Macedonian parliament ratifies name dispute agreement

By Admir Fazlagikj and Dzihat Aliju

SKOPJE (AA) - The Macedonian parliament ratified on Wednesday an agreement signed with Greece over solving a name dispute between the two countries.

Sixty-nine out of 120 lawmakers voted in favor of the agreement.

Greece and its northern neighbor on Sunday signed a historic accord on renaming Macedonia, which ended a long-standing dispute between the two countries.

The deal proposes changing Macedonia's name to the Republic of North Macedonia and will enable Greece to lift its veto on Macedonia's EU and NATO accession.

Greece, which is both a NATO and EU member, has long opposed the official name of its neighboring country, arguing it has a region by the same name in the north of its country.

The dispute has been one of the main obstacles to Macedonia’s ambition to join NATO and the EU due to the veto right of Greece.

Negotiations between Macedonia and Greece had recently stepped up, as the new government in Skopje sought progress in its bid to join NATO and the EU.

The deal still needs to be confirmed in a Macedonian referendum expected to be held in autumn this year.

Despite the dispute between Athens and Skopje, many countries, including Turkey recognize the country as Macedonia.

* Fatih Hafiz Mehmet contributed to this report from Ankara.