In this lecture, the audience will be initiated into the “why” of the Greek reactions, the myths that inundate the Greek side regarding the Macedonian question. Since the early 1990s, both countries have been “antiquity-struck” to a stifling degree. Athens obstinately insisted on a position that was internationally problematic and humiliatingly unfair. At the same time, in response, examples of being “antiquity-struck” started appearing in Skopje. Nationalism, like foolishness, knows no borders. The situation seemed to be at a permanent impasse, and those who insisted on the necessity and possibility of cooperation between the peoples in resolving the problem and on the principles of being a good neighbor were a minority in Greece. So, something has changed in Greece now. The Prespa Agreement is an indication of this. For the first time in many years, we understand that the obstinate nationalists are not the only players in the game. The governmental shift in Skopje and the commitment of Athens to the prospect of a solution have created a platform for negotiation and dialogue that may completely change the dead-end image that we had become used to.

Dimitris Christopoulos is a Greek academic, writer and activist. He was born in Athens in 1969. Christopoulos is a professor of state and legal theory at the Department of Political Science and History of the Panteion University of Athens where he has been teaching since 2003. His courses include an Introduction at the European Legal and State Theory, Minorities in Europe, Citizenship and Migration.