SKOPJE, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said on Friday he believes in the success of the name agreement between Macedonia and Greece.
Zaev declared the identity issue as finally closed, opening the future for the country.
According to Zaev, the Macedonian government should be proud of the resolution of the name dispute,since the decision writes a new page in the country's history.
Macedonia is formally called the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) by the United Nations. Macedonia is also the name of a northern province in Greece. Athens is worried that the use of the same name by the neighboring state could lead to territorial claims.
The solving of the name row that has existed between two countries is seen as the main obstacle Macedonia has to overcome in order to make progress towards European Union (EU) and NATO integration.
Macedonia and Greece have come up with a final deal after a long process of negotiations to solve the name dispute, Macedonian Prime Minster Zoran Zaev confirmed Tuesday at a press conference.
Under the agreement reached, Zaev said the name to be used both internationally and bilaterally would be the Republic of North Macedonia.
Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov on Wednesday called the agreement reached Tuesday on the name dispute with Greece as "harmful" for Macedonia and declared that he would not sign it.
Meanwhile, Macedonian government spokesman Mile Bosnjakovski last night said that there is still no date for the meeting between Zaev and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to sign the agreement.