Talat Xhaferi

North Macedonia's parliament on Sunday approved a caretaker government with a mandate to organize a general election in May.

The government of the small Balkan country of 1.8 million people will be headed by the country's first-ever ethnic Albanian prime minister, current parliament speaker Talat Xhaferi, 61.

In a historic turn of events, North Macedonia is set to have its first-ever Albanian prime minister. Today, the parliament will convene for an extraordinary meeting to vote on the caretaker government responsible for organizing the upcoming spring elections in the country.

"Bulgaria believes that the Republic of North Macedonia will be a full member of the European Union based on its own contribution. We believe that they will fulfill the conditions of membership and should not waste time, because the worst thing is to waste time that will turn into skepticism.

"The threat of 'Bulgarianization' is a fiction of the opposition with the aim of instilling fear among Macedonians", believes the president of our southwestern neighbor, Stevo Pendarovski. He announced this in an interview with the local publication "Trilling".

Parliament speaker Talat Xhaferi has dismissed an opposition motion for a referendum on the 2017 friendship treaty with Bulgaria, which the opposition deems the source of Bulgaria's aggressive demands.

After North Macedonia's parliament failed to meet a Wednesday deadline to amend the census law and delay the long-awaited operation due to begin on Thursday, the State Statistical Office - in charge of the headcount - said it will not send census takers out into the field.

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev on Wednesday unexpectedly asked North Macedonia's parliament to take an immediate vote of confidence in his cabinet after the main opposition right-wing VMRO DPMNE party claimed Zaev's wafer-thin majority in parliament was shaky, and that it could soon muster enough support to topple him.

North Macedonia's president has declared an eight-day state of emergency ahead of an early national election after the country's main political leaders agreed the vote will be held on July 15.

Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski has declared a state of emergency throughout Northern Macedonia, BGNES reported.

In a statement to the nation, Pendarovski said this was necessary to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Prime Minister Oliver Spasovski called on parliament to declare a state of emergency because of the spread of COVID-19 at noon today.

North Macedonia's parliament was set to start a plenary session on the law on the prosecution later on Monday in a shortened procedure aimed at trying to pass the law by Sunday, when parliament is due to dissolve ahead of early general elections on April 12.