The Judgment of the International Court of Justice of 5 December 2011 and the Greek-Macedonian ‘Difference Over the Name’

Does the ICJ’s Judgment Affect the Pending Diplomatic Dispute Settlement Process?

Abstract

It has been more than a year and a half since the International
Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered its judgment in the case of the
Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995 between the
Republic of Macedonia (RM) and Greece.1
In the judgment, the Court
warranted the Applicant (RM) ‘a declaration that the Respondent
[Greece] violated its obligation not to object to the Applicant’s
admission to or membership in NATO, deriving from Article 11,
paragraph 1, of the 1995 Interim Accord’ 2 as regards Greek acts of
blocking RM from being extended an invitation to join the Alliance at its
Bucharest Summit of 3 April 2008. So far, however, despite that
judgment, the Republic of Macedonia has not yet been awarded an
invitation for membership in the Alliance, or a beginning of accession
negotiations with the European Union, to which Greece is a member.