North Macedonia is celebrating its 32nd independence anniversary on September 8, 2023. The country declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, following a referendum in which 95.3% of voters supported independence, Turanews.kz reports.
The country’s first president was Kiro Gligorov, who served from 1991 to 1999. North Macedonia was admitted to the United Nations in 1993, but under the provisional name “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” due to a dispute with Greece over the country’s name.
The name dispute was finally resolved in 2018, when Greece and North Macedonia signed an agreement under which North Macedonia agreed to change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. The agreement paved the way for North Macedonia to join NATO, which it did in 2020.
North Macedonia is now a candidate country for EU membership, and the country’s government is hopeful that it will start accession negotiations soon.
In addition to its efforts to join the EU, North Macedonia is also involved in the regional initiative known as the Open Balkans. The Open Balkans is a free movement zone between Serbia, Albania, and North Macedonia, and it is seen as a way to boost economic cooperation in the region.
