Zoran Zaev, the prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, officially announced the name change of Skopje’s “Alexander the Great ” airport to Skopje International Airport and of the “Alexander of Macedon” highway to “Boulevard of Friendship” as promised after his meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at Davos.
At the same time, Zaev announced he will accept a composite name with a geographic marker for FYROM.
The announcement was hailed by the Greek foreign ministry, which described the move as a significant step towards eradicating Skopje’s longstanding irredentism.
“We salute today’s decision by the government of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to rename the Skopje airport as “Skopje International Airport”, and to rename the highway that links Skopje with the Greek border to “Friendship Highway,” the Greek foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Today’s decision is a positive step towards reversing all that occurred in the last decade, which burdened the relations between the two countries. It is an important development in the direction of addressing the issue of irredentism, and we hope that it signals the beginning of a new chapter in the relations between our two countries and peoples,” the statement concluded.
Angelos Athanasopoulos
