North Macedonia has agreed to rename Skopje’s Philip II Arena as part of a wider agreement reached earlier this year with Greece.
Under the pact between the two governments, Macedonia agreed to add the “North” prefix to its official name in order to distinguish it from a bordering Greek province which is also called Macedonia.
The agreement ended a long-running dispute between the two countries over the name Macedonia and its heritage, which included the ancient history of Philip II and his son Alexander the Great’s fourth century BC kingdom of Macedon.
The pact had included an understanding that North Macedonia review monuments and infrastructure that are tied to Hellenic history. North Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has now said that Philip II Arena will be renamed after a popular singer who died in 2007 at the age of 26.
“We have decided to rename the Philip II Stadium as the Tose Proseki National Arena to honour a personality who left a deep mark on Macedonian and regional history,” Zaev said, according to state news agency MIA.
Along with being the main base for the North Macedonia national football team, the 34,400-capacity stadium also hosts domestic top-tier clubs FK Vardar and FK Rabotnichki.
Image: Wiöldcard
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