Talat Xhaferi

A formal call for a referendum in Macedonia, backed by the MPs from the ruling majority, but also possibly by some opposition MPs, is to be formally handed on Monday to the speaker of parliament, Talat Xhaferi, who is expected to put it to vote at a plenary session.

Macedonia this week is starting the technical screening process to assess its readiness for EU accession talks, which, according to plan, could start in June next year.

On his arrival on Skopje on Tuesday, Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn will meet Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi and the main opposition VMRO DPMNE party leader Hristijan Mickovski.

The conservative main opposition in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) filed on Thursday treason charges against Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov and the Speaker of the House Talat Xhaferi, over the deal the country signed with Greece last month aiming to resolve the decades-old name dispute.

The Skopje Criminal Court on Thursday handed heavy jail sentences to seven men for a premeditated murder attempt on Ziadin Zela, an MP and leader of the small opposition Alliance for Albanians.

The speaker of Macedonian parliament, Talat Xhaferi, has told BIRN's TV show Jeta ne Kosove'that if President Gjorge Ivanov again refuses to sign the new language law, after parliament voted for it for a second time, he will breach his constitutional rights.

Macedonian lawmakers approved a bill by which Albanian became the second official language in the country, Channel 5 announced. The vote was held today in the Macedonian Parliament. 64 MPs supported the bill.

This happened without a debate on amendments, with 64 votes in favor, and none against or abstained.

This legal act introduces the Albanian language as the second official language in the country.

Assembly Speaker Talat Xhaferi, from the Albanian DUI party, thus carried out his plan and rejected a debate on amendments.

FYROM (Macedonian) Assembly President Talat Xhaferi expects the opposition VMRO-DPMNE to withdraw more than 35,000 amendments that it submitted to the Bill on Language.

Earlier this month, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov refused to sign this bill, that would make Albanian the country's second official language, into law, and sent it back to parliament.

Earlier this month, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov refused to sign this bill, that would make Albanian the country's second official language, into law, and sent it back to parliament.

Xhaferi, who is from the DUI party representing ethnic Albanians, said Macedonia's coalition government was "determined to pass this law."

The Albanian language is now official throughout Macedonia, the parliament in Skopje decided. The law was passed with 69 votes in favor of VMRO-DPMNE's deputies.