How would a country change its name's translation into another language? Does it have authority over it?

by Xorondras

As an example:

Belarus in German is called "Weissrussland", literally meaning "White Russia". If Belarus decided that this translation does not represent the cultural values of Belarus or that the translation is inaccurate/misleading/etc. in any way, what possibilities does the Belarusian government have to change its name in another part of the world?

MaboSzate

They can ask for it diplomaticly, but I don't think that they have any right to force it. A similar case happened in Hungary in 2017. In Hungarian, Georgia is "Grúzia", which comes from the Russian name of the country, and offends the Georgians. In 2017, the Water World Championships were held in Hungary, and the Georgians asked to change the country's name at the Hungarian broadcast and leaflets. The Hungarians agreed, and the official name of the country became "Georgia" in Hungarian, but this doesn't make the original word disappear from the langauge immediately.