Greek parliament ratifies accord to rename Macedonia

Greece's parliament on Fridayratified a landmark accord that changes the name of neighbouringMacedonia, ending a decades-old dispute and opening the way forthe ex-Yugoslav republic to join the European Union and NATO.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who hammered out the dealwith his Macedonian counterpart last summer, secured theparliamentary majority needed to get the accord approved withsupport from independent and opposition lawmakers.

"After one year of negotiations, discussions and exhaustivedialogue, we are reaching the end of a tough and painfulprocess," Tsipras told parliament during a heated debate onThursday night, calling on lawmakers to approve the accord.

Theratification vote, whichcame after three days of acrimonious debate, squeaked by with 153 votes in the 300-member parliament.Tsipras's left-wing Syriza party holds 145 seats in the legislature, andindependent lawmakers provided the extra votes needed for ratification.

Macedonia has already ratified the deal, which seeks to end a 28-year old row between Athensand Skopje. The settlementrenamesthetiny Balkan state "Republic of North Macedonia," to differentiateit from Greece's northern province of Macedonia.

Macedonian Prime MinisterZoran Zaevcongratulated Greece following the ratification, tweeting: "Together with our peoples we reached a historical victory."

The agreement faced fierce opposition from many Greeks, who fear the agreement could lead to territorialclaims against Greece, and say it signs away their identity and a cultural heritage dating back to Alexander the Great more than 2,300 years ago.

Proponents of the deal hope it will allowMacedonia to finally joinNATO and the European Union. Greece has blocked its attempts to join both bodies for decades because of thedispute.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU's top diplomat and the senior official supervising the bloc's enlargementsaid Friday in a joint statement that they "warmly welcome" the vote in Athens, which has "written a new page of our common EU future."

Protests against the agreementat times turned violent thisweek, with morethan 150 people detained for questioning since Thursday, whenpolice fired tear gas to dispersecrowds outside parliament.

Smaller groups of people braved heavyrain on Friday to demonstrate outside Greece's parliament.

At least two lawmakers from the governingSyriza party have said their homes were targeted by violent demonstrators, while another was targeted in a fire-bombing that caused no injuries. Greece's tourism minister, an independent conservative who supports the government, said she had received multiple death threats.