Reuters – A total of 80 deputies in the 120-seat FYROM parliament Friday voted in favour of renaming the Balkan country Republic of North Macedonia – just reaching the two-thirds majority needed to enact constitutional changes, bringing a decades-old dispute with Greece one step closer to being resolved.
But hurdles remain before the change can be formalized.
The procedure to complete constitutional changes is lengthy and requires several rounds of voting, with Friday’s being just the first stage. The procedure should be completed by January at the latest.
Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, who heads a small right-wing party that props up the government in the legislature, has threatened to quit the coalition if the Greek vote goes ahead.
“A great day for democracy in Skopje,” Johannes Hahn, the EU’s commissioner in charge of enlargement, wrote on his Twitter account.
I congratulate all those who decided to walk on along the EU path.”