SKOPJE, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Macedonian Parliament on Wednesday is expected to ratify a name deal with Greece, Macedonia International Agency declared on Wednesday.
On Tuesday Macedonian MPs voted 69-40 for the adoption of a shortened ratification procedure for the agreement. Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs later on Tuesday also endorsed the draft-law ratifying this name deal. VMRO-DPMNE MPs, main opposition party were absent from the Committee session due to their opposition to the name agreement.
Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Dimitrov stressed that it is necessary to put this law on a fast-track in Parliament.
The bill, Dimitrov explained, is envisaged in the national program on applying the European Union's (EU) law as part of the political criteria considering regional cooperation and international duties. The deadline for its adoption expires on June 22.
According to Dimitrov, after the deal is ratified in Macedonia's parliament, Greece is tasked with informing the European Council President Donald Tusk, that it endorses the opening of EU negotiations and with notifying NATO Secretary General Jens Stollenberg that it supports NATO in extending a membership invitation.
"June council is near, the EU foreign ministers will convene on June 25-26 and the EU Summit is on June 28. These dates are of great importance for the European perspective of our country and they depend on the agreement's ratification. To deliver these results, we propose that parliament should decide to fast-track the bill. The ratification allows the citizens to decide for their future in a referendum this coming fall," said Dimitrov.
President Gjorge Ivanov informed the media on Wednesday on a written statement that his position on the name agreement will not change.
"I call on Zaev (Prime Minister Zoran Zaev) to immediately to initiate the impeachment procedure, the procedure to determine the President answerability by the same two-thirds majority vote necessary to amend the Constitution of Macedonia," reacted Ivanov.
Macedonian Parliament needs a simple majority to adopt the agreement. According to the government, the agreement will be finally put up for referendum in Macedonia, which should be organized either in September or October.
On Sunday Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov and his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias signed the final agreement on the name dispute settlement and the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two countries.
Both countries have been working towards settling the decades-old dispute over the use of the name Macedonia in the past months. The issue began in 1991 when the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) declared its independence from Yugoslavia, choosing the name Macedonia, which is also the name of a northern Greek province.
Athens is worried that the use of the same name by the neighboring state could lead to territorial claims.
