Decree puts new North Macedonia name on army uniforms

North Macedonia’s president says he has signed a decree renaming the army to correspond with the new name the country took in February to end a decades-long dispute with neighbouring Greece.

President Stevo Pendarovski said Thursday the decree specifies that army uniforms will now bear the name “Army of the Republic of North Macedonia.”

Pendarovski serves as supreme commander of the armed forces as part of the largely ceremonial presidency he assumed in May.

The governments of Greece and what was then Macedonia agreed last year to add “North” to the younger country’s name in exchange for Greece dropping its objections to its northern neighbour joining NATO and the European Union.

Greece had insisted since the early 1990s that the country’s name implied territorial claims on its own Macedonia province.