also brought the country membership in NATO and thus paved the way for the start of accession talks./DW