A crowd of 5,000 took part in a protest in the centre of Skopje on Tuesday night, demanding that the immediate suspension of talks with Greece over the name dispute in New York under the UN auspices.

The protest, organised by extreme nationalist groups of the FYROM diaspora, started from the EU offices in Skopje and ended in front of the country’s parliament.

Several of the protesters had flags with the sun of Vergina, a symbol of the ancient Macedonian Dynasty, while some of them also lit Greeks flags on fire. Among those in the protest were top clergy of the schismatic orthodox church of FYROM, who addressed the crowd.

Protesters demanded that the country’s politicians reject Greece’s requests for a change in FYROM’s constitutional name and amendments in its Constitution.