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TEHRAN, October 20 - Macedonia's parliament on Friday voted to start the process of renaming the country North Macedonia, a major step towards ending a decades-long stalemate with Greece and opening a door to NATO and the EU.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The razor-thin majority was reached after a tense week of debate and back-room negotiations in Skopje, where it was unclear until the last moment whether the government could secure votes from two-thirds of parliament.
Amendments will now be drafted to incorporate the new name into the constitution, after which another parliamentary vote will be required to enshrine the changes.
"I can confirm that with 80 'yes' votes the parliament adopted the proposal by the government to start the procedure to change the constitution," said Talat Xhaferi, speaker of the 120-member assembly.
Although more legislative hurdles await, it is a crucial victory for Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, who had to win over several MPs from the right-wing VMRO-DPMNE party that has been staunchly against the deal.
Under the accord, which Zaev struck with his Greek counterpart in June, the Balkan state would rename itself North Macedonia in exchange for Athens' promise to stop blocking its entry into NATO and the EU.
Greece has stood in Macedonia's way for 27 years in protest at the country's name, which it argues is an encroachment on its own province called Macedonia.
Macedonian critics of the deal have slammed it as an embarrassing concession to Athens.
Source: AFP
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