Organizers of the rally, who have staged several demonstrations against the deal over the past year, said Sunday’s protest could be one of their biggest, with 600,000 people expected to attend. Greece has long opposed the name “Macedonia” for its northern neighbor, saying that it implied territorial aspirations over a northern Greek region of the same name. Under the deal signed by Athens and Skopje in June, Macedonia would change its name to North Macedonia and Greece would lift its objections to its neighbor joining NATO and the European Union. The Macedonian Parliament ratified the agreement this month, but to take effect it must also be approved by Greek lawmakers. Mr. Tsipras is expected to obtain the votes required to push the measure through Parliament, after barely surviving a confidence vote late Wednesday that had been called after his coalition partner resigned in protest of the accord.

Source: New York Times January 20, 2019 13:43 UTC