FYROM's main opposition party rejects name proposal

The main opposition party of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE, said it was against changing the country's name to "Republic of Ilinden Macedonia," undermining prospects for a solution of a decades-long dispute with Greece.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras discussed the proposal on the sidelines of the Western Balkan-EU summit in Sofia last week.

However, Zaev would need the support of VMRO-DPNE for any change of name to take effect. Tsipras is also struggling to win political backing for the plan in Greece.

Zaev's coalition needs to secure a two-thirds majority in the 120-seat parliament to get backing for constitutional changes required to get the new name approved.

"VMRO-DPNE will not support a change to the constitution with the goal to change the constitutional name," party...