Ali Ahmeti

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski submitted his resignation to the Speaker of Parliament Trajko Veljanoski on Friday.

The resignation of Gruevski is part of the political agreements reached between the main political parties of Macedonia in June and July last year with the mediation of the EU.

Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias will meet at 12:00 today, 8 January, at the Foreign Ministry, with the President of DUI – the Albanian party that is a coalition partner in the government of FYROM – Ali Ahmeti, who will be accompanied by FYROM Deputy Prime Ministers Musa Xhaferi and Fatmir Besimi.

A working lunch will follow the meeting, according to a Foreign ministry’s announcement.

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski announced on Wednesday that an agreement has been reached between the leaders of the four main parties to bring to an end the political crisis, which has gripped the country in the last several months.

The EU Commissioner  Johannes Hahn will be visiting Macedonia on Tuesday to try to help the country's leaders resolve a months-long political crisis.

After optimistic reports of a way out of the political crisis in Macedonia, fresh crisis talks planned for Friday have been cancelled.

In a short press statement issued after the meeting, Macedonia's four main party leaders said only that they had met to discuss details about the government that will prepare snap elections.

The deal was agreed on June 2 with the mediation of the EU Enlargement Commissioner, Johannes Hahn.

Macedonia's warring political leaders hold a new meeting on Monday in the hope of reaching an agreement on a transition government that will lead the country into early elections due to take place by next April at the latest.

The key question is whether Prime Minister and VMRO DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski will step down ahead of the polls.

About 2,000 ethnic Albanians marched in Macedonia's capital, Skopje, on Saturday, demanding redefinition of their status and the resignation of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, newswires reported.

The marchers also called for the resignation of Gruevsi's junior government coalition partner, the ethnic Albanian DUI led by Ali Ahmeti, to open the way for early elections.

No early elections will be held in Macedonia by end-April 2016 if there is no agreement on a transitional government by June 10, the country's Nova TV channel revealed on Tuesday.

Zoran Zaev, leader of Macedonia's opposition Social Democrats, expects the political crisis in the country to be resolved by the end of June.