Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras congratulated on Saturday his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev on the results of voting in the Macedonian parliament on the country's name change and called them an important step towards peace.
ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2018) Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras congratulated on Saturday his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev on the results of voting in the Macedonian parliament on the country's name change and called them an important step towards peace.
The Macedonian parliament passed on Friday amendments to constitution that allow the country to change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia, according to vote broadcast on the parliament's website. A total of 80 lawmakers out of 120 voted in favor of the name change securing the majority required to pass the bill. The new name will allow the Balkan state to join NATO and the European Union, the process that Greece has been blocking over fears that the former Yugoslav republic might try to claim its region under the same name.
"Congratulations my friend @Zoran_Zaev ! Tonight's vote is a big step towards our common success. A very important step to a peaceful and prosperous future for our people!" Tsipras wrote on Twitter.
Many Greeks still oppose the agreement on changing Macedonia's signed by Athens and Skopje in June.
On September 30, Macedonia, officially known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), held a referendum on its renaming, which was prompted by the related agreement signed between Greece and Macedonia in June. According to the State Election Commission, 91.46 percent of those, who cast their ballots, voted in favor of renaming the country, while 5.65 percent voted against. At the same time, the turnout was 36.91 percent, below the required 50 percent.
However, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said after the vote that in reality, over 50 percent of the Macedonian population voted in the referendum, arguing that the actual number of constituents was higher than the official number, because official lists had not been revised for 20 years and included around 200,000 people who had already died and 350,000-400,000 people who had left the country.
