Macedonian protests

The people who have supported the formation of the new party are now also required to provide proof of citizenship, not older than six months.

Tortevski says that this demand is absurd and unnecessary because those who have signed notary statements have already legitimized themselves with their IDs or passports. "A non-citizen cannot have a passport or an ID," he notes.

Moment of Truth

Zoran Zaev, until recently the Prime Minister of North Macedonia and leader of the ruling SDSM, faces his moment of truth on April 12th as Macedonian voters are set to go to the polls to pass judgement on his government. While having achieved a great deal in the foreign policy realm, his government has disappointed expectations on the domestic front.

Thousands of opposition supporters marched peacefully through North Macedonia's capital Skopje late Tuesday to protest what they claim was interference in the judiciary by the country's former prime minister.
The protest to the Supreme Court building was organized by the conservative main opposition VMRO-DPMNE party amid campaigning for early parliamentary elections on April 12.

Voters, she said, must choose between that future or a return to the past under VMRO-DPMNE when the party was accused of monopolising power, undermining independent institutions, stifling media freedom and spending wildly on nationalist vanity projects.

Hungarian ads filled the gap after change of power:

Screenshot from Republika. Photo: Prizma.mk 

A quick look on the media outlets where these adverts were placed reveals that they were not chosen at random.

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.

After his caretaker cabinet was approved on Friday, Oliver Spasovski - who has taken over as acting Prime Minister of North Macedonia - says he is up to "meeting citizens' expectations" and ensuring the April 12 early general elections pass off without a major hitch.

"The government has been working since 8.30 a.m., I have signed my resignation, in accordance with the agreement (for the elections) and the Law on Government. I believe that it will reach the Parliament very soon, which can then start the procedure for electing a transitional government", Zaev said.

The formation of North Macedonia's caretaker government, tasked with ensuring democratic early general elections on April 12, has encountered new complications after the opposition VMRO DPMNE party proposed an army lieutenant-colonel, Dragan Kovacki, as caretaker interior minister.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, reached the agreement on how the so-called "mini Schengen" will look like with Zoran Zaev and Edi Rama, the prime ministers of North Macedonia and Albania.