Zaev

Prime Minister Zaev ended his campaign for a 'Yes' vote in Sunday's referendum in Tetovo with a final appeal for a big turnout – while boycott advocate President Ivanov in New York complained that his country was being asked to commit suicide.

The referendum should decide whether Macedonians accept the change of their country's name - a deal Skopje has reached with Athens.

Macedonian PM Zoran Zaev apologised in a Facebook post on Friday about his controversial remark about the 1903 Ilinden rebellion that caused uproar among Bulgarian politicians on all sides.

Macedonia's main opposition VMRO DPMNE party has agreed to stop blocking the appointments of members of the State Electoral Commission, DIK, in exchange for a provision guaranteeing the formation of a technical government 100 days ahead of any future elections, to ensure their fairness and regularity.

After marathon discussions between the heads of all of Macedonia's parliamentary parties on Wednesday ended without agreement, talks were due to resume in Skopje on Thursday between the leaders of the four largest parties alone.

Polls show that more than 75 percent of our citizens are in favor of NATO and European Union [membership], Zaev told the BBC, cited by Greek daily Katimerini.

A referendum on the name accord, under which the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) will be renamed the Republic of North Macedonia is expected to take place in September or in October, the report noted.

When asked about France's reluctance to set a date for this, Zaev told reporters on Friday that he hopes the steps taken by Macedonia will convince all those who still have reservations concerning EU enlargement.

Macedonia's parliamentarians on Wednesday approved the long-negotiated agreement with Greece over the country's name, with all 69 deputies who attended the session voting in favour. Opposition deputies boycotted the session, however. Parliament has 120 seats.

The Macedonian and Greek Foreign Ministers, Nikola Dimitrov and Nikos Kotzias, in the presence of their countries' Prime Ministers, Macedonia's Zoran Zaev and Greece's Alexis Tsipras, signed a historic agreement aimed at ending the long dispute over Macedonia's name on Sunday.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said late on Tuesday that the agreement reached between the Prime Ministers of Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), on the long-running name dispute is "fantastic news" that "took leadership and political courage."