The President of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov reiterated on Tuesday he would not sign the agreement between Skopje and Athens on a new name for his country, saying the parliament ratified it unconstitutionally.

Ivanov, who has the support of Macedonian nationalists, said he would not accept the deal immediately after Zoran Zaev and Alexis Tsipras, Macedonian and Greek prime ministers respectively, agreed that the new name for the former Yugoslav republic would be North Macedonia.

The agreement was signed on June 17 by the foreign ministers of the two countries and the Macedonian parliament, where Zaev’s coalition has the majority, ratified it on June 20.

The next step is a referendum in September or October.

In both Greece and Macedonia nationalists staged some protests against the agreement, some of which turned violent.

Zaev said on Tuesday that he would resign if the referendum on the new name did not get the majority.

The turnout for the referendum must be 50 percent plus one eligible voter, of whom over a half need to cast their ballot for either option.

Ivanov’s refusal has no real impact since under the Constitution he can reject the deal once, and if the parliament endorses it again, he is obliged to sign it.

However, in a breach of the Constitution, Ivanov had previously rejected to sign the law on the use of the Albanian language even after the parliament adopted it for the second time. The bill came into effect anyway.

“One of the pillars of my policy from its original 2014 programme is that I do not accept a change to the Constitution for a change of the constitutional name (of the country),” he said.

He added he did not welcome ideas or suggestions “that would jeopardise the Macedonian national identity, its distinctiveness, its language and lifestyle.”

According to him, the Athens – Skopje deal put Macedonia in submission to another country which is a crime punishable by a minimum of five years in jail.

Macedonian government said Ivanov’s move was expected but would not have any effect.

The Parliament Speaker Talat Xaferi said he would soon call a parliament session to put the deal on the agenda for the second time.