Macedonian government

A Macedonian journalist has vandalized a Bulgarian memorial plaque by smashing it into pieces it with a hammer, sparking outrage among some Bulgarian politicians, media, and historians.

The development seems to have occurred in the early afternoon of Thursday, September 22 - the day Buglaria celebrates its independence.

After substantial progress from 2004 to 2010, democracy in the Balkans has declined for six years according to US-based NGO Freedom House's annual report on democracy in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia, which was published on Tuesday.

The Macedonian parliament approved on Monday the extension of the state of emergency in force on the country's southern and northern borders until the end of the year.

Macedonian Defence Minister Zoran Jolevski said the extension was a necessary measure against the increasing number of refugees entering and passing through the country.

The US embassy in Macedonia has dismissed claims made in the pro-government newspaper, Vest, that the US is hoping former prime minister and ruling party leader Gruevski will win the early elections in June.

Macedonia won't allow to be turned into a refugee camp, the country's Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki has stated, referring to the influx of asylum seekers transiting the Balkan country from Greece on their way to the EU.

Lawmakers from the ruling parties on Monday gave the thumbs up on an interim Macedonian government, local media report.

The caretaker cabinet, which is to help the country prepare for early elections on April 24, was approved by lawmakers from the main ruling VMRO-DPMNE and its coalition partner in the previous government, the ethnic Albanian Democratic Union for Integration (DUI).

A clash between Macedonian police and migrants left up to forty people injured at the Macedonian-Greek border on Saturday.

A group of economic migrants not allowed to enter Macedonia from Greece attacked policemen by throwing stones and other objects.

Reports suggest that Macedonian police briefly entered Greece and fired stun grenades on the discontent migrants.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday told Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia - three countries that last week limited transit rights to migrants from war-torn states - that the restrictions violate human rights.

A deadline for the Macedonian government and the opposition parties to iron out their differences on a package of media reforms expires on Friday.

EU mediator Peter Vanhoutte warned on Wednesday that the EU-brokered crisis agreement will be dead if the Macedonian government and opposition fail to agree on key reforms by the end of this weekend.