Macedonia defence minister says govt to seek parliamentary support for name change
294 views · Published 6 October 2018 · 2:58 · Indexed 25 September 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(1 Oct 2018) Macedonia's government faced a looming political battle on Monday to push through a deal with Greece that would ultimately pave the way for NATO membership, after a referendum on the agreement won overwhelming support but with low voter turnout. The European Union, NATO and the US urged the country to move forward with the necessary procedures. Macedonia's international partners have been eager to see the Balkan nation join international institutions, in a region where Russia hasn't been keen on NATO picking up new members. Defence Minister Radmila Sekerinska told reporters on Monday the government would spend seven to 10 days seeking the necessary support from parliament. The government has noted that regardless of turnout, the more than 600,000 people who voted in favor of the deal was a far larger number than those who had voted for any politician in Macedonia's short history. Lawmakers, Sekerinska said, "have no other option than to follow the vote of the majority of the country in order for this country to accelerate the process of acceding to both NATO and the European Union." But opponents of the deal with Greece, who say it undermines national interests and had advocated for a boycott of the referendum, seized on the low turnout to interpret the result as a clear rejection of the agreement. Near complete results on Monday showed 91.4 percent voted in favour, with a turnout of 36.8 percent. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/ee461ecce71bbfecc4ef2bfb9fd25b03
