Ambassadors Press Macedonia to Probe Wiretap Claims

After meeting Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski on Monday, the US, French, British, German and EU ambassadors said they were concerned about the lack of progress in investigating allegations of government wrongdoing raised by wiretapped conversations of officials.

"This continued inaction casts serious doubt on the government of Macedonia's commitment to the democratic principles and values of the Euro-Atlantic community," the US ambassador, Jess Baily, told the media.

"Continued failure to demonstrate this commitment with concrete action will undermine Macedonia's progress towards EU and NATO membership" the ambassador added.

The ambassadors told Gruevski that if the exposures by the opposition had revealed clearly unacceptable behavior, they expect "appropriate political and legal measures to be taken against those responsible".

Since February, the opposition has been releasing taped conversations that appear to show that the government has been involved in a range of misdeeds and political tricks, including electoral fraud, abuse of the justice system and the media and covering up for the murder of a young man by a police officer.

The revelations have sparked large anti-government protests and have increased pressure on Gruevski to resign.

However, Gruevski, in power for nine years, insists the tapes were "created" by unnamed foreign intelligence services and given to the opposition in order to destabilize the country.

In light of the institutional weaknesses that the tapes reveal, the ambassadors proposed "specific reforms" that include strengthening of the integrity of the electoral system, the independence of the judiciary and the media and protecting whistleblowers.

In the light...