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Associated Press

Macedonia’s prime minister says he expects Greece’s parliament to do its part and ratify the deal changing his country’s name to North Macedonia so it can soon join Nato.
Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told reporters in the capital of Skopje on Saturday that he expects neighbouring Greece to be the first country to sign the accession protocol for Macedonia to become Nato’s 30th member.
Nato formally invited Macedonia to join the military alliance in 2008, but Greece vetoed the move, claiming that Macedonia’s name implies territorial aspirations toward Greece’s northern province with the same name as well as appropriating Greece’s historical heritage.
Zaev said that Macedonian lawmakers had “made history” Friday with their decision to back the constitutional changes associated with the name change.
“I know how difficult that was … we are putting the bitterness in the past and we are looking now proudly to the future,” Zaev said.
He said he now expects Greece’s parliament to convene and do the same, and unblock Macedonia’s Nato membership.

Zaev said that Greece has “got a new friend now North Macedonia,” adding that he hopes the two nations will build up trust and open “many new windows” for cooperation.
But in Greece, the upcoming parliamentary vote on the name change ratification has frayed relations between Greece’s coalition partners.
Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, leader of the right-wing populist Independent Greeks party, is vehemently opposed to the deal. He has repeatedly threatened to pull his lawmakers out of the government, although he has sent mixed signals on whether he will bring down the government in a vote of confidence.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Kammenos will meet Sunday morning to discuss their differences.
Greece and Macedonia reach deal on name, but nationalists on both sides are furious
A Greek government spokeswoman told The Associated Press that by Monday, or at least later in the week, the timeline for ratification will be clearer. The vote could possibly even take place this month, unless a confidence motion, invoked either by Tsipras or by the opposition New Democracy party, is discussed first.
Several lawmakers from small centre-left parties, as well as at least two from Kammenos’ party, have indicated they are ready to vote for the name deal.
Tsipras, who has the unquestioned backing of the 145-strong Syriza parliamentary group, has repeatedly expressed certainty that he will find the 151 votes to ensure ratification of the name deal by a majority in the 300-member Parliament.

The Macedonian parliament’s ratification has been hailed by several foreign leaders, including Nato General-Secretary Jens Stoltenberg and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
Adding his congratulations late Friday, was Matthew Nimetz, the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy on the name dispute since 1999, saying that the agreement paves the way for “a firmer basis for peace and security in the Balkans.”
“I wish to congratulate the (Macedonian) parliament and the country’s citizens for this accomplishment and for the democratic manner in which this important process was undertaken,” he said.


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Greece

Macedonian PM says it is Greece’s turn to make history with name change deal

In this file photo taken on June 17, 2018 Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (R) and Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev raise their hands during a signing ceremony between officials from Greece and Macedonia at Prespes Lake. Photo: AFP

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev (C) gestures after Macedonian lawmakers voted to change the country's name to 'the Republic of North Macedonia' at the parliament in Skopje on January 11, 2019, settling a decades-long row with Greece and paving the way to NATO and EU membership. - The parliamentary speaker said 81 MPs had voted in favour of the name change in the 120-seat chamber, securing the required two-thirds majority. However, the ball is now in Athens' court as the name change will be effective only once it is cleared by the Greek parliament. (Photo by Robert ATANASOVSKI / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on June 17, 2018 Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev (R) welcomes Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on the shore of Lake Prespa near Otesevo. - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on January 11, 2019 congratulated Macedonia counterpart Zoran Zaev after deputies in Skopje voted to change the country's name to the Republic of North Macedonia, his office said. (Photo by Maja ZLATEVSKA / AFP)

Greece and Macedonia reach deal on name, but nationalists on both sides are furious

The decision will see Macedonia officially renamed the Republic of Northern Macedonia, appeasing Athens

Protesters chant the Greek national anthem during a demonstration against the agreement reached by Greece and Macedonia to resolve a dispute over the former Yugoslav republic's name, in Pisoderi village, northern Greece, June 17, 2018. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis

TOPSHOT - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (R) and Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev raise their hands during a signing ceremony between officials from Greece and Macedonia at Prespes Lake on June 17, 2018. The foreign ministers of Greece and Macedonia on June 17, 2018 signed a historic preliminary accord to end a 27-year bilateral row by renaming the small Balkan nation the Republic of North Macedonia. / AFP PHOTO / Sakis MITROLIDIS

A man face riot police as protesters holding Greek flags walk amid smoke during a protest at the village of Pisoderi near the border with Macedonia in northern Greece on Sunday. Greece and Macedonia signed a historic accord on renaming Macedoni by renaming the small Balkan country the Republic of North Macedonia. Photo: Agence France-Presse

Macedonia PM says Greece agrees to discuss proposed name change after decades-long spat

The name of Macedonia has been a source of contention with Greece for decades

Greek President Prokopios Pavlopoulos, right, listens to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during a meeting about developments to resolve a dispute over neighbouring Macedonia's name. Photo: AP

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Prime Minister Zoran Zaev expects neighbouring Greece to sign the accession protocol for Macedonia to become Nato’s 30th member


Prime Minister Zoran Zaev expects neighbouring Greece to sign the accession protocol for Macedonia to become Nato’s 30th member.


Nato