Macedonia's president says he is against any solution to the dispute with neighboring Greece over Macedonia's name if his country has to change the way it calls itself domestically.

President Gjorge Ivanov also said Thursday in a statement that the potential agreement should not involve changes to Macedonia's constitution.

This would be required if the country agreed to Greece's demand that a new agreed name should be used both in Macedonian official documents and in international relations.

Both countries are working hard to overcome the 27-year dispute. Macedonia rejects Greek complaints that its current name implies claims on an adjoining Greek province.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev had said that that Skopje and Athens have never been closer to an agreement.