Greece has requested that North Macedonia remove revisionist and irredentist wording from its school textbooks, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandra Papadopoulou told parliament in Athens.
Addressing a topical question raised by opposition MP Giorgos Rountas, Papadopoulou confirmed that school textbooks in the neighboring Balkan nation continue to include references that run counter to the Prespa Agreement and violate North Macedonia's own constitution.
The parliamentary debate focused on a textbook used in North Macedonia covering the Macedonian language. Rountas presented specific extracts to the assembly, pointing out passages on pages 85 and 107 of the book that refer to a nuclear Macedonia and describe a fatherland that remains enslaved and tormented.
The opposition lawmaker also highlighted passages referring to Alexander the Great as a Macedonian. He argued that the textbook fails to draw a clear distinction between the ancient Macedonians and the modern identity recognized for the citizens of North Macedonia under the bilateral accord.
Papadopoulou acknowledged that the issue remains unresolved. She stated that the Greek foreign ministry continues to insist on the removal of all formulations that carry a revisionist or irredentist character, and is awaiting a formal response from authorities in Skopje.
Parliamentary scrutiny and official objections
During the session in the Hellenic Parliament, the supreme legislative body of Greece located in Athens, Rountas asked the government to clarify whether the joint expert committee created under the agreement had requested the deletion of these specific passages. He asked when the matter was discussed and what response Greece received from the other side.
The Niki MP also urged the government to submit official documents into the parliamentary record to prove Greek diplomatic interventions dating back to 2023. In his second speech during the debate, Rountas accused the government of failing to identify and denounce the problematic textbook content in a timely manner.
Rountas further reiterated the established stance of the Niki party, a right-wing political group represented in the Greek parliament that advocates for the complete abolition of the Prespa Agreement.
In response, Papadopoulou emphasized that while the approval of school textbooks is the responsibility of each country's Ministry of Education, Greece will not cease taking action to ensure that educational materials accurately reflect historical reality. She stated that this includes the proper depiction of the origin and historical actions of figures such as Alexander the Great.
The Prespa Agreement and educational oversight
The Prespa Agreement was signed in 2018 to resolve a long-running name dispute between Athens and Skopje. Under the landmark treaty, the country formerly known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia adopted the official name Republic of North Macedonia, while establishing explicit boundaries regarding historical heritage and national identity.
Article 8 of the treaty provides for the establishment of a Joint Interdisciplinary Committee of Experts. This body is tasked with inspecting school textbooks, maps, historical atlases, and supplementary educational material in both countries to ensure the elimination of any irredentist or revisionist references. The treaty explicitly mandates that new editions of school textbooks must also be reviewed by the committee.
Irredentism refers to political movements advocating the reclamation of territories based on historical or ethnic ties, while historical revisionism involves altering established historical facts. Both concepts were key targets of the Prespa Agreement, which aimed to establish peaceful neighborly relations.
As early as 2019, a joint communique issued by the committee confirmed that both nations had agreed that school curricula, textbooks, and auxiliary teaching materials should be cleared of all revisionist content. Seven years after the signing of the agreement, however, Athens maintains that non-compliant wording persists in North Macedonia's schools.
Bilateral committee work and historical heritage
The Joint Interdisciplinary Committee held its eleventh meeting in Athens on May 12, 2026. Delegations from both countries declared after the meeting that they would continue working in accordance with the Prespa Agreement and the recorded minutes of prior sessions. That meeting followed a tenth session held in December 2025, during which the two sides exchanged primary and secondary school educational curricula.
Papadopoulou noted that the committee holds its sessions alternately in Athens and Skopje, the capitals of Greece and North Macedonia. She explained that the proceedings of the body are governed by confidentiality to facilitate effective diplomatic work.
The historical legacy of Alexander the Great remains a sensitive issue in bilateral relations. Alexander III of Macedon was the ancient king who built an empire stretching from Greece to India in the fourth century BC. Under the Prespa Agreement, North Macedonia acknowledged that its history, culture, and language are distinct from the ancient Hellenic civilization that inhabited the region of Macedonia in antiquity.
The parliamentary discussion highlights that the revision of school textbooks remains one of the major outstanding issues in the implementation of the Prespa Agreement, with Athens formally recognizing that incompatible phrasing continues to be taught in North Macedonia's classrooms.
