Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Friday his country will be closer connected to Greece if the deal Athens signed with Skopje to resolve a long-standing dispute on the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is completed.

The constitutional issues' committee of the parliament in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on Thursday approved further changes to the country's constitution as stipulated in the name deal reached with Greece in June.

Greece seeks to establish good neighborly relations with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) but will not accept "arbitrary" interpretations of the name deal signed with the country last June, President Prokopis Pavlopoulos said on Tuesday.

Former Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias says lawmakers should be allowed to vote freely, in a secret ballot, on the agreement with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) which he helped broker last July.

In the wake of a series of statements by Greece's junior coalition partner in which he threatened to resign over the Prespes name deal, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Prime Minister Zoran Zaev on Friday expressed confidence that Greece's government will ratify the accord once it reaches the country's Parliament.

In the wake of a fierce clash in Parliament over the contentious name deal with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to try to boost leftist SYRIZA's flagging support in northern Greece on Friday with a speech in Thessaloniki.

Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos has called on the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to shed any irredentist ambitions.

During a visit to a military outpost near the Greek-FYROM border on Wednesday, Kammenos said that Greece wanted to maintain peaceful ties with its Balkan neighbor.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday touted Greece's economic achievements following the country's exit from its eight-year bailout era, saying it is a safe destination for investments.

Athens wants to mend the damage caused to ties with Moscow in the summer, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow Friday.

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has shown courage in his persistence to push through the name deal signed with Greece.