ATHENS — Macedonia agreed to change its name to resolve a decades-old dispute with Greece, the two countries said on Tuesday, and Greece said it would drop its objection to the neighboring country’s entry into the European Union and NATO if the changes are formally adopted. Greece’s prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, said the country’s new name will be Severna Makedonija or Republic of North Macedonia. Greece had long opposed the name “Macedonia,” saying it implied territorial aspirations over a northern Greek region of the same name. “I am deeply convinced that the agreement is a diplomatic success and a historic opportunity,” Mr. Tsipras said. He called it a “historic moment for the Balkans and our nations” and said it “opens a window to solidarity, friendship, cooperation, prosperity and mutual growth.” Greece, which has blocked Macedonia from joining NATO and the European Union, said the deal will pave the neighboring country’s way into the two alliances as long as it follows through and formally adopts the name change.<doc-sep>Macedonia has agreed to change its name to end a 27-year dispute with Greece. The country will now be known as the Republic of North Macedonia, or Severna Makedonija in Macedonian. Greece has argued since Macedonia's independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 that the young country's name implied a claim to the territory and ancient heritage of Greece's northern region of Macedonia - the birthplace of ancient warrior king Alexander the Great. Previous administrations in Macedonia's capital, Skopje, resisted demands to change or modify the name. The dispute strained relations between the two neighbours, and the United Nations appointed a special envoy to mediate. Advertisement Greece will lift its objections to Macedonia's accession to NATO and the European Union once the dispute is resolved. Image: The dispute has lasted for 27 years with talks and protests In Skopje, the opposition party VMRO-DPMNE, said Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev had informed party leader Hristijan Mickoski that he had "achieved a solution with Greece". Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said a deal had been reached that would give Macedonia a different name which would be used domestically and internationally. He said: "We have a good agreement that covers all the preconditions the Greek side had set." He said Macedonia would revise its constitution for the name change and that the deal "secures the historic heritage of ancient Greek Macedonia". Mr Tsipras said Greece is to ratify the deal in parliament after Macedonia has made the necessary changes to its constitution.<doc-sep>The government of Macedonia has struck an agreement with Greece to change the country’s name, bringing an end to a long-running dispute between the two nations. Greece has long objected to the use of the name Macedonia because it was shared by the ancient Greek kingdom ruled by Alexander of Macedon, and is also used by an adjacent Greek region. As a result of Greece’s objections Macedonia was only admitted to the UN under the provisional name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia after it gained its independence in 1991 from the break-up of Yugoslavia. Recommended Macedonia to rename airport to make peace with Greece Successive Greek governments have threatened to block Macedonia’s entry to the European Union and Nato under its original constitutional name. Macedonia is a candidate state for EU membership. Under the deal the country’s name would be changed to the Republic of Northern Macedonia, to reflect the existence of the Greek region of Macedonia on the other side of the border and the cultural claim Greeks see over it. The name would be used both internally by the government and externally when conducting foreign affairs. The accord was finalised during a phone call between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev on Tuesday, and in return for the name change Greece would lift its vetoes on the country joining the EU and Nato. Both countries’ parliaments need to ratify the deal, and Macedonia is expected to hold a referendum on the issue. Nationalists in both countries are opposed to compromise and could yet derail the accord. The agreement is set to be formally signed on Saturday at Lake Prespa, which straddles the country’s border, and that of neighbouring Albania. There is no way back. Zoran Zaev, prime minister of Macedonia “The name change will be implemented not only in the country's international relations but also domestically,” Mr Tsipras said in a televised press conference, while Mr Zaev, speaking separately, told his countrymen: “There is no way back.” The PM called on the opposition to back the name change and said it would guarantee access to the EU and Nato. In Greece, the right wing Independent Greeks party, which is in Mr Tsipras's governing coalition partner, has said it would oppose the agreement in a parliamentary vote – meaning the left wing prime minister will need to seek support from political opponents. Negotiations, which have been on and off for decades, have intensified in recent months under the oversight of EU, US, and German diplomats. Ancient Macedonia was the cradle of warrior king Alexander’s empire, but under the Romans the province of Macedonia was expanded to include territory spanning Macedonia, as well as Bulgaria and Albania. Some Greeks have accused Macedonians, who speak a Slavic language, of appropriating aspects of Greek culture. An eight-storey high statue resembling Alexander in the Macedonian capital of Skopje caused a fuss in 2011. Macedonian authorities insist that the statue is of a “warrior on a horse” rather than the ancient Greek hero. As a goodwill gesture preceding the deal, in February of this year the Macedonian government renamed Skopje's airport, which was previously known as Skopje Alexander the Great Airport, to Skopje International Airport. 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ATHENS—Greece and Macedonia agreed to rename the Balkan country “North Macedonia” in a breakthrough that could end a bitter 27-year-old dispute and pave the way for expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union. The deal, reached on Tuesday in a phone call between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev, calls for Greece to lift its longstanding veto over NATO and EU membership talks with its neighbor. The accord needs ratifying by referendum in Macedonia and by both countries’ parliaments. Nationalists in both countries oppose any compromise and could yet derail it. The deal was achieved after months of negotiations and under heavy diplomatic pressure from the U.S., Germany and EU authorities. With leaders in both countries since 2017 finally willing to compromise, the West’s leading powers pushed hard to seize the best political opportunity in years to overcome one of Europe’s thorniest disputes. NATO leaders could decide as early as July to start the accession process for Macedonia. EU membership talks might take longer, since core EU members France and the Netherlands are reluctant to expand the bloc just yet. Macedonia’s potential entrance into NATO and the EU is seen in Western capitals as a vital step in stabilizing the Balkans. The region has become an arena of intensifying competition for influence between the West and Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in January that the name issue was revived as part of a U.S. effort to pull Macedonia into NATO. Moscow opposes NATO expansion in the Balkans, saying it undermines stability there. Still, Mr. Lavrov said that “probably everyone” would accept any name that Greece and Macedonia agree on. Messrs. Zaev and Tsipras are due to sign their accord on Saturday at Lake Prespa on the two countries’ frontier. But their deal still faces political hurdles. Macedonian voters must approve their nation’s new name in a referendum, possibly in the autumn. After that, the country’s parliament will have to change the constitution to reflect the new name, which requires a two-thirds majority of lawmakers. Mr. Zaev’s fragile government doesn’t have enough votes now and might have to hold early elections in search of a stronger majority. Greece’s parliament must also sign off. Although Mr. Tsipras’s left-wing Syriza party is eager to end the dispute, his junior coalition partner, the nationalist Independent Greeks, opposes it. Mr. Tsipras may need opposition support. Greek nationalists have held massive street demonstrations against a compromise in recent months. Another mass protest in Athens is being planned for July. The naming dispute is viewed as a baffling irritation in much of the world but stirs strong feelings in the Balkans. Ever since Macedonia became an independent country in 1991, emerging from the collapse of Yugoslavia, Greece has strenuously objected to its name and other adopted symbols, accusing its smaller neighbor of coveting Greek territory and heritage. The name dates back to the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, home of Alexander the Great. Most of the ancient kingdom lay in a northern region of today’s Greece, a region also called Macedonia. In modern history, Macedonia became a geographical term for a wider area of the Balkans that spans several countries today. The country formed a national identity as Macedonians during the 20th century, historians say, as its mostly Slavic-speaking people came to feel distinct from neighbors such as Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia. Many Greek nationalists reject any non-Hellenic claim to the name, even in a composite form. Hardliners in Macedonia, meanwhile, oppose any composite name imposed under foreign pressure. Greece has for years faced international criticism for blocking Macedonia’s accession talks with the EU and NATO—a stance widely seen as unduly pressuring an impoverished neighbor while jeopardizing its economic and political development. Greece’s veto has led international organizations such as the EU and UN to use the provisional name “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,” or FYROM. Around 140 countries around the world, including the U.S., recognize the country under its current constitutional name, Republic of Macedonia. American and EU diplomats have tried for a quarter-century to persuade Greece and Macedonia to accept an alternative, such as “North Macedonia,” that would let the country keep its identity while reassuring Greeks that it’s distinct from theirs. Write to Nektaria Stamouli at nektaria.stamouli@wsj.com and Marcus Walker at marcus.walker@wsj.com