SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — The first round of presidential elections in North Macedonia on Sunday is seen as a key test for the center-left government's survival in a society divided by the country's name change to end a decades-old dispute with neighboring Greece.

The name change from "Macedonia," which paves the way for the country to join NATO and the European Union, has been the main campaign issue, with one of the two front-runners vowing to challenge the agreement in the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Three university law professors, including one from the ethnic Albanian minority, are vying for the largely ceremonial post.

Skopje and Athens struck a deal last June for the ex-Yugoslav republic to change its name in exchange for Greece dropping its objections to the country joining NATO.