Seven in 10 Greeks opposed to North Macedonia, poll shows

Almost seven in 10 respondents in a poll published on Saturday are opposed to the name North Macedonia for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

The poll, conducted by Marc for the Proto Thema newspaper, found that 68.3 percent of Greeks are opposed to the agreement reached between Athens and Skopje to settle the decades-old name dispute.

More specifically, 73.2 percent of respondents said they disagree with the use of the term “Macedonia” in the new name and 68.3 percent said they are opposed to the deal as presented by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras last week.

Moreover, 49 percent of respondents who claimed they had voted for ruling SYRIZA said they were also opposed to the accord, which is supposed to be signed by the two sides on Sunday.

The poll also saw opposition New Democracy party increasing its lead over SYRIZA to 14.4 percent, with the leftist party polling in the single digits in parts of northern Greece, where the Macedonia name issue is particularly sensitive.

According to the poll, if elections were to be held today, 30.6 percent of respondents would vote for New Democracy, 16.2 percent for SYRIZA, 7.5 percent for the center-left Movement for Change, 7.3 percent for far-right Golden Dawn and 6.3 percent for the Greek Communist Party (KKE). The Union of Centrists and the junior coalition partner in the left-led government, nationalist Independent Greeks, would not garner the votes needed to enter Parliament.