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FYROM proceeds with airport, road renaming

FYROM proceeds with airport, road renaming

The decision taken by Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his cabinet to rename the country’s main airport and a main highway has been made official.

The alterations are meant to be a goodwill gesture as talks over the name issue with Greece continue.

The name of the airport in FYROM’s capital, Skopje, will be changed from Alexander the Great Airport, which it has been called since 2006, to Skopje International Airport after the Zaev administration’s decision was published in the Government Gazette. The road, also named after the legendary conqueror, in 2008, will be called “Friendship Highway.”

The decision foresees all 19 signs along the road being changed.

The renaming opens up the possibility of Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias visiting Skopje soon as part of the first flight from Athens to the neighboring country’s capital in roughly 12 years, according to ministry sources.

Direct flights between the two cities were suspended when a previous FYROM government named the airport after Alexander the Great.

Kotzias arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Thursday for the informal meeting of European Union foreign ministers. He may meet his counterpart from FYROM, Nikola Dimitrov, on the sidelines of the gathering. The pair held talks in Vienna, Austria, earlier this week.

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