Macedonia Launches Ratification of Historic ‘Name’ Deal
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| Macedonian parliament. Photo: MIA |
Sixty-nine MPs in Macedonia’s 120-seat parliament voted for the agreement with Greece to rename the country the Republic of North Macedonia to be put to a plenary session of the legislature in a fast-track procedure, while 40 voted against, mainly MPs from the opposition right-wing VMRO DPMNE.
During Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov’s speech in parliament in defence of the deal, opposition legislators shouted “traitor” at him.
After the vote, they left the parliament session in protest.
The ratification of the agreement at the parliamentary plenary session is expected to happen tomorrow, although this has not yet been officially confirmed.
“Since the opposition MPs left parliament and said they will not participate in the adoption of this document, the necessary procedures will be speedier and we are making efforts to ratify it tomorrow,” an MP from the ruling majority told BIRN on Tuesday on condition of anonymity.
Macedonia is chasing a tight deadline for the ratification of the historic deal in order not to miss its opportunity to get an agreement for the long-awaited start of EU accession talks at the EU Council of Ministers’ meeting on June 25-26 – as well as an invitation to join NATO at the military alliance’s summit, which is set for July 11.
Once the Macedonian parliament ratifies the agreement, signed on Sunday by Dimitrov and his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias, Athens is expected to make the next move by sending letters to NATO and the EU, informing them that it no longer objects to the Republic of North Macedonia’s membership of these organisations.
The ratification will almost certainly not be signed by Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov, who objects to the name deal, in which case a second vote in parliament will be required.
However, Ivanov’s refusal to sign the ratification is not expected to block the process but merely prolong it slightly.
While the first vote took place in parliament, a group of several hundred opponents of the agreement demonstrated outside amid a heavy police presence, calling on MPs to resign and join them in protest.
Unlike on Sunday when police used tear gas and shock grenades to prevent angry protesters from storming parliament, Tuesday’s protest was calm.
People chanted slogans against Prime Minister Zoran Zaev calling him a “traitor”, as well against what they called an “illegitimate parliament”.
The protesters then headed to the nearby HQ of the main opposition VMRO DPMNE party, demanding a meeting with party leader Hristijan Mickovski, but were not granted one.
Mickovski has previously said he is against the deal, which he described as “capitulation”.
However, he did not call for a boycott of the forthcoming referendum on the new name, which expected to take place in September or October.
For the deal to be put into full effect, Macedonian citizens must support it at the plebiscite, after which the country would alter its constitution and adopt the agreed new compromise name, the Republic of North Macedonia.
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