Macedonian Leaders' Wild Language Worries EU

The European Commission expressed "concern" on Monday over the "tensions and the negative rhetoric" present in Macedonia in the past few days.

Spokesperson Maja Kocijancic called on the country's political players to "act responsibly" so that people's faith in Macedonia's institutions and in the democratic processes is restored.

The response comes after prominent members of the ruling VMRO DPMNE party openly threatened opposition parties and NGOs and accused the State Electoral Commission, DIK, and foreign diplomats of trying to steal their election victory.

The inflammatory rhetoric culminated on Saturday with the speech by former Prime Minister and VMRO DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski in which he accused the DIK of taking "unlawful" decisions, claimed foreign ambassadors were interfering in its work, and threatened to shut down civil sector groups allegedly linked to George Soros.

He also said his party would not accept any election reruns that, according to him, were aimed at robbing his party of its narrow victory in the December 11 early elections.

Gruevski delivered his uncompromising speech after the DIK accepted one out of eight electoral complaints filed by the opposition BESA party and after it rejected all other complaints filed by BESA and by the main opposition Social Democratic Union, SDSM.

Political Science Professor Todor Pendarov said Gruevski's speech was worrying and would "not contribute to calming the tensions and the sharp divide in society".

He added: "With this statement, which is a direct attack on the international factor…  Gruevski is distancing the country from its strategic goals, [membership of] NATO and the EU".

The Administrative Court will have the final say on...