The Macedonian parliament has ratified a historic accord with Greece to rename the small Balkan nation the Republic of North Macedonia in a bid to end a 27-year row between the two neighbours.
"We have a deal that clearly defines our identity, our Macedonian language for ever," Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told MPs ahead of the vote, urging them to back the agreement.
A total of 69 MPs in the 120-seat assembly supported the accord, while the nationalist opposition deputies were not present during the vote.
The agreement's adoption by parliament clears the way for a referendum to be held at a later date.
If the public backs the name change, the government will then have to change the constitution - a key Greek demand before its own parliament is asked to ratify the deal.
Here's a look back at some of the steps along the road to today's vote.
Independence
Macedonia proclaimed its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 but its international recognition was immediately blocked by Greece because of the name.
Besides claiming it as part of its heritage, Greece also had a province bordering the new country with the same name and feared Skopje could harbour territorial ambitions.
In 1992 more than a million Greeks joined a rally in the northern city of Thessaloniki, once the most important city in ancient Macedonia, to proclaim "Macedonia is Greek".
A country called FYROM
It was only with the adoption of a provisional name -- the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) -- that the country was finally admitted into the United Nations in 1993.
Most other nations, including Russia and the United States, later recognised its constitutional title, the Republic of Macedonia.
Greece clamps down
In 1994 Greece imposed an economic embargo on Macedonia and prevented it from using the port at Thessaloniki, Skopje's main trading post.
Greece also demanded that Macedonia dropped from its flag the rayed sun of Vergina, which it claimed was an ancient Greek symbol, as well as certain articles from its constitution.
A thaw
In September 1995 the neighbours signed an accord in New York opening the way for a normalisation of trade and political ties, but left the name dispute hanging.
The following month they opened liaison offices in their respective capitals and a new Macedonian flag -- with the controversial sun replaced -- was raised for the first time at the UN.
Greek support for neighbour
In 2001, Greece, the only country in the region with EU, NATO and eurozone membership, expressed support for Skopje, faced by an armed conflict with ethnic Albanian rebels.
Greek vetoes
Macedonia became a candidate for membership of the EU in 2005 but Greece blocked the start of negotiations.
In 2008, Macedonia presented itself as a candidate for membership of the NATO military alliance under the provisional name but again faced a Greek veto.
Relations sank with the erection of a huge statue of Alexander the Great in Skopje in 2011. Greece viewed it as an attempt to appropriate one of its greatest military heroes.
Tensions over migrants
In 2016, amid Europe's worst migrant crisis since World War II, Greece accused Macedonia of using "excessive force" to push back hundreds of migrants trying to cross the border to continue their journey to northern Europe.
