Southeastern European countries

The accession protocol for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to join NATO under the new name North Macedonia was approved by a parliamentary committee on Thursday.

The protocol is to go the House plenary on Friday for debate followed by a vote which is expected to approve it, bringing FYROM one step closer to joining the alliance. 

A Greek parliament committee is debating whether to sign off on the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) joining NATO, the final hurdle to be cleared before its northern neighbor can formally be renamed "Republic of North Macedonia."

Thanassis Papachristopoulos, a deputy of the nationalist Independent Greeks (ANEL), will reportedly relinquish his seat in Parliament on Friday, after lawmakers vote on the crucial NATO accession protocol of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia which will complete Greece's ratification process, Kathimerini has learned.

Serbian Deputy PM and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic and UK Minister of Transport Jesse Norman inked the document on Wednesday, Tanjug is reporting.

Their conversation concerned "cooperation between the two countries and the European path of Serbia," the Serbian government announced.

The small Balkan country of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) took a big step Wednesday toward becoming the 30th member of NATO, the world's biggest military alliance.

The head of the SPC stressed that "Serbia without Kosovo and Metohija is not Serbia."

"Like a person with their heart extracted, is no longer a living person," the patriarch told RIA Novosti, during a visit to Moscow.

A two-day visit by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to Turkey got off to a shaky start Tuesday after Turkey put up bounties for the capture of eight Turkish servicemen who fled to Greece following a failed coup in 2016.

Serbia was one of the countries with the biggest declines in its democracy score, alongside Nicaragua, Tanzania and Venezuela, in this year's edition of Freedom House's annual 'Freedom in the World' report, which was published on Tuesday.

Greek lawmakers will vote on the protocol that paves the way for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's (FYROM) accession to NATO under the name "Republic of North Macedonia," as agreed with Greece.