Macedonian Parliament with 69 votes in favor, without any votes “against” and no abstentions, ratified the Agreement with Greece regarding settling the name dispute. MPs of the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE boycotted the session and did not attend.
At the beginning of the debate, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said that the Agreement signed in Prespa was a solution to a dispute that was has been traumatic for Macedonia for over three decades and that this was the beginning of the end of the uncertainty that threatened to go on without end.
“We have achieved a dignified and acceptable solution for both parties. The signatures in Prespa have protected our identity for centuries and centuries. We did not give anything to anybody, nor has anyone taken anything from us. This brave act is a solution that is in the interest of the citizens to both countries. We have risen above fear and I appeal for a rejection to the confines of isolation and xenophobia and give this solution a chance, finally it is the citizens who will have the final say”, Zaev said.
According to the Prime Minister, with Parliament voting for the Agreement, it is certain that a date to begin the negotiations with the EU and NATO will become a reality.
DUI’s MP Artan Grubi said that today’s decision in Parliament, established Macedonia’s statehood and made its future possible.
“For all of us together I believe, this time we are on the right side of history. Heroism is to provide a secure future for your children, their children and children after them. Each one of us should ask himself what he did on the crucial day, assumed responsibility or with a bowed head returned to their party HQ”, Grubi said.
The next step, Zaev announced would be a referendum that he said would be held late in September or early October.
