Protests were held in 25 cities across Greece on June 6 against the use of the name Macedonia by Greece's northern neighbour, as the governments in Skopje and Athens announced they are close to a solution to the long-standing name dispute.

The protests came after Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said that he expects the name issue to be resolved very soon. The same announcement came from Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev.

Macedonia is involved in a long-standing dispute with Greece over the country’s name; Greece objects to the use of the name Macedonia as it has a province in the north with the same name, fearing that Skopje has territorial claims. Athens has blocked Macedonia's progress towards EU and Nato membership for decades over the issue. 

The negotiations intensified in the last six months, even though they began much earlier under the auspices of UN mediator Matthew Nimetz.

Around 3,000 people gathered near Alexander the Great's birthplace Pella to demand that Greece takes a tough stance with the its northern neighbour in talks to resolve the issue, Kathimerini reported.

"I believe there is only one Macedonia, which is Greek. It is our duty to exert pressure so that the name Macedonia is not given to our neighbour," one of the protestors was cited as saying.

According to Kathimerini, the peaceful rally in Pella was the best attended of 25 rallies organised in small towns across Greece by hardliners opposing any use of the name Macedonia by the country's tiny neighbour.

Rally organisers called on June 5 for any agreement reached in Skopje to be put to a referendum in Greece, and insisted that the word Macedonia should not be included in the country’s name under any permutation, according to Greek Reporter.

Macedonian PM Zaev said earlier that if agreement is reached the Macedonian government will call a referendum to allow citizens to decide about the delicate changes.

Possible solutions include Northern, Upper and New Macedonia. However, Greece demands erga omnes, which is the use of the new name not only internationally but also internally and needs constitutional changes, which is fiercely opposed by the opposition in Macedonia.

On June 2, Macedonia’s main opposition VMRO-DPMNE party staged a huge protest in Skopje against Zaev's Social Democrat-led government, accusing it of betraying the country’s national interests by negotiating the change of the country’s name with Greece. 

Several thousand opposition supporters gathered in front of the government building in Skopje to protest against the change of the country’s name at the time when the government is in an advanced stage of negotiations with Greece.

Massive protests were also held in Thessaloniki and Athens in February when the governments in Skopje and Athens announced a new push at a solution was underway.

It is not clear whether the rallies in northern Greece will hamper the government's efforts to reach a solution with Skopje over the name issue, since PM Alexis Tsipras is determined to close the issue.