Leaders of the North-Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, invited Macedonia on Wednesday to join the Alliance and become its 30th member state, the Associated Press reported.

The former Yugoslav republic finally ended its 27-year-long dispute about its name with Greece last month, agreeing to be called the Republic of North Macedonia.

However, the country will not be eligible for membership until it changes its constitution, adjusting it to the new name.

Macedonia will have to hold a referendum on the deal with Greece. Its President and the nationalist opposition VMRO-DPMNE, the largest single party in the parliament, strongly oppose the agreement.

The parliament ratified it twice since the first time President Gjorge Ivanov refused to sign the decision.

Nevertheless, the agreement comes into force once published in the Official Gazette, since the president has no right to veto it again.

The deal also enabled Macedonia to start the accession talks with the European Union in June 2019.

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