in northern thailand have been receiving treatment in hospital. they were found by british divers last week. it is not known whether the coach, a former monk, will face negligence charges. the boys‘ parents have urged him not to blame himself. president trump has begun a week—long trip to europe by intensifying his criticism of america's european allies. he sent out a series of tweets as he crossed the atlantic ocean complaining that eu nations were not spending enough on their own defence. mr trump will attend a nato summit later today. football, and we now know the identity of at least one team playing in the world cup final. it is france, who beat belgium in the first semi—final in st petersburg, samuel umtiti getting the only goal of the game. now on bbc news, it is hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, with me, zeinab badawi.

for nearly three decades, the former yugoslav republic of macedonia has been locked in a bitter dispute with neighbouring greece over its name. there is a greek province called macedonia. well, last month, the two countries signed a historic accord to change the name of this small balkan state to the republic of north macedonia, subject to a referendum. the agreement paves the way for macedonia tojoin the european union and nato. this would be a welcome step for a country that is one of the poorest in europe. but challenges from nationalist hardliners, the opposition and the president signal stormy times ahead for the social democratic government. my guest is the prime minister, zoran zaev. does he have what it takes to change hearts and minds, and set his country on a path of greater prosperity? pm zoran zaev, welcome to hardtalk.

to do, thank you very much. you have said that you will resign if the name change is not approved in the name change is not approved in the name change is not approved in the name change is not approved in a referendum this autumn. why is it a resigning matterfor referendum this autumn. why is it a resigning matter for you? it is important to encourage our citizens to reach a turnout of 50% for the referendum because it is a historical referendum for us. finally, after 27 yea rs historical referendum for us. finally, after 27 years of our independence, we must decide what kind of future we hope for, and we will support that kind of future. i believe that more than 70% of our citizens will be in favour. are you sure that? yes, i am very short. how can you be? the vote has not happened yet? for example polls show that more than 75% of our citizens are in favour. more than 70% of our

citizens believe that this question should have been solved later on, or now is a good moment, or more than 7596 now is a good moment, or more than 75% will go for a referendum and vote. it is in your nature, of course, to be optimistic because you are backing this change. but when you look at what happened in the elections in 2016, are now opposition vmro got actually more votes tha n opposition vmro got actually more votes than you did, and they are opposed to this change. they say it is unconstitutional and illegal. that is going to present you with a major headache isn't it? they blame us, that we do unconstitutional and legal signing of the agreement with greece, ina legal signing of the agreement with greece, in a —— at the moment that is the theory. but there is the signature of our minister of foreign affairs, but there will be a referendum, we will vote, after that greece will ratify in the parliament

and in the agreement will be active. that is what you hope. you have a long way before you get there. the president is refusing to sign the agreement into law, even if it is approved in a referendum, and he of course is from the opposition vmro right of centre party. he invites a new rule. it is not useful in our constitution, because after they first refused to sign the agreement after voting in parliament, the parliament need to vote again. and now it has happened to refuse for the second time to sign the agreement, because with the agreement, because with the agreement, signing into law the ratification of the agreement means the active agreement and preparing the active agreement and preparing the referendum. in the referendum is due to take place this autumn. yes, this autumn. we plan the end of september, beginning at october, we will decide together in the parliament, always. but you know the issue, of course, is one that arouses tremendous passions, not

only in parliament are also in the country. and nationalists have accused you of being a traitor, and your government, traitors. traitors. we are seeing the protests in the street. last year, before you became the prime minister, you were attacked by a nationalist mob. the prime minister, you were attacked by a nationalist moblj have my scars. you still have the scars there. you see, you are a physical embodiment of the kind of passions that are involved. physical embodiment of the kind of passions that are involvedm physical embodiment of the kind of passions that are involved. it is past one year after that. really, oui’ past one year after that. really, our country has changed a lot from this moment. yes, there are opponents of this agreement. they blame me, that i am a traitor, our name, oui’ blame me, that i am a traitor, our name, our history, our identity, that kind of thing. i am very happy that kind of thing. i am very happy that finally we have covered our identity issue. part of the agreement is that the macedonian language, there is a mass mac macedonian ethnicity, et cetera, et cetera. in a very careful way we recognise each other‘s identity, but

also it is a fact that we are part dominic not a part of this historical macedonia, because there isa historical macedonia, because there is a southern part in greece, an eastern part in albania, and i think it preserves our identity. finally, the strategic goal ofjoining nato and the european union. but you must be worried about your own safety. i mean, after what happened to you last year, before you became prime minister, in june, last year, before you became prime minister, injune, i mean, you get comments, for example, not related to the violence, but a retired lawyer has accused the government of destroying macedonian self—confidence, dignity, sovereignty and identity. they see you as a sell—out. sovereignty and identity. they see you as a sell-out. all these 27 yea rs, you as a sell-out. all these 27 years , we you as a sell-out. all these 27 yea rs, we destroy you as a sell-out. all these 27 years, we destroy our dignity. there isa years, we destroy our dignity. there is a lot of frustration because of that, that has happened so much, political crisis in our country. now we are sitting together with great britain, with the united states, with germany, in the nato alliance, we have our place. our

with germany, in the nato alliance, we have our place. 0urflag with germany, in the nato alliance, we have our place. our flag will be there. so we will be equal with the power countries, powerful countries in the world. but i am not afraid about my future. not even my body, but also not even the political future. it is a sensitive question, it isa future. it is a sensitive question, it is a painful question, but it is preserving a good future for my citizens and the generation, when they come. so you are not scared for your own safety. how did you feel last april when you were attacked by the mob? as you say, i can see the scars on you. that was the day when we chose the president of the parliament. that is the house of democracy, and in every democratic country, and there was a lot of violence. and an ethnic albanian, the opposition nationalists. vx minister of defence this country, long period as an mp in the parliament, he was chosen as the president of the parliament. and the parliamentarian government in that

moment opened the doors of the parliament from inside and put the so—called patriotic organisation to attack us, without assistance of the police. we were there 2.5 hours, but fighting forfreedom, police. we were there 2.5 hours, but fighting for freedom, democracy and the future of this country. but you know, the national really do present you, prime minister, with a huge challenge in your country, in macedonia. i mean, for example, you have removed some statues of alexander the great, and that has upset many people in your country. i mean, howfarare upset many people in your country. i mean, how far are you going to go with removing monuments to alexander the great, who is so important, of course, to this whole debate. one monument, it is not an alexander the great monument, but we removed names of our highways, names of our national airport. changed them. yes. the new name of the highway is friendship, the highway between serbia and greece and our country,

it is friendship, and the new name of our airport is national airport skoopje. will you take down the statue of alexander the great in the capital, skopje? no, because we need money. and the opposition has said they will rebuild any monuments your marionette government, as they call it, we'll remove. it is a matter of taste who has what kinds of monuments, but everything must be by the law. 0nly monuments, but everything must be by the law. only one monument, in front of the court in skopje, criminal court in skopje, was without permits and we removed because it is... its municipality removed it, really, because it is a monument without permits. i mean, a lot of this debate about the name of what is known at united nations as the former yugoslav republic of macedonia, because of alexander the

great, and the greeks of course have got their province of macedonia, and they say alexander the great was born in what is now greek territory, macedonia, we don't want you to have a claim to the name, and so on. it strikes a lot of people as perhaps quite surprising that this fourth century bc figure could be stoking such passions. the history was the reason why we such passions. the history was the reason why we were such passions. the history was the reason why we were stuck in this period of 27 years without our further improvement, like, society, globally, generally speaking. finally, learning from the past, we decided to be more focused on the future. it is too much history. let's leave history to the historian dies. they will debate for everything. we are leaders and we need to preserve the future of our countries. you mentioned our neighbour countries, and we have problems, since our independence,

that stop our citizens from cooperating. but even on that occasion we have more than 1 cooperating. but even on that occasion we have more than1 million visiting from greece, for example. we are2 visiting from greece, for example. we are 2 million citizens, one more than1 million we are 2 million citizens, one more than 1 million visiting we are 2 million citizens, one more than1 million visiting per year in greece. but there is so much opportunity in front of us. so we do that mostly to improve relations between us and our south neighbour, greece, but also for our integration process , greece, but also for our integration process, to be finally a member of nato and part of the european union. sure, we have talked about the opposition in your own country, but there is also opposition in greece to this proposed name change, that you should become the republic of north macedonia. the opposition leader says it is not a good deal, because the great government has ceded to the neighbouring country something that no previous greek government has agreed to. macedonian ethnicity and macedonian language. it is an unacceptable national concession. you know, it is the

reaction of the opposition from both countries are copy paste. completely the same. that is one guarantee that we have in our agreement. there was some kind of alliance, for example, to have a new name, geographical determination, and a name used internationally or domestically. now it has appeared, this identity, reaction from the opposition of greece. but i have tried to inform, to encourage the leader of the 0pposition to encourage the leader of the opposition in greece that we separate out the identity issue. there is a hellenic or greece is a mac greek macedonians, and our macedonians. with separate culture, with separate history, of course, and we do that in a very fruitful way. also in a positive way. how to build relations and cooperation in the future. did he say anything to you? was the future. did he say anything to you ? was he the future. did he say anything to you? was he reassured by what you just said to him? he wasn't, was he? no, iam just said to him? he wasn't, was he? no, i am careful, just said to him? he wasn't, was he? no, iam careful, i just said to him? he wasn't, was he? no, i am careful, i want to invite him to be positive, because there

will be benefits for him. he has said there will be —— i have well founded suspicion is that under the present government —— a future government in skopje, not the present one, which appears to have a more moderate profile, a discussion could emerge on the issue of a greater macedonia. so it is not what you do, what successive governments might do if they are less moderate than you. greater macedonia, this division, as you say, the southern pa rt division, as you say, the southern part is different, and so on, that may all just part is different, and so on, that may alljust go. alexander the great had great macedonia. we have our macedonia and we want to build a friendship with greece, which doesn't have extraterritorial aspiration. of course, we keep the borders, we protect the borders. we confirm the heritage of the greek citizens and greek macedonians also. we have only one aspiration. to be in the beautiful beach in greece, in a beautiful island in greece, only

to support tourism in greece, to build a friendship between our two countries. but it is possible, isn't it, not just countries. but it is possible, isn't it, notjust given the opposition leader, mitsotakis, but also in the country there are nationalists also who are not happy with this, and so it is not necessarily a done deal in greece either. it is a minority. because of that, we are going to a referendum, mainly. to have a democratic... in greece, you must be worried about the nationalist opposition in greece, notjust the parliamentary opposition of mitsotakis. i am worried about that. because of that, i talk very and earnestly to encourage it, to give ita earnestly to encourage it, to give it a chance. because there is not a big majority in the parliament in greece who will vote after our referendum, after our constitutional change. it will remain only the greek parliament to vote. i am worried about that. of course, i believe that both sides will fulfil their responsibilities. if all this

happened, do you think that given 137 countries currently recognise your country, known at the un ends the former europe, yugoslavia republic of macedonia, but they simply refer to you as macedonia, do you think when you become the republic of north macedonia, people will drop the north and call you the republic of macedonia orjust macedonia? our official name will be the republic of north macedonia, we sent a] am countries, all 193 members of the night of nations, there's an agreement between us and greece. after that, with every chapter of the european union, we will be involved in internal domestic issues also. who cares after that, you know? that somebody is called north macedonia 01’ somebody is called north macedonia or south macedonia. 0fficially we will be north macedonia, everything will be north macedonia, everything will be north macedonia, everything will be state and official will be related with the new name, it's part of the agreement we will confirm the

com pletely of the agreement we will confirm the completely on that, everything connected with our macedonian identity will be a line with our identity. the greeks get their identity, we get our identity. it is good enough for the both sides and it will only strengthen the friendship between the two countries. all the discussions about your cultural identity, they also feed into the wider issue of identity in your country, in macedonia. you've been attending this summit of the western balkans here in london to discuss the various ethnic tensions amongst other things that exist in your region. you've got an ethnic albanian population of about 22% of your 2 million people, and there are tensions, aren't there? again, between you and the nationalist opposition. we have conflict between macedonians and albanians in 2001. it's a big conflict, in front of war, we considered war in the society. we passed through this conflict and now

really a lot of things happen from then. but the right nationalistic government that ruled our country for 11 years before my mandate... who was in powerfor 11 for 11 years before my mandate... who was in power for 11 years. they did huge damage to the country, especially in that matter, because we are a more technical country. we are baulk in a micro picture. beside macedonians, we have 22% albanians. we are multi— ethnical. we build a concept one society for all. it's a very positive concept to have all the same rights and same obligation for all citizens in front of institutions. but our president doesn't agree with that. president ivanoff is opposed to the law in module government wanted to present making the official use of the albanian language wider. at the moment it can only be used if there is a part of macedonia that

has 20% of mild —— of albanians. he saidi has 20% of mild —— of albanians. he said i don't lie that, i'm not going to sign this bill. really it's the right orientation —— i don't like —— i don't like that. in the loses the chance that he had. by in the loses the chance that he had. by the constitution, after 2001 there was the chance for everyone to use all languages and now we give constitutional rights for minorities, not only for albanians. we vote in the parliament with 68 votes, for example. that is quite narrow out of 120, its not a resounding majority, is it? it shows you the strength of opposition to this move because they feel it makes too many concessions to the ethnic albanian minority. yes, ok, it's a democratic debate inside the country, we believe, but it's a

majority. he refused to sign the law and that frustrated our citizens from albanian nationality and other minorities also. we hope that our lawyers in the country will find a solution, how to put this blockage from the president to the parliament. because we ask ourselves, if the president decides oui’ ourselves, if the president decides our next 107 laws to block, what will be the function of the parliament, for example, in one elementary and democracy? all these things your government is doing, you just been in power sincejune last year, enhancing minority rights, the name change and so on, asjens stoltenberg, the secretary general of nato, told you injune without the finalisation of the name agreement your country cannot join nato in the foreseeable future. this is an historic opportunity that cannot be missed. you agree with all that, so can you start the talks to

join nato at the current summit in brussels? 0r join nato at the current summit in brussels? or are they saying let's wait until you've gone through all these hoops that you've been discussing on the name change. after this interview, after a few days, i will receive in the name of my country the invitation for full membership of nato in brussels. there will be a nato summit. bearing that in mind, there is a process very equal, like other countries, like montenegro, for example, the last member country of nato, they became a member country of nato in 2015. after the imitation game start accession talks. accession talks are planned to finish injanuary, 2019 —— after the invitation we start. after this we start the ratification in the member countries' parliaments. you start your eu accession talks in 2019. but part of the requirements ofjoining the eu is you've got a lot of things to do in your country, you've got to

tackle corruption and patronage. the eu said in november, 2016 that fy are macedonia was a victim of state ca ptu re are macedonia was a victim of state capture under the former prime minister, who was recently centres to two years in prison. you've got a lot to do, haven't you, prime minister? -- recently sentenced. we passed through the first phase of judicial reforms. now the second phaseis judicial reforms. now the second phase is coming. it's a huge process. at the moment in the parliament we are debating for free media, media law, that would achieve more independence and freedom to the journalists and the media. we are at the front of the third stage in the reforms in the security system. second stage the security of the public administration. there's a lot to do in our country but as you mentioned, 11 years ago we were a ca ptu red mentioned, 11 years ago we were a captured state by the old government. now we are really a shining factor in the balkans. are you really? we are a very positive

example. you got a lot to do, you can't undo 11 years of a system of patronage and so on just overnight. —— you've got. macedonia is a major transit point for international drug—traffickers, particularly heroin from south—west asia going into europe. in december last year, synthetic drugs were seized from a laboratory in the west of your country. you've really got to tackle also this issue of drug trafficking, haven't you? crime and corruption is one of the first goals for our country. also in that matter, we are a good example in the last year. we catch a lot of illegal trading with humans, with drugs, with weapons, that kind of things. and with the support of our friends, that is the western pa rt of support of our friends, that is the western part of the world, we try to increase our capacity. we leave a space now for the non—government organisations, for civil society to be part of these checks and balances

and these corrective institutions who will check the government, for example, for anticorruption, antimonopoly, antidiscriminatory institutions, the public audit office, that kind of thing. we will be led by the experts. the us ambassador to macedonia said in december last year said you're moving in the right direction with your pledges but a pledge without action isjust a piece of your pledges but a pledge without action is just a piece of paper. your pledges but a pledge without action isjust a piece of paperlj agree. you're making the right sounds but is there action on the ground? we're making good results, it's not possible after 11 years with just one year to show necessary things to achieve what our citizens want. but they agree that we have achieved a lot. you're one of the poorest countries in europe, unemployment at 23%, shocking statistics on health for children from unicef, many of your brightest and best and young emigrate because they want to find a future elsewhere. ? >>, prime minister, win over hearts and minds and say, there's a future, especially after

we've agreed the name change and so on, andi we've agreed the name change and so on, and i can achieve all my objectives, my ambitions? now with this integration process, with the present moment integrating with nato, negotiating with the european union, we have a fair chance. we can be dictated to the health system, the education system, to open drops for youth. now the unemployment is 2196 -- for youth. now the unemployment is 21% —— dedicated to. it was 23% in the past. we can reduce it from 41.6 to 35.2%. it is future results, it motivates us to continue in that direction. for example, after the agreement with greece and the announcement that we would be invited to be a member of nato, seven big international companies decided to invest in our country. so that's a good mission for our young people —— matic. that's a good mission for our young people -- matic. zoran zaev, thank you very much indeed for coming on hardtalk. it was my

hello again. yesterday's fresher weather brought an end to a run of remarkable heat, really. somewhere in the uk over the last six days has seen temperatures into the low 30s, with the exception of yesterday's maximum temperature, which was at chivenor, in devon. we only got up to 26 degrees celsius. so for most of us, yes, there was much less humidity around. it did feel a good deal fresher than recent days. and it was a beautiful end to the day. this was the scene of the setting sun there in lincolnshire. now, looking at the weather picture for the early risers today, we do have a weather front

across western scotland that will threaten to bring some rain into northern ireland as well. otherwise, it's a dry start to the day, and a fresher feel to the weather, as well. now, this rain early wednesday morning is actually going to get a little bit heavier, particularly across south—west scotland. it might well just about scrape into antrim and down in northern ireland as well. but, although it turns heavier for a time during wednesday morning, it will then begin to ease off as the moisture gets spread out along the front, and probably bring in a risk of a few showers across wales and south—west england as we head on into the afternoon. apart from that, really, it's a dry looking day, with the early day cloud tending to break up, with some spells of sunshine. again, it's not going to feel cold in the sunshine but it will continue to feel pleasantly fresh, really. temperatures reaching a high of around 25 degress celsius or so in the warmest spots. but underneath that thicker cloud in scotland and northern ireland, generally high teens to low 20s

here, but it will get warmer over the next few days. now, if you're planning to watch the football later on this evening, should be a fine end to the day if you are at some of these outdoor venues, and temperatures holding up quite reasonably, as well. and actually, should be a comfortable night's sleep ahead as well. now, we'll look at the weather charts on into thursday, and we've still got our wiggling weather front out towards western areas of the uk, but it's a very weak affair. just really a zone of moisture lying down across the western side of the country, though it will provide the focus of a few very isolated showers. the broad picture, though, is a lot of dry weather underneath a ridge of high pressure. so, yeah, quite a bit of cloud around again with some spells of sunshine coming through. probably more sunshine generally as we get towards the latter part of the week, and that will help boost the temperatures. so highs on thursday reaching around 27 degrees celsius in london, 25 in cardiff, then a 21 in edinburgh. but again, there will be a few isolated showers across these western areas. that theme continues on into friday. most of us having a dry end to the week, but there will be a few showers knocking around, before it turns warmer and sunnier into the weekend. that's your weather. this is the briefing, i'm sally bundock.

our top story: president trump arrives in brussels for a key nato summit, and bashes europe again on its record of defence spending. the blues are through. paris comes to a standstill as france make it to the world cup final. yes, but who willjoin them, england or croatia ? i'm rajini vaidyanathan with all the build—up to tonight's game, live from moscow. the 12 boys and their football coach rescued from flooded caves in northern thailand, now being treated in hospital. officials say they are in good health and high spirits.