by Maria Spiliopoulou
ATHENS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The overwhelming majority of Greek citizens (72 percent) wants the cancellation of the June agreement aimed to resolve the name dispute between Athens and Skopje over the use of the name Macedonia, according to the results of an opinion poll released here.
Some 68 percent of participants in the survey carried out by polling firm for Vergina TV said that a referendum on the deal should be held in Greece, Greek daily "To Vima" (Tribune) reported on Thursday.
The survey was the first conducted in Greece after the referendum which was held on Sept. 30 in Macedonia, which is officially known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) at the United Nations.
Ninety-two percent of voters in the neighboring country said yes to the June agreement, but the turnout barely reached 37 percent, according to the official results.
Although both governments in Athens and Skopje who reached the historic deal in the summer have reiterated their commitment to the effort to put an end to the row and push for the ratification of the agreement by the parliaments in both capitals, reactions in both sides of the border remain strong.
The dispute started in 1991 when FYROM declared independence from Yugoslavia choosing the name Macedonia. Athens was worried that the use of the same name of a northern Greek province by the neighboring state could lead to territorial claims.
Under the agreement signed on June 17 by the two governments FYROM's new name will be "Republic of North Macedonia".
