Politics of North Macedonia

As the health crisis recedes, the ruling Social Democrats and their VMRO DPMNE rivals have failed to agree on a date for new elections - and neither side looks like budging any time soon.

The government in North Macedonia has rejected opposition accusations that has downplayed the tough preconditions that Bulgaria has set on the expected launch of EU membership talks and on the gradual solving of open issues.

The then opposition leader who later became the Prime Minister, Zoran Zaev [c], was among the badly injured during the mob attack. Photo: EPA/STR

More minnows than big fish on trial:

The parliament came under attack amid a tense political standoff between the allies and opponents of the former right-wing VMRO DPMNE government led by Nikola Gruevski.

Skopje Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced Democratic Union for Integration, DUI party officials Ejup Alimi and Ismet Guri to three-and-a-half years in jail each for the "destruction of electoral materials" in Skopje's municipality of Cair during the 2013 local polls.

Heating Up

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.

The trial has started in Skopje of those charged with organising a mob assault on parliament in North Macedonia in April 2017, aimed at preventing the then opposition Social Democrats from taking power.

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.