VMRO-DPMNE

Serbia remains the only Balkan state which has not yet publicly congratulated its neighbour Macedonia and Greece on their signing on Sunday of a landmark agreement aimed at finally resolving their decades-long dispute over Macedonia's name.

Hundreds of protesters joined a rally Sunday in the city of Bitola - near the border of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) with Greece - to protest an agreement resolving the two countries' dispute over FYROM's official name.

A host of political parties in Macedonia are calling on Prime Minister Zoran Zaev to make good on a promise to scrap the country's six electoral units, making it easier for smaller parties to pick up seats in parliament.

A judge who sentenced the former prime minister of Macedonia, Nikola Gruevski, to two years in jail last month has been under 24-hour police protection for the past two weeks due to threats made against her, Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski said on Friday.

The main opposition slammed the government on Thursday for the lack of information on the ongoing talks between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), following statements of the country's former foreign minister.

Beta is reporting this on Monday, citing the website Euractiv.

Orban on Saturday sent a video message to a rally in Skopje of nationalist opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, praising its refusal to bend "under pressure from foreign powers."

Macedonian President Gjorje Ivanov (VMRO-DPMNE) is also opposed to a reaching a compromise with Greece.

A thousand-hour protest against the change of the Macedonian name occurred on the streets of Skopje. The strike also demanded early elections because of the state of the economy.

Thousands of Macedonian flags and flags of the opposition gathered outside the building of the Council of Ministers in Skopje

Some of the protesters wore posters saying "Macedonia will win".

The new VMRO DPMNE leader, Hristijan Mickovski, dubbed Zoran Zaev's Social Democrat-led government a "criminal cartel" at Saturday's rally against Macedonia's current administration.

He accused the government of widespread corruption, a firm grip on the judiciary and media, and of a failure to produce any results for the economy.

Other proposals reportedly still on the table include "Upper Macedonia" and "New Macedonia."

Athens and Skopje have never been closer to reaching an agreement in their decades-long name dispute, Tanjug is reporting on Wednesday.

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.