FYROM parliament agrees to change country's name

The parliament of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) passed an amendment to the constitution on Friday to rename the country "Republic of North Macedonia," in line with an agreement with Greece to put an end to a 27-year-old dispute.

The countries struck the deal on the new name in June, but FYROM will start using it only after the parliament in Athens also ratifies the agreement.

Eighty-one deputies in the 120-seat parliament voted in favor. Representatives of the opposition VMRO-DPMNE, who opposed the agreement with Greece, boycotted the vote.

"A new historical chapter in our statehood has been written this evening," the FYROM government said in a statement.

"It makes absolutely plausible two of our biggest state interests - membership in NATO and EU," it said.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras called his FYROM...