Macedonia Opposition Puts 'Name' Referendum at Risk

Macedonia's main opposition party is jeopardizing the planned autumn referendum on the historic name deal with Greece by blocking the appointment of a new electoral commission that is supposed to prepare it.

Eleven days after the deadline expired to appoint a new State Electoral Commission, DIK, there is no sign that the political gridlock is about to be overcome.

Unless the standoff is resolved, the holding of the all-important referendum in autumn, the key also to unlocking the country's stalled Euro-Atlantic perspectives, is at risk.

Despite calls from the parliament majority to hurry up, VMRO DPMNE MP Ilija Dimovski who chairs the parliamentary committee on appointments, has refused to start the procedure for electing a new DIK.

While Dimovski on Monday insisted that there was no point in setting up a session before all the main parties had reached a consensus on the candidates, his party has not picked its candidates, and has also set conditions.

VMRO DPMNE has said it will block the election until the ruling majority agrees to first adopt a new law on party financing. It also wants the law on government changed, to mandate the formation of a broad coalition cabinet three months before each election to ensure the vote is fair.

One principal aim of the historic agreement with Greece, signed on June 17, was to ensure that Greece ended its longstanding blockade over Macedonia's membership of NATO and the EU.

Under the deal, Macedonia agreed to change its name to Republic of North Macedonia, while Greece would lift its veto.

But for the deal to be fully implemented, Macedonians must show they support it in a referendum that the Social Democrat-led government of Zoran Zaev wants held in late...