Zaev addresses the deputies of the parliament during a vote to pass constitutional changes to allow the Balkan country to change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. — Reuters photo
SKOPJE: Macedonian politicians voted on Friday to change the country’s name to ‘Republic of North Macedonia’, settling a decades-long row with Greece and paving the way for NATO and EU membership.
Parliamentary speaker Talad Xhaferi said 81 MPs had voted in favour of the name change in the 120-seat chamber, securing the required two-thirds majority.
But the name will also have to approved by the Greek parliament before it comes into effect.
Ahead of the Macedonian vote, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev had emphasised the historic importance of the decision.
“Without the accord with Greece, there will be neither Nato nor EU membership,” Zaev said.
“I changed my opinion on the name issue in the name of progress and at the cost of my political career,” he added.
Athens has promised to lift its veto on Skopje’s attempts to join Nato and the EU on condition Macedonia changes its name.
Greece has blocked the path to both international organisations since Macedonia broke away from the former Yugoslavia in 1991 because, it said, the name Macedonia should apply solely to its own northern province.
For the Greeks, Macedonia evokes national pride as the cradle of Alexander the Great’s ancient empire.
Friday’s vote brought an end to months of political bickering in Macedonia that included a controversial consultative referendum in September and a long parliamentary battle.
Officials of the main opposition conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, who refused to take part in the parliamentary debate, denounced the name change as treason.
However several opposition MPs broke ranks and voted for the change, alongside the ruling Social Democratic party and their junior coalition partners from the ethnic Albanian minority.— AFP