COUNTRY OPENS PATH TO NATO MEMBERSHIP

Officials in Macedonia say that with ballots from nearly half of polling stations counted, more than 90 per cent of voters approved of a deal with Greece that would change the country’s name to North Macedonia in order to open the way to NATO membership.

However, turnout in the referendum held Sunday was low. Officials reported that half an hour before polls closed, it stood at 34 per cent.

Opponents had called for a boycott of the referendum and were celebrating the low turnout. But Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said he would push ahead.

The deal reached in June intended to resolve a dispute dating from Macedonia’s declaration of independence from Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Greece, arguing that its new northern neighbour’s name implied territorial ambitions on its own province of the same name, has blocked Macedonia’s efforts to join NATO since.

Under the June deal, the Greek government would drop those objections, opening the way for Macedonia to join NATO as well as the European Union.

The weak participation could make it harder for Zaev to muster the required two-thirds support in parliament f or to push through constitutional amendments needed to finalize the deal.