“I think the huge majority of the citizens who voted have chosen the European path for Macedonia,” the social-democrat leader said, stopping short to explicitly announce the victory of the ‘yes’ camp at a press conference held an hour after the polls closed at 7pm.
Two-thirds of voters stayed away from the polling stations for the non-binding referendum on whether to change the name of the country to “North Macedonia”. According to the electoral commission, a half an hour before the end of voting the turnout was less than 35%.
But Zaev urged the right-wing opposition, who might well question the vote’s credibility due to the low turnout, to “respect the democratic will of the citizens” and ratify the deal in parliament or face “early parliamentary elections”.
For the two-thirds parliamentary majority required to ratify the result, Zaev and his coalition partners from the ethnic Albanian minority need at least a dozen MPs from the opposition to back the move.
Opponents of the change, who had called for a boycott of the name-change referendum, announced plans for a celebration outside parliament, where they had set up a stage during the afternoon.
However, barely 300 people gathered there an hour and a half after the polls closed.
The vote is an emotional moment for a country that has struggled for recognition of its name since 1991, when the former Yugoslav republic declared independence.
At the time, Athens kicked up a major fuss, accusing Skopje of stealing the name of its own northern province, which is also called Macedonia.
The dispute dives deep into history with both countries vying to lay claim to Alexander the Great’s ancient empire of Macedon, which spanned their territories.
But in June, Macedonia’s new premier Zoran Zaev and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras reached a landmark compromise under which Athens would drop its objections to Macedonia joining the EU and Nato in return for a change of name.
Zaev has billed the referendum as a painful but “historic” opportunity to break the 27-year-old stalemate.
But the deal has been openly opposed by President Gjorge Ivanov, who is allied with the nationalist opposition and had supported calls for a boycott of the referendum.
Voters began trickling into polling stations around the country shortly after the voting opened.
“I hope that the result will be positive. This referendum will change something if it opens the door to Europe and Nato,” said Olivera Argirovska, a 74-year-old retired nurse, after casting her ballot in a high school in the capital Skopje.
“It will change things for the youth,” she told AFP.
Few Macedonians are enthused about the new name, saying they have been unfairly bullied by Greece.
“I am not happy and I do not know anyone who likes this deal,” said 55-year old Danica Taneska, who admitted voting ‘no’ to the change.
But a desire to anchor their future to the West — and the economic prosperity that it could bring — has been a driving force behind the ‘yes’ vote in one of Europe’s poorest nations.
The referendum is not binding, but a ‘yes’ majority would give parliament a political mandate to change the constitution.
If the deal is backed in the referendum and ratified by two-thirds of MPs, the Greek parliament will be called on to give it the final stamp of approval.
Yesterday’s vote was being closely watched across the border in Greece, where nationalists staged a protest against the deal earlier this month.
“We hope for a positive outcome for the proceedings to progress with the constitutional review,” Greek government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said on the radio. “Any other result would create a disturbance.”
Europe and the US have campaigned hard for the deal, with many leaders passing through Skopje this month to urge Macedonians to seize the “historic” opportunity.
Nato has already issued an invite — on hold until the deal passes — while EU accession talks are scheduled to begin next year.
The West is keen to have another foothold in the Western Balkans, a region where Russia, which is opposed to Nato expansion, has historically had influence.
At home, those in favour of the deal say a desire for an EU future is helping bind ethnic Macedonians with the Albanian minority, who are broadly pro-West.
While Macedonia avoided the full-scale inter-ethnic wars that rippled across the region during the collapse of Yugoslavia, it was roiled by an Albanian insurgency in 2001 that left more than 100 dead.
A peace deal was reached later that year granting Albanians more political rights, but tensions have remained.
“This is the first time I am seeing Macedonians and Albanians campaigning together for common goals,” Besa Arifi, a law professor, told AFP. “This will give us more opportunities to unite all citizens around shared values,” he added.
