FYROM PM says will resign if name deal doesn’t pass referendum
The prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic (FYROM) said that he will step down if the agreement with Greece renaming his country to North Macedonia is not upheld by a public referendum.
Zoran Zaev was speaking to broadcaster Channel 1 on Tuesday morning when he expressed confidence that the name deal would be approved by a comfortable majority in the referendum this autumn. He went on to predict that it would clinch as much as 75 or even 85 percent of support, in line with the percentage of citizens who want to see the small Balkan nation join the European Union and NATO – both processes that rely on a settlement of the name dispute.
Zaev added that the country’s legal advisers are currently examining what avenues can be pursued in the event that FYROM’s president, Gjorge Ivanov, does not back the agreement, as he has already claimed.
