Macedonians will go to the polls next month to determine whether or not to change their country's name to the “Republic of North Macedonia” in accordance with a long-standing Greek demand; the name change is expected to remove the main roadblock to Skopje's prospective membership to the European Union and NATO.
A recent poll by the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC) found that a plurality of Macedonians seem to be in favor of joining the Western economic and security blocs in exchange for the name change.
Asked, “Are you in favor of EU and NATO membership, by accepting the Agreement between the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Greece,” 41.5 percent of respondents said they were in favor, with 35.1 percent saying they were opposed, 12.4 percent saying they would boycott the vote, 9.2 percent saying they have yet to make up their minds, and 1.9 percent declining to answer.
A total of 66.4 percent of respondents said they were going to take part in the vote, with 19.8 percent saying would boycott and 11.9 percent yet make up their minds.
Skopje-based political observer Aleksandar Mitevski says these survey results should be taken with a grain of salt, given that the MCIS is affiliated with Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and his ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia, which has pushed for the country's entry into Western institutions in exchange for the name change.
“Our government recently commissioned another…
