Following the vote in the Greek Parliament to ratify the deal under which Macedonia would have to be renamed into North Macedonia, several EU officials congratulated to the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras over Twitter.

They had imagination, they took the risk, they were ready to sacrifice their own interests for the greater good. Zoran, Alexis – well done! Mission impossible accomplished, EU Council President Donald Tusk tweeted in Macedonia, Greek and in English.

Commissioner Johannes Hahn referred to Macedonia as “soon to be North Macedonia” and called the deal a historic breakthrough. In a joint press release with Commission President Jean Claude Juncker and EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini, Hahn said that the EU now expects the next steps provided under the agreement.

While we look forward to the next procedural steps leading towards the full implementation of the agreement, we can already say with confidence today that Athens and Skopje have, together, written a new page of our common EU future, the press release said.

Several other Commission members welcomed the deal, with the notable absence of the Greek Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, who days ago expressed his opposition to the deal.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also welcomed the move.

I welcome today’s ratification in the Greek parliament of the Prespa Agreement, an important contribution to the stability and prosperity of the whole region. I look forward to the future Republic of North Macedonia joining NATO, Stoltenber tweeted.

NATO is now expected to prepare an invitation for Macedonia which would then be sent to the Greek Parliament for ratification. Greece vetoed Macedonia’s NATO application in 2008.