Zaev

The Macedonian government on Wednesday survived a parliamentary vote of no-confidence brought by the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party over its handling of relations with Greece and Bulgaria. 

The vote was seen as a test for Prime Minister Zaev's reform agenda and policy of improving relations with the two neighbours as a step to joining the European Union and NATO. 

"I am sorry that the president of the state has decided literally not to respect the Constitution and to announce that he will not sign the law for the second time. That is not good, it is a flagrant violation of the Constitution of Macedonia and, of course, institutions do not have the right to allow this to happen," Zaev told reporters in Skopje.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov joined his Macedonian counterpart, Zoran Zaev, in Skopje on Monday to commemorate the deportation and extermination of the Jewish people from the territory of today's Macedonia in the Nazi concentration camp of Treblinka in 1943.

Zoran Zaev, the prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on Tuesday again rebuffed Greek demands for a change to his country's constitution, instead proposing the drafting of an international treaty which, he said, would be of greater value to Greece, Ekathimeriniwrites.

Zaev told the Financial Times in an interview published on February 28 that he hoped this issue could be resolved before the NATO summit in Brussels in July, from which Macedonia expects an invitation to become a member of the Alliance.

A statue of the Macedon king Alexander the Great riding his horse, Bucephalus, has been taken down in Skopje airport.

Following Greek media reports that Greece may soon issue its own proposed draft agreement for overcoming the dispute over Macedonia's name, the Macedonian government has said that all proposals must first pass through the appointed UN Mediator.

Zoran Zaev, Macedonia's prime minister, has said his country and Greece are moving closer to solving one of Europe's most intractable diplomatic disputes — the quarrel over what name the former Yugoslav republic should use.

Zoran Zaev, the prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on Tuesday confirmed the four options currently being discussed with Greece in talks aimed at resolving a dispute over FYROM's name while Athens said it was awaiting evidence of Skopje moving toward a compromise.

Beta agency reported this on Monday, citing a Deutsche Welle report, that quoted Zaev's interview for German magazine Spiegel.

Zaev said jokingly that when it comes to possible territorial pretensions that Greece is warning about, "the only pretensions from Macedonia are directed towards the Greek beaches."