SKOPJE, April 11, 2018 (Reuters) - Macedonia's parliament is set to vote on Wednesday on an opposition motion of no confidence in the government over its handling of relations with Greece and Bulgaria but the ruling coalition is likely to survive the challenge. The vote is a test for Prime Minister Zaev's reform agenda and policy of improving relations with the two neighbours as a step to joining the European Union and NATO. The main nationalist opposition party says a friendship agreement with Bulgaria ratified in January was harmful and accuses the government of lacking strategy in its talks with Greece to resolve a dispute over the name Macedonia that has lingered since 1991. It also accuses Zaev of reneging on election pledges to improve the economy, reform the judiciary and secure media freedom. Macedonia declared independence in 1991 and avoided the other wars that rocked the former Yugoslavia but an insurgency by its large ethnic Albanian minority nearly tore the country apart in 2001. The country of 2 million has made little progress towards EU and NATO membership due to the dispute with Greece, which says the country's name represents a territorial claim to a Greek province with the same name.
