BRUSSELS — Macedonia spun into political crisis Sunday as a referendum on a deal that would have unlocked the door to NATO and EU membership fell well short of the required turnout, raising the prospect that the Balkan nation would be blocked from those Western clubs for years to come.
With most of the vote counted, only 37 percent of eligible Macedonians had answered the question of whether to accept an agreement to change the country’s name to North Macedonia in exchange for Greece’s lifting of its veto on NATO and European Union membership. That was far short of the participation threshold of 50 percent, even though 91 percent of those who voted supported the deal.
The hotly contested campaign was closely watched by the Kremlin and Western leaders, who saw the vote as a signal for the geopolitical direction of the Balkans at a time when Russia and NATO nations are competing for influence in Europe.
The referendum was advisory, not binding, and Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said he would press on with efforts to pass the constitutional changes necessary to live up to the agreement with Greece that was reached in June. He said he would call snap elections as early as November if he failed to muster the two-thirds vote in parliament needed to implement the deal.
Despite the low turnout, the result was a “success for democracy and for a European Macedonia,” Zaev said.
