Seven policemen were injured and 25 demonstrators were arrested late on June 17 during a violent protest in Skopje against the change of the country’s name, police said. The protest erupted after the governments of Macedonia and Greece signed a deal on solving the name dispute that has divided them for decades. 

Macedonian and Greek foreign ministers Nikola Dimitrov and Nikos Kotzias signed a historic deal on the decades long name dispute, which set a new name for the country — Republic of North Macedonia. The deal is expected to open Euro-Atlantic perspectives for Macedonia, but for the opposition and many in Macedonia it is considered to be treason against the national interests of the country.

“Some of the protesters used stun grenades and violently pushed the protective fence while trying to forcefully enter the parliament,” the police said in a statement.

According to some media, three protestors also sought medical help after receiving various injuries.

Protestors also hurled stones and bottles at policemen in front of the parliament.

“We won't give up the name" protestors, organised through social media, shouted.

The new name is aimed to distinguish the country now called Macedonia from a province in northern Greece that has the same name. The deal was the result of six months of intense talks and comes after a more than two decades of dispute between Skopje and Athens.

Earlier on June 17, Macedonia’s main opposition VMRO-DPMNE party organised a separate protest in the city of Bitola against the name change Around 5,000 people attended the rally. Previously VMRO leader Hristijan Mickoski urged Dimitrov to resign due to his “capitulation” to Athens. Protests are expected to continue.

VMRO-DPMNE is against accepting erga omnes for the name, the use of the name not only internationally but also at home, which requires constitutional changes.

The deal was signed in Prespes, on the Greek side of Prespa lake, which is split between the two countries. Before the signing, prime ministers of Macedonia and Greece Zoran Zaev and Alexis Tsipras delivered speeches at the ceremony attended by EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn and UN mediator in the dispute Matthew Nimetz.

Following the signing, the delegations held a lunch on the Macedonian side of the border, at Otesevo.

“The atmosphere at the lunch with Zaev was very good, almost like at a wedding,” Greek PM Tsipras was cited by media.

Meanwhile, Macedonia’s Social Democrat-led government is expected to adopt a law on ratification of the deal on June 18 and then to send it to the parliament for approval. It needs simple majority in the 120-seat parliament.

Then the deal should be sent to the President Gjorge Ivanov to sign it within seven days. However, the president has said repeatedly that he will not do so. In that case the deal will be returned to the parliament for a new vote and then if ratified, the president is obliged to put his signature on it.

Nationalists in Greece are also fiercely opposing the deal as they do not want the term 'Macedonia' to be included in the new name at all.

On June 16, Tsipras survived a no-confidence motion over the deal, filed by the country's main opposition party, New Democracy. The motion was rejected in a 153-127 vote, which paved the way for the historic signing on June 17.

Due to the strong opposition in both countries it is unclear how the agreement will be implemented.