VMRO DPMNE party

Macedonia's main opposition VMRO DPMNE party is in a dilemma over whether to tap into the 1.3 million euros that parliament has set aside for campaigning for the September 30 "name" referendum. It has until the end of Monday to officially make up its mind.

Thirty people, including the former interior minister and police chief Mitko Cavkov, five opposition MPs, police employees and activists, went on trial on Wednesday, accused of storming Macedonia's parliament on April 27 last year.

The Skopje court on Friday continued to hear more of over 1,000 previously unreleased wiretapped audio recordings of senior ex-officials as evidence in the case against former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and some of his former ministers and close associates who are accused of rigging past elections.

More than 1,000 previously unreleased wiretapped audio recordings are expected to be heard on Friday and next week at the ongoing trial of former Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and other former government officials who are charged with allegedly masterminding electoral fraud in 2013.

Fictive voters registered at fake addresses, voters registered at more than one address and those who are unjustly removed from the electoral roll. These are just some of the many flaws that civic associations say are still contained in the voters list ahead of the historic referendum.

A coalition of 28 small right-wing political parties, political factions, civic associations and NGOs are backing a campaign dubbed 'Macedonia Boycotts', whose aim is to foil September's referendum on the historic 'name' agreement with Greece, which is key for Macedonia's Euro-Atlantic path.

Sixty-seven of the 120 MPs in Macedonia's parliament voted in favour of the holding a referendum on the country's agreement with Greece on September 30 which - if successful - will hopefully expedite Macedonia's Euro-Atlantic integration.

A formal call for a referendum in Macedonia, backed by the MPs from the ruling majority, but also possibly by some opposition MPs, is to be formally handed on Monday to the speaker of parliament, Talat Xhaferi, who is expected to put it to vote at a plenary session.

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said he hoped parliament would adopt a formal decision supporting the referendum on the country's deal with Greece by Monday - which he added would then be staged with or without the support of the main opposition VMRO DPMNE party.

Macedonia's main opposition VMRO DPMNE party has agreed to stop blocking the appointments of members of the State Electoral Commission, DIK, in exchange for a provision guaranteeing the formation of a technical government 100 days ahead of any future elections, to ensure their fairness and regularity.