The withdrawal of the Greek veto led the European Union to authorise, on 27 June, the opening of accession negotiations with the Republic of Macedonia in order to start next year, subject to the implementation of the Prespa agreement and the modification of the country`s constitutional name in the Republic of Northern Macedonia. [62] On 5 July, the Prespa agreement was again ratified by the Macedonian Parliament and 69 MEPs voted in favour. [63] On 11 July, NATO invited Macedonia to begin accession negotiations to become the 30th member of the Euro-Atlantic Alliance. [64] The term “transit contract” refers to agreements relating to the setting of a border, the transfer of territory or restrictions on its use, such as transit rights in the territory, fishing or navigation rights, and demilitarization obligations taken in favour of a foreign state. [28] There is no doubt that restrictions on the choice and use of a name by one state for the benefit of another state cannot be fully equated with restrictions on the use of a territory. The official name of a state does not constitute a material asset “in the sense of real or real estate” but is conceptually closer to the functions of intangible assets. [29] Therefore, not all rights and obligations related to the official name of a state can be easily equated with real rights and obligations. However, in practice, the distinction between tangible and intangible assets is not as clear as it appears to be at the outset. The choice of an official name by a state refers inextricably to the specific territory in which that state exercises its sovereignty.

[30] A limitation on the choice of a state name, as contained in the Prespa agreement, is therefore, to some extent, a localized obligation and may have erga omnes effects on third countries. In addition, the concept of servitude, the most characteristic example of a localized restriction on erga omnes effects, has been used mutatis mutandis to examine other commitments made by a state, such as human rights obligations. [31] Therefore, while the nomenclature of easements may seem obsolete today, and although several authors have questioned the applicability of the term in toto under international law, the function of servitudes as objective rules that must be respected by third countries, because it is an emanation of the sovereign jurisdiction of the territorial state, may apply in the case of the Prespa Convention with regard to restrictions on behalf of the Northern Macedonia.