The foreign ministry of North Macedonia on Friday issued a guideline for international media on how to refer to the country and its citizens, based on the elements of the Prespes accord signed with Greece.
The ministry said the official name of the country is “Republic of North Macedonia,” or in short “North Macedonia,” and the nationality (citizenship) is Macedonian/citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia.
The official language is “Macedonian language,” and the country codes are MK and MKD.
It said the adjective “Macedonian” is to be used when relating to “ethnic and cultural identity of the people, our language, history, culture, heritage, territory and other attributes,” noting that such terms “are distinctly different from those used and related to the region of Macedonia in Greece.”
The ministry said proper examples of the use of the word “Macedonia” would include Macedonian ethnic identity, Macedonian language, Macedonian culture, Macedonian territory, Macedonian people, Macedonian history, etc., noting that the adjective “North” should not be used in the aforementioned context.
When writing about state entities, media should refer to the government of the Republic of North Macedonia, the president of North Macedonia, the minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia, North Macedonia’s defence minister, North Macedonia’s municipality of Ohrid, the University of St. Cyril and Methodius of North Macedonia.
Other correct examples of references include the Macedonian economy, the health sector of the Republic of North Macedonia, Macedonian art, Macedonian music, Macedonian agriculture, Macedonian architecture etc.
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