Macedonian protests

Three possible options loom over North Macedonia's immediate political future after Prime Minister Zoran Zaev resigned on Sunday - the existing parliament majority led by the Social Democrats remaining in power with a new PM, a brand new opposition-led majority, or snap general elections.

In an address late on Sunday evening, Zoran Zaev said he is resigning from his position as North Macedonia's Prime Minister and as leader of the Social Democrats, after the party's defeat in the capital of Skopje and other important towns to the opposition right-wing VMRO DPMNE party during the election runoffs this weekend.

Zaev's ascent to power can be traced to his starring role in lifting the lid on the corruption, meddling and abuse of power that had become widespread in Gruevski's regime, when the Social Democrat leader began feeding intelligence service wiretaps to the media in a series of sensational press conferences in 2015.

The Macedonain Foreign Affairs Ministry and the VMRO-DPMNE party issued a protest to Bulgaria after the latest nationalist outburst from Bulgarian member of the European Parliament Angel Dzhambazki. Dzhambazki, who is part of the VMRO-BND party which is in Prime Minister Borisov's coalition, threatened Macedonia with a "dreadful end" if it "continues to reject its Bulgarian character".

Tobias Zech, a legislator from the centre-right Christian Social Union, CSU, the ruling party in Bavaria and sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU, has quit after Germany's Spiegel revealed that he lobbied for Nikola Gruevski's ousted authoritarian regime in North Macedonia in 2016.

They are protesting against the police brutality at the city’s square last week

North Macedonia's long-overdue national census, a key operation that the country has failed to carry out for 19 years due to ethnic and political interference, is already facing serious attempts to disrupt it.

VMRO-DPMNE Stages Protest in Skopje, Demand Resignation of Premier Zaev

VMRO - DPNE (The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity) organized a protest rally in Skopje which demanded resignation of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Nova TV reported.  

Zaev acted swiftly on his promise to sort out the decades-long dispute with Greece over the country's name, which had resulted in Athens blocking Skopje's bids to join the European Union and NATO.

Early general elections in North Macedonia, which were put on hold due to the COVID-19 crisis, will be held on July 15, the head of the main ruling Social Democrats, SDSM, Zoran Zaev, said on Monday, after striking a deal with the opposition parties.