Russia recognizes official name of 'Republic of North Macedonia' despite doubts

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia recognizes the Republic of North Macedonia as Macedonia's new official name, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday, despite having previously expressed reservations about the legitimacy of the name change. Macedonia's parliament passed an amendment to the constitution in January to rename the country, under an agreement with Greece to put an end to a 27-year-old dispute between the neighboring countries. (Reporting by Maria Tsetkova; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Andrew Osborn)