Macedonia to be renamed Republic of North Macedonia, ending 27-year dispute with Greece

Skopje: Macedonia’s parliament on Friday passed an amendment to the constitution to rename the country Republic of North Macedonia, as agreed with Greece to put an end to a 27-year dispute. Eighty-one deputies in the 120-seat parliament voted in favour. Representatives of the opposition Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE), who opposed the agreement with Greece, boycotted the vote. [caption id=“attachment_5886691” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Macedonian prime minister Zoran Zaev. Reuters[/caption] The countries struck the deal on the new name in June, but Macedonia will start using it only after the parliament in Athens also ratifies the agreement. Greece blocked its neighbour’s aspirations to EU and NATO membership over the use of ‘Macedonia’, which it said implied territorial claims by to a Greek province of the same name. At the start of the parliamentary session, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told deputies the name change would “open the doors to the future, Macedonia’s European future”, and to joining the North Atlantic alliance. Several hundred people have protested against the deal in front of parliament over the past three days.