When North Macedonia’s new president refuses to pronounce his country’s new name

North Macedonia’s first female president, Kortana Siljanovska-Tavkova, refused to pronounce the country’s new name used from a 2018 agreement with Greece when she took office on Sunday. “I declare that I will exercise the office of the President of Macedonia conscientiously and responsibly, respect the constitution and laws, and defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Macedonia”Kortana Siljanovska-Tavkova announced in front of representatives of the Parliament and guests at the ceremony.

In an official speech, he repeated, the AFP journalist noted, that it was actually the constitutional name of North Macedonia. Nationalist right-wing candidate Kortana Siljanovska-Tavkova was elected on May 8 to a five-year term in the second round of the presidential election, defeating outgoing Social-Democratic Party leader Stevo with 65% of the vote. She is the first woman to hold this position since the small Balkan country’s independence was declared in 1991.

A long feud

The retired university professor, who celebrated his 71st birthday on Saturday, vowed to be the leader. “All Citizens” And called“unit” in the country. Skopje completed a contract in 2018 “History” Agreed to add geographical indication, along with Greece “North” On behalf of the country, it blocked its accession to NATO and its negotiations to join the European Union (EU) for this reason, to end the long-standing conflict with its neighbors. The country became a member of NATO in 2020.

The right-wing nationalist organization VMRO-DMPNE, whose candidate in this election was Gortana Siljanovska-Tavkova, opposed the deal with Greece. Also, VMRO-DMPNE came ahead of legislative elections, which also took place on May 8, defeating the Social Democratic Union (SDSM), which has been in power since 2017, winning 58 of the 120 seats in parliament. Right-wing opposition in the impoverished Balkan nation of 1.8 million people risks renewing tensions with Greece and Bulgaria, which is setting its own conditions for North Macedonia to advance negotiations to join the EU.