Republic of Macedonia

A presidential election in North Macedonia that gave voters another chance to express an opinion on their country's new name will go to a runoff after turnout in the first round of voting Sunday was too low for a candidate to win outright, election officials said.

In the summer of 2018, the prime ministers of Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Alexis Tsipras and Zoran Zaev respectively, signed the historical Prespes agreement, whereby FYROM would be renamed North Macedonia.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar's visit to Skopje on Wednesday, just a day after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was there with a large entourage of ministers and businessmen, is seen in Greece as an indication of Turkey's growing concern over Athens's new role in North Macedonia after the ratification of the Prespes agreement. 

Environment and Energy Minister Yorgos Stathakis has said that despite the popular backlash from the Prespa Agreement, North Macedonia's EU prospects and course will serve to highlight the benefits of the accord.

Stathakis said it will take time for the positive repercussions of the agreement to become evident to the general public.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras arrives at a historic visit to Skopje, the World Agencies have reported.
 
This is the first visit of a Greek prime minister to the former Yugoslav republic. According to France Press this is the first Greek leader in Skopje in many years.

Seeking to mitigate the negative reactions to the Prespes agreement at home, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras aims to highlight its prospects during his visit Tuesday to North Macedonia with an entourage of around 70 businessmen and 10 cabinet ministers.

Regardless of what one thinks about the name deal signed and ratified earlier this year by the Greek government and North Macedonia, the so-called Prespes agreement has left a number of serious issues unresolved.

North Macedonia's Prime Minister, Zoran Zaev, has said that he agreed to change his country's name and Constitution because PM Alexis Tsipras accepted the existence of a "Macedonian identity".

In a debate with opposition VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski, Zaev also noted that Tsipras had initially accepted the name Republic of Ilinden Macedonia.

Election authorities in North Macedonia say three people, including a law professor who is the country's first female candidate, will run for president of the newly renamed country in April 21 elections.

Amid reactions in Greece over frequent references made in North Macedonia to a Macedonian language, the neighboring country's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said on Wednesday that the name of the language was accepted in the Prespes agreement, which was ratified this year by the two parliaments.