Macedonia Referendum: Majority who cast ballots said 'yes' to name change

World
Europe

01:51

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia could be changing its name to 'North Macedonia'. A referendum asked voters if they favored the change, which would give the country a chance to join NATO and the EU. CGTN's Aljosa Milenkovic filed this report from the capital, Skopje.

It was one of the historic moments for this small Balkans country. On this Sunday many eyes from around the world were on Macedonia, with unhidden expectations by some, for this referendum to first succeed and second to bring favorable results.

It was needed that more than 903,000 voters cast their ballots for referendum to be considered successful. And it was cold shower for those supporting the referendum when the first turnout figures started emerging.

It was clear by the late afternoon that the people across the country are boycotting the vote and that they've chosen to follow president Gjorge Ivanov's call not to vote, not to participate in this process.

At the end, figures showed that only about 34% of the Macedonian voters actually decided to go to the polls. And preliminary results are saying that over 90% of them actually voted for the name change and for the EU and NATO memberships of the country.

Soon after those first results were known, PM Zoran Zaev, addressed the nation at the press conference, vowing to continue to fight for the acceptance of the referendum results, regardless of the turnout.

ALJOSA MILENKOVIC SKOPJE "He called the opposition to support the name change in the parliament, but he also said that if opposition fails to do that, Macedonia will have to go to snap elections. Aljosa Milenkovic, CGTN, Skopje."