N Macedonia president pays first state visit to Greece

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The president of North Macedonia is making the country’s first state visit to Greece. President Stevo Pendarovski met in Athens with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday. Pendarovski is seeking support for North Macedonia’s stalled effort to join the European Union. The former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia declared independence in 1991 but only normalized relations with Greece in 2018 after agreeing to change its name to North Macedonia. The name change addressed Greece’s concerns for its own northern region of Macedonia. North Macedonia and five other western Balkan countries are seeking EU membership, but existing members are divided on the timetable of the 27-nation bloc’s expansion.