Holding a flag with the Star of Vergina, the emblem of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia and Alexander the Great, opponents of Prespa Agreement chant slogans in a rally in the northern port city of Thessaloniki, Greece, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Greek lawmakers are to wrap up three days of acrimonious parliamentary debate with a vote on a deal normalising relations with Macedonia, under which Greece’s northern neighbour will rename itself North Macedonia and Athens will drop its objections to the country joining NATO.(AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos) 
Holding Greek flags, opponents of Prespa Agreement chant slogans in a rally in the northern port city of Thessaloniki, Greece, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Greek lawmakers are to wrap up three days of acrimonious parliamentary debate with a vote on a deal normalising relations with Macedonia, under which Greece’s northern neighbour will rename itself North Macedonia and Athens will drop its objections to the country joining NATO.(AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos) 
Opponents of Prespa Agreement, some holding Greek flags, chat with police officers guarding the Greek Parliament, in Athens, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Greek lawmakers are to wrap up three days of acrimonious parliamentary debate with a vote on a deal normalising relations with Macedonia, under which Greece’s northern neighbour will rename itself North Macedonia and Athens will drop its objections to the country joining NATO. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) 
Under heavy rain, opponents of Prespa Agreement gather outside the Greek Parliament, in Athens, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Greek lawmakers are to wrap up three days of acrimonious parliamentary debate with a vote on a deal normalising relations with Macedonia, under which Greece’s northern neighbour will rename itself North Macedonia and Athens will drop its objections to the country joining NATO. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) 
Members of the Greek parliament debate the Prespa Agreement in Athens, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Greek lawmakers are to wrap up three days of acrimonious parliamentary debate with a vote on a deal normalising relations with Macedonia, under which Greece’s northern neighbour will rename itself North Macedonia and Athens will drop its objections to the country joining NATO. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas) 
Holding a Greek flag an opponent of Prespa Agreement stands ahead of a rally in the northern port city of Thessaloniki, Greece, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Greek lawmakers are to wrap up three days of acrimonious parliamentary debate with a vote on a deal normalising relations with Macedonia, under which Greece’s northern neighbour will rename itself North Macedonia and Athens will drop its objections to the country joining NATO. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos) 
Members of the public was as Greek lawmakers debate the Prespa Agreement at the parliament in Athens, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Greek lawmakers are to wrap up three days of acrimonious parliamentary debate with a vote on a deal normalising relations with Macedonia, under which Greece’s northern neighbour will rename itself North Macedonia and Athens will drop its objections to the country joining NATO. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas) 
Members of the Greek parliament debate the Prespa Agreement in Athens, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Greek lawmakers have ratified the agreement for the country to drop its objections to neighbouring Macedonia joining NATO if the small country’s name is changed to North Macedonia.The ratification vote came after three days of acrimonious debate on the deal, which aimed to end a nearly three decade-long dispute that has kept Macedonia from joining the western military alliance and the European Union.(AP Photo/Michael Varaklas) 
A woman carrying a Greek flag is escorted by another draped in one, at they leave a rally outside the Greek Parliament, background, in Athens, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Greek lawmakers have ratified the agreement for the country to drop its objections to neighbouring Macedonia joining NATO if the small country’s name is changed to North Macedonia, an action aimed to end a nearly three decade-long dispute that has kept Macedonia from joining the western military alliance and the European Union.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) 
Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pauses during a parliament debate about the Prespa Agreement in Athens, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Greek lawmakers are to wrap up three days of acrimonious parliamentary debate with a vote on a deal normalising relations with Macedonia, under which Greece’s northern neighbour will rename itself North Macedonia and Athens will drop its objections to the country joining NATO. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas) 
Holding a flag with the Star of Vergina, the emblem of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia and Alexander the Great, an opponent of Prespa Agreement attends a rally in the northern port city of Thessaloniki, Greece, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Greek lawmakers have ratified the agreement for the country to drop its objections to neighbouring Macedonia joining NATO if the small country’s name is changed to North Macedonia, ending a nearly three decade-long dispute that has kept Macedonia from joining the western military alliance and the European Union.(AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)
ATHENS, Greece | Greek lawmakers ratified an agreement Friday to end a nearly three decade-long dispute over neighboring Macedonia’s name, in a landmark vote that will see the small country renamed North Macedonia and clear its path to NATO membership.
The deal passed with 153 votes in the 300-member parliament, two more than needed. It has faced fierce opposition in both countries, and recently cost Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras his parliamentary majority after a small right-wing party quit the governing coalition in protest. It passed with the support of independent lawmakers.
Tsipras’ left-wing Syriza party holds 145 seats in parliament, six short of a majority.
“Today is a historic day,” Tsipras said. “Greece is safeguarding an important part of its history, its heritage of ancient Greek Macedonia. Today we are writing a new page for the Balkans.”
Under the deal, Macedonia changes its name to North Macedonia, and Greece drops its objections to the country joining NATO and eventually the European Union.
“Congratulations my friend Alexi Tsipras, together with our peoples we reached a historical victory,” Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev tweeted.
The ratification was quickly welcomed by both NATO and the European Union.
Friday’s vote was “an important contribution to the stability and prosperity of the whole region,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted. “I look forward to the future Republic of North Macedonia joining NATO.”
The ratification came after three days of acrimonious parliamentary debate and numerous street protests, some of which turned violent. A rally last Sunday saw tens of thousands of people gather outside parliament, with clashes erupting between groups of demonstrators and riot police.
Torrential rain and driving wind kept many protesters away on the final day of the debate. Scores of demonstrators who braved the weather conditions outside parliament chanted “traitors” as lawmakers voted inside.
Top EU officials said the ratification has “written a new page of our common EU future.”
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, the EU’s top diplomat and the senior official supervising the bloc’s enlargement said it “took political courage, leadership and responsibility on all sides to resolve one of the most entrenched disputes in the region.”
Greece has long argued use of the term Macedonia implied territorial claims on its own northern province of the same name. The issue has been a contentious one for decades, stymieing repeated rounds of U.N.-mediated negotiations and whipping up nationalist and patriotic sentiment in both countries.
Opposition has been particularly fierce in the northern Greek region of Macedonia, which borders the republic that claimed the same name after declaring independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. Critics claimed the deal signs away their identity and a cultural heritage dating back to Alexander the Great more than 2,300 years ago.
More than 150 people have been detained for questioning since Thursday following violence at demonstrations against the deal in Athens and two towns in northern Greece. Most were released without charge.
At least two lawmakers from the governing the Syriza party have said their homes were targeted by violent demonstrators, while another was targeting in a firebombing that caused no injuries. Greece’s tourism minister, an independent conservative who supports the government, said she had received multiple death threats.
Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, and Lorne Cook in Brussels, contributed to this report.