Northern light: Macedonia makes name change deal with Greece

Greece and Macedonia reached an historic agreement Tuesday to end a bitter 27-year name dispute that had kept the smaller and younger country out of international institutions such as NATO, the two countries' prime ministers announced.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Oct, 8, 2014 file photo, a modern bronze statue of Alexander the Great is flanked by copies of round shields and the Macedonian infantry's Sarissa pikes, in the northern port city of Thessaloniki, Greece. Officials in Greece and Macedonia say Tuesday, June 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece's Alexis Tsipras and Macedonia's Zoran Zaev said the former Yugoslav republic's new name for both domestic and international purposes would be Republic of North Macedonia. Macedonia will also amend its constitution to reflect the change as part of the deal.

The nationality of the country's citizens will be listed on official documents in English as "Macedonian/citizen of the Republic of North Macedonia," Greek officials said.

NATO and European Union officials welcomed the breakthrough, which NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said would help consolidate regional peace and stability.

Greece had long demanded that its northern neighbor change or modify its name to avoid any claim to the territory and ancient heritage of the region in northern Greece named Macedonia — birthplace of ancient warrior king Alexander the Great.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras leaves the Presidential Palace after his meeting with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos in Athens, Tuesday, June 12, 2018. Tsipras says his country has reached an agreement with northern neighbor Macedonia on a decades-old dispute over the latter's name that had poisoned relations between the two since the 1990s. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

The current prime ministers' attempts to end the dispute have faced dissent in both countries, leading to large protests by opponents of a compromise, threatening to split Greece's governing coalition and provoking a rift between Macedonia's prime minister and president.

And main opposition parties in both countries rejected the agreement.

Zaev said the deal would be signed this weekend, and a voter referendum would be held in the fall.

In a televised address, Tsipras said the 140 countries which had recognized the Balkan state simply as Macedonia would now recognize it as Republic of North Macedonia.

CORRECTS TO NORTH MACEDONIA, NOT NORTHERN - Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zeav addresses the media during a news conference in the Government building in Skopje, Macedonia, Tuesday, June 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

"This achieves a clear distinction between Greek Macedonia and our northern neighbors and puts an end to the irredentism which their current constitutional name implies," he said. He added that Macedonia "cannot and will not be able in the future to claim any connection with the ancient Greek civilization of Macedonia."

Speaking at a news conference in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, Zaev described the deal as a "historic agreement of the century."

"We have been solving a two-and-a-half decade dispute ... that has been drowning the country," he said, adding that the deal "will strengthen the Macedonian identity."

On the timeline of the deal, Tsipras said that it would be first signed by the two countries' foreign ministers and then ratified by Macedonia's parliament.

CORRECTS TO NORTH MACEDONIA, NOT NORTHERN - In this photo released by Greek Prime Minister's office, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras speaks during a televised address to the nation, in Athens, Tuesday, June 12, 2018. Greece and Macedonia reached an historic agreement Tuesday to end a bitter 27-year name dispute. (Andrea Bonetti/Greek Prime Minister's Office via AP)

Greece will then back invitations for Macedonia to join NATO and start negotiations on joining the EU. However, Tsipras said, this will be contingent on Macedonia completing the constitutional changes.

"In other words, if the constitutional amendment is not successfully completed, then the invitation to join NATO will be automatically rescinded and the accession talks with the European Union will not start," he said.

The deal was welcomed by EU officials.

European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted his "sincere congratulations" to Tsipras and Zaev. "I am keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks to you, the impossible is becoming possible," he said.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini and commissioner Johannes Hahn issued a joint statement congratulating the two prime ministers "in reaching this historic agreement between their countries, which contributes to the transformation of the entire region of South-East Europe."

CORRECTS TO NORTH MACEDONIA, NOT NORTHERN - In this photo released by Greek Prime Minister's office, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras speaks during a televised address to the nation, in Athens, Tuesday, June 12, 2018. Greece and Macedonia reached an historic agreement Tuesday to end a bitter 27-year name dispute. (Andrea Bonetti/Greek Prime Minister's Office via AP)

They said they looked forward to accession negotiations beginning with Skopje in June.

The United Nations envoy who mediated the dispute for two decades congratulated Tsipras and Zaev for resolving their differences.

Matthew Nimetz said in a statement he had "no doubt this agreement will lead to a period of enhanced relations between the two neighboring countries and especially between their people."

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised the agreement as "a demonstration of leadership to the wider region and beyond" and hopes it will inspire others involved in drawn-out conflicts "to work towards negotiated settlements without further delay," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

However, both prime ministers faced dissent at home.

Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, whose right-wing Independent Greeks party is Tsipras' governing coalition partner, said he would oppose an agreement in a parliamentary vote, meaning the left-wing prime minister will need to seek support from political opponents.

CORRECTS TO NORTH MACEDONIA, NOT NORTHERN - Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zeav, center, accompanied by the members of his cabinet, addresses the media during a news conference in the Government building in Skopje, Macedonia, Tuesday, June 12, 2018. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

In Skopje, meanwhile, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said earlier in the day that he remained opposed to writing the new name into the constitution, a move intended to show the change is permanent and binding for domestic and international use.

The main opposition party in Macedonia, the conservative VMRO-DPMNE, accused Zaev of "capitulating" to Greece.

"In essence, the (deal) is acceptance of all Greek positions," VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski said.

In Athens, conservative main opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged Tsipras not to go ahead with the agreement.

"This is a bad agreement that is in conflict with the majority of the Greek people," he said.

Organizers of past rallies in Greece's main cities against a compromise with Macedonia also expressed outrage at the deal, with one accusing Tsipras of "high treason."

"He was Skopje's best negotiator," Michael Patsikas told The Associated Press.

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — North Macedonia will head to a presidential runoff after no candidate secured enough votes to win outright in Wednesday’s first round of balloting held as the country seeks to enter into the European Union.

The second round of voting on May 8 will coincide with parliamentary elections. Near-full results from Wednesday's vote showed a strong shift in favor of the candidate backed by the center-right main opposition coalition, VMRO-DPMNE.

With about 92% of the votes counted, Gordana Siljanovska Davkova was well ahead with just under 40%. Incumbent President Stevo Pendarovski, who is seeking a second five-year term with support from the country’s governing social democrats, was second with nearly 20%, according to the State Electoral Commission.

Pendarovski was followed by a government-allied candidate from the ethnic Albanian minority, Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani, with 13.6%. Turnout was 49.75%.

To win outright, a candidate needed to win support from more than 50% of registered voters. So Siljanovska Davkova and Pendarovski will meet in the presidential runoff.

Hopes are high in North Macedonia that the president will oversee long-anticipated entry into the EU.

The small Balkan country has orbited the 27-nation bloc for nearly two decades with little to show for its efforts.

Addressing dozens of celebrating VMRO-DPMNE supporters outside the party headquarters in central Skopje late Wednesday, Siljanovska Davkova insisted on her pro-EU credentials.

“This is the beginning of a new era, this must be a new course, I should call it the European course,” she said. “Let us prove that we have always (belonged to) Europe.”

Pendarovski voiced disappointment with the result. But he said he hoped to do better in the second round, including with the support of the country's ethnic Albanian minority that represents about a quarter of the population.

Seven candidates were running for the largely ceremonial position, with the brief campaigning period focusing on EU accession, the rule of law, fighting corruption and reducing poverty.

Electoral commission head Aleksandar Dashtevski said earlier Wednesday that voting was going smoothly, with only a minor technical problem with biometric devices at some polling centers which was quickly resolved.

Siljanovska Davkova, 70, and Pendarovski, 61, agree that their country belongs in the EU. But they have differed on how to deal with neighboring Bulgaria's insistence on Skopje enshrining in its constitution recognition of a Bulgarian ethnic minority. EU member Bulgaria has said it will otherwise block North Macedonia's bloc membership bid.

North Macedonia has been a candidate to join the EU since 2005, but membership talks only began in 2022 and the process is expected to take years.

Voter Stavre Temelkovski said he had high expectations that North Macedonia would become a full-fledged EU member soon.

“I expect a civic movement to win, for us to be a part of all those pro-Western systems, and to start a process of healing for a state which has waited for almost three decades," he said. “Many generations are exhausted.”

Follow the AP’s coverage of global elections at: https://apnews.com/hub/global-elections/

Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, presidential candidate backed by the opposition conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, holds a news conference after winning in the first round of the presidential election, in Skopje, North Macedonia, late Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Siljanovska Davkova has a big lead ahead of Stevo Pendarovski, the candidate of the Social Democrats and they both will face each other in the second round of the presidential election that will coincide with the general election on May 8. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Hristijan Mickoski, center left, the leader of the opposition conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, raises his fist next to their presidential candidate Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, center right, during a news conference, after winning in the first round of the presidential election, in Skopje, North Macedonia, late Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Siljanovska Davkova has a big lead ahead of Stevo Pendarovski, the candidate of the Social Democrats and they both will face each other in the second round of the presidential election that will coincide with the general election on May 8. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Stevo Pendarovski, incumbent President and a presidential candidate backed by the ruling social democrats (SDSM), right, casts his ballot in presence of his wife Elizabeta Gjorgievska, left and their son Ognen, center, at a polling station in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. People are lining up at pools to cast their votes in a peaceful atmosphere, hoping that the next president will be able to bring the country into the European Union. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, presidential candidate backed by the opposition conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, talks to the media after voting for the presidential election, in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. People are lining up at pools to cast their votes in a peaceful atmosphere, hoping that the next president will be able to bring the country into the European Union. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

A woman looks for her polling place at a polling station to vote for the presidential election, in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. Around 1.8 million registered voters can cast ballots on Wednesday for one of the seven candidates who are competing for the largely ceremonial president's post in the first round of elections in North Macedonia. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

A woman casts her ballot for the presidential elections at a polling station in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. People are lining up at pools to cast their votes in a peaceful atmosphere, hoping that the next president will be able to bring the country into the European Union. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

An elderly man comes from voting booth to cast his ballot for the presidential election at a polling station in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. People are lining up at pools to cast their votes in a peaceful atmosphere, hoping that the next president will be able to bring the country into the European Union. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Stevo Pendarovski, incumbent President and a presidential candidate backed by the ruling social democrats (SDSM), talks to media outside a polling station after voting in the presidential election in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. People are lining up at pools to cast their votes in a peaceful atmosphere, hoping that the next president will be able to bring the country into the European Union. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, presidential candidate backed by the opposition conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, exits the booth before casting her ballot for the presidential election at a polling station, in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024. People are lining up at pools to cast their votes in a peaceful atmosphere, hoping that the next president will be able to bring the country into the European Union. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

An election poster of the center-right main opposition VMRO-DPMNE coalition, is displayed on a building in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Monday April 22, 2024. Voters go to the polls in North Macedonia on Wednesday April 24 for the first round of presidential elections, the seventh such election since the Balkan country gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991, where seven candidates are vying for the largely ceremonial position. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

Election posters of Stevo Pendarovski, incumbent President and a presidential candidate backed by the ruling social democrats (SDSM), left and Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, a presidential candidate supported by the center-right main opposition VMRO-DPMNE coalition, center top, are pictured in a busy street in Skopje, North Macedonia, on Monday April 22, 2024. Voters go to the polls in North Macedonia on Wednesday April 24 for the first round of presidential elections, the seventh such election since the Balkan country gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991, where seven candidates are vying for the largely ceremonial position. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)