Macedonian referendum

Greece's parliament on Friday backed ratification of the highly controversial agreement that is designed to end the decades-long dispute over Macedonia's name.

In the vote that ended at 14.30 pm local time, 153 MPs from the ruling parties and from some opposition parties in the 300-seat parliament endorsed the agreement, which Macedonia has already adopted.

After decades of claims, counterclaims and, at times, ugly politics, Athens and Skopje have resolved one of Europe's most intractable conflicts, reports Aljazeera

A statement from the Macedonian government quoted Zaev as saying the aforementioned in a discussion with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, with whom he met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum as well as EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn.

The Greek parliament speaker's office says a vote to ratify a deal with neighboring Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to change that country's name to normalize relations and allow it to join NATO has been pushed back to Friday.

The delay aims to accommodate the large number of lawmakers who want to speak during the debate.

Greek lawmakers are expected to vote Thursday on a deal to change the name of neighbouring Macedonia and end one of the world's longest diplomatic disputes, reported AFP.

The prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on Wednesday expressed optimism that the name deal with Greece would be ratified by Parliament in Athens this week, saying that he looks forward to getting a new passport for the "Republic of North Macedonia."

The Greek parliament will vote late Jan. 24 on a deal to change Macedonia's name to the Republic of North Macedonia, the Athens News Agency reported.

For many years our main concern was to prove a given, namely the Greekness of ancient Macedonians, driven by the delusion that this would have an effect on the international stage. In other words, we thought that it would convince third countries not to recognize the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) as "Macedonia" and curb accusations of chauvinism against Greece.

The Greek government never really tried to reach any kind of understanding with the country's opposition parties on the name deal signed with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) in June.

Leftist officials failed to brief party leaders in time as negotiations unfolded between Athens and Skopje.

Moscow on Monday criticized a deal to resolve the name dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) as a western plot to draw the Balkan country into the NATO security alliance.