Greece, Macedonia sign historic name agreement
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negotiations took place under un auspices beginning in 19951 reutersnanthe foreign ministers of greece and macedonia signed an accord on sunday to rename the former yugoslav republic the republic of north macedonia1 the agreement still requires the approval of both parliaments and a referendum in macedonia1 we have a historic responsibility that this deal is not held in abeyance and i am confident that we will manage it greek prime minister alexis tsipras said as he and his macedonian counterpart zoran zaev received a standing ovation from guests at a lakeside ceremony1 tsipras survived a no-confidence vote mounted by greeces opposition in parliament on saturday but the depth of public emotion against the deal is strong1 up to 70 per cent of greeks object to the compromise an opinion poll by the proto thema newspaper showed on saturday1 under the deal greece will lift its objections to the renamed nation joining the eu and nato1 our two countries have to turn from the past and look to the future zaev said. we were bold enough to take a step forward1 greece has been in dispute with macedonia since 1991 over the former yugoslav republics name arguing it could imply territorial claims over the greek province of macedonia and an appropriation of ancient greek culture and civilisation1 the subject is an emotional one for many greeks1 on saturday thousands of protesters outside the parliament building shouted traitor traitor as lawmakers debated inside1 greece and macedonia have been at odds over the latters name since macedonia emerged from the disintegrating former yugoslavia in 19911 the landmark accord follows decades of inconclusive talks which had soured relations between the two countries and held up the admission of the balkan state into the eu and nato of which greece is a member1 greece insisted that the name macedonia belongs to its northern province and accused skopje of usurping hellenic history and even territorial aspirations1 athens allowed the country to join the un only with the provisional name of former yugoslav republic of macedonia1 under the new deal announced on tuesday by tsipras and zaev greece allowed its neighbourto retain the key part of its name but with ageographic qualifierafter a complex procedure which will take monthsthe country will become the republic of northern macedonia1 greece will also immediately lift its veto on an invitation for macedonia to join nato andalso allow the european union to open membership talks with skopje1 the un envoy who mediated the talks for 23 years matthew nimetz was joined by euchief diplomat federica mogherini and enlargement commissioner johannes hahn at the signing ceremony1 hahn tweeted that the agreement would contribute to peace andstability andhopefully to tangible progress forthe euperspective of macedonia1 a day earlier tsipras survived a no-confidence motion the opposition launched over the name deal and zaev will have to push aside the veto on the ratification by president gjorge ivanov1 macedonia now needs to ratify the deal in the parliament and confirm it with a referendum presumably in septemberandcement the name change into its constitution1 only after that will greece also ratify it as well macedonias membership in nato1 the agreement enraged nationalists in both countries who feel that their side has conceded too much. conservative macedonian president gorge ivanov has promised to veto the agreement even if parliament ratifies it1 a second vote from parliament would allow the vetoed motion to become law1 greeks opposing the deal protested in athens on friday and saturday while the macedonian nationalists scheduled a rally against it in the south-western city of bitola1