This article was published by Al Jazeera International.
On Sunday, just
under 1.8 million voters in former Yugoslav Macedonia will vote on whether to
change their country’s name to Northern Macedonia. Polls will open at 7am and
close at 7pm.
The proposal stems from an agreement last June between the governments in Athens and Skopje, which aims to normalize relations between the two countries.
They have been at odds since the fall of Yugoslavia, when its six republics declared independence. The southernmost has called itself the Republic of Macedonia. Greece objects on the grounds that this implies territorial claims on its northern region of Macedonia.
In return for adding the qualifier “Northern” to its name, Greece will lift its standing veto on its neighbour’s membership in the European Union and NATO.
The question put to voters is, “Are you in favour of NATO and EU membership, and accepting the name agreement between the Republic of Macedonia and Greece?”