Macedonians protest against name change deal

Macedonian nationalists protested for the second day in a row outside the parliament in Skopje on Thursday, as it was announced by the country's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev that an agreement has been reached with Greece to change the country's name into 'Northern Macedonia', thus settling a long standing dispute between both countries.

The protesters blocked the surrounding streets while displaying numerous national flags and banners, while chanting threatening slogans about Zaev, the Greeks and the Albanian population in Macedonia. Several speakers took turns to address the crowd.

Many in Greece have seen the name 'Macedonia' as posing a threat to the Greek state arguing that it implies a territorial claim over the eponymous region of northern Greece.

The naming dispute dates back to Macedonia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

As a result, international organizations and states that do not recognize the constitutional name 'Republic of Macedonia' refer to it as 'the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.'

(Source: Agencies)

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