History UsefulNotes / NorthMacedonia

** Prime Minister: Dimitar Kovačevski
** Chairman of the Assembly: Talat Xhaferi

* '''Area:''' 25,713 km
(9,928 sq mi) (145nd)

** Prime Minister: Zoran Zaev

However, the newly independent Macedonia found itself at odds with Greece, due to Greece's northern region (the territory annexed in 1913) having the same name. Greece felt that, due to its cultural and historic importance, the name should be considered exclusively Greek. Macedonia, on the other hand, felt that it was within its rights to call itself whatever it pleased and refused to even acknowledge the dispute. Greece had even argued that the nation's name implies a desire to annex the northern Greek region, which in Macedonia was seen as InsaneTrollLogic. As a result, the neighbors have had a rocky relationship, which has led to incidents such as the rejection of Macedonia from joining UsefulNotes/{{NATO}} and the UsefulNotes/EuropeanUnion, as joining either group requires unanimous approval of the current members. Because of Greece's pressure, Macedonia was a member of the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations under the name "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"[[note]]And yes, "former" is deliberately not capitalized.[[/note]] (as well as the UsefulNotes/OlympicGames, where the full name is used in the alphabetical order it is marching in[[note]]For example, "F" in English, "E" in French (Ex-République Yougoslave de Macédoine) and "Π"/Pi in Greek (Πρώην Γιουγκοσλαβική Δημοκρατία της Μακεδονίας / Prōin Yiougoslavikí Dimokratía tis Makedonías)[[/note]]) and Greece itself only recognised Macedonia under that name or the name "Macedonia-Skopje", just to make the point.

In 2018, a deal called the Prespa agreement was struck to rename the country to "Republic of North Macedonia"; previously the country called itself as simply "Republic of Macedonia". With the decision, Greece promises to drop its objections to NATO and EU membership. While the deal was controversial[[note]]On both sides. Some Macedonians resented having to change their country's name to appease the Greeks, while some Greeks suspect that once North Macedonia's membership in NATO and the EU is confirmed they'll reneg on the agreement and drop the "North" from their name, as while NATO and the EU both require unanimous consent to admit a new member, neither has ''any'' provision for ''kicking out'' an existing member (the apparent assumption being that any nation that turns against the organization's purpose would naturally leave on their own initiative).[[/note]], the rename eventually came into effect on the 12th of February, 2019, finally ending the naming dispute with Greece, and North Macedonia applied for NATO membership, with the country finally becoming part of NATO on March 27th, 2020, being the newest member of the organization.