FYROM parliament approves name deal for second time

The Parliament of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) approved for the second time the deal signed with Greece on the country’s name, which had been returned to the House after the country’s President Gjorge Ivanov refused to rubber-stamp the first decree.

The bill ratifying the deal was approved with 69 votes in favour and one abstention, the same number it had received in the first vote on June 20, when lawmakers of the conservative main opposition, VMRO-DPMNE, did not participate in the vote. A minimum of 61 votes was required to pass the bill.

The deal will be submitted again to the president who is now obliged to sign it, according to FYROM’s Constitution.

According to FYROM media, Ivanov will again refuse to approve the name deal, using the so-called “pocket veto,” as he did with the Law on the Use of Languages, which would extend the official use of Albanian language to the entire country.