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Macedonia\u2019s vote on changing its name to North Macedonia looks to have fallen far short of the turnout required.<\/p>\n
Preliminary results show that just over a third of Macedonians voted in the referendum, with 50% needed.<\/p>\n
But with 90% of those who took part in favour of the change, the country\u2019s prime minister has urged parliament to \u201cconfirm the will of the majority\u201d.<\/p>\n
The vote aimed to end a long-running dispute with Greece, which has its own region called Macedonia.<\/p>\n
Athens had agreed to end its objections to Macedonia\u2019s EU and Nato membership bids if the change was passed.<\/p>\n
Over 85% of votes have been counted so far, but a campaign by some nationalists \u2013 including the country\u2019s president \u2013 to boycott Sunday\u2019s referendum seems to have had an impact, with just 36% of eligible voters taking part.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Zoran Zaev threatened to call early elections if parliament did not support the proposal, made non-binding by the poor turnout.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf, as we all expect, we truly have a big visible, tangible majority for [voting in favour], out of those who voted, then the future is clear,\u201d he said after polls closed on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vote of the MPs in parliament must resolutely be a vote for a responsible acceleration of the processes towards Nato and the European Union.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why the change of name?<\/strong><\/p>\n Macedonia declared independence during the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991. But Greece objected to its new neighbour\u2019s name.<\/p>\n The dispute harks back to ancient history, because both present-day Macedonia and northern Greece were part of a Roman province called Macedonia. And both claim the heritage of Alexander the Great two centuries earlier.<\/p>\n Greece\u2019s objections forced the UN to refer to the new country as \u201cthe former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia\u201d.<\/p>\n Athens also vetoed Macedonia\u2019s attempt to join Nato in 2008 \u2013 and blocked its EU membership ambitions.<\/p>\n What was the proposed solution?<\/strong><\/p>\n The addition of one word to Macedonia\u2019s constitutional name: North.<\/p>\n Since 1991, many suggestions have been proposed, then rejected. But last year\u2019s change of government in Macedonia finally brought the start of serious negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cOur citizens were sick of that problem,\u201d says Macedonia\u2019s information minister, Damjan Manchevski. \u201cIt had been weighing on Macedonia for such a long period of time and not letting us advance.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s in it for Macedonia?<\/strong><\/p>\n Greece will end its veto on Macedonia\u2019s accession to Nato and the EU.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t change our name because we want to do it,\u201d Mr Zaev told the BBC. \u201cWe do it because of our future in the EU and Nato. Everyone is aware why we do it.\u201d<\/p>\n That applies particularly to Macedonia\u2019s younger citizens.<\/p>\n \u201cYoung people in Macedonia are a quarter of the population \u2013 and they\u2019re one of the largest marginalised groups,\u201d says Dona Kosturanova of the Youth Educational Forum.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re struggling with poor education, high unemployment and few opportunities for prosperity. They\u2019re desperate to see advancement towards a prosperous environment.\u201d<\/p>\n What are the objections?<\/strong><\/p>\n Opponents say the country has been bullied by Greece and the EU, pointing to the fact that top European politicians urged the voters to back the change.<\/p>\n The leader of the main opposition party, Hristijan Mickoski, was quoted as saying that the proposed deal \u201cwill humiliate Macedonia\u201d.<\/p>\n President Gjorge Ivanov was among those who said they would be boycotting the vote. He described the proposed deal as \u201chistorical suicide\u201d.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Russia has been accused of fomenting opposition to the name change to stop Macedonia drifting into the West\u2019s orbit. Moscow denies the claim.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Macedonia\u2019s vote on changing its name to North Macedonia looks to have fallen far short of the turnout required. Preliminary results show that just over a third of Macedonians voted in the referendum, with 50% needed. But with 90% of those who took part in favour of the change, the country\u2019s prime minister has urged […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n