The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) is pleased to announce that the Czech Republic is the 135th country in the world to recognize Macedonia by its constitutional name. Following the Hungarian recognition in December 2012, the Czech Republic becomes the 16th EU member-state to recognize Macedonia’s constitutional name.
Macedonia and the Czech Republic have enjoyed bilateral relations long before 1991. The Czechoslovak Consul General to Skopje Vladimír Znojemský in 1928 reported the existence of a Macedonian nation, and that the Macedonian people are different from the others in the region, speak different language and feel different.
The Macedonian community in the Czech Republic largely originates from Aegean Macedonia in current day Greece, and mainly consists of Macedonian children refugees and their descendants who were forced out of Greece during the Greek Civil War in the 1940s.
UMD expresses its sincere gratitude to Prime Minister Petr Nečas, his Government and the Czech people worldwide for their continued support and friendship.
“The decision to recognize Macedonia’s constitutional name loudly speaks of the number of EU member-states who are frustrated with the EU’s impasse to set a date for accession talks for Macedonia,” said UMD President Metodija A. Koloski. “The example set by the Czech Republic and all Central European countries’ on their successful EU integration is important for Macedonia.”