VMRO-DPMNE

The FYROM (Macedonian) Assembly on Wednesday passed in a majority vote a conclusion on the Law on Languages.

Tanjug said in its report that this means a decision has been made that Macedonia needs such a law.

The renaming of Skopje’s airport from “Alexander the Great” to “Kiro Gligorov” (former Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia -FYROM- president) proposed diplomats in the country, an idea that seems to be accepted by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev despite the strong objections expressed by Nikola Gruevski’s main opposition party VMRO-DPMNE.

Macedonia's main opposition leader cried foul over local election results after gains for the ruling party in a second round of polls on Sunday, and demanded a snap parliamentary vote, reported Reuters. 

Macedonia's SDSM, led by Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, confirmed its widespread support, winning 18 of the 35 municipalities in which voting took place Sunday. The first round already suggested widespread support on October 15 (SDSM won 39), which together with Sunday's vote means that in total the party now controls at least 57 out of Macedonia's 81 municipalities.

FYROM's (Macedonia) ruling Social Democrats (SDSM) have won a sweeping victory in the first round of local elections and delivered a severe blow to the conservative VMRO-DPMNE party that ruled much of the country for more than a decade.

Macedonia's ruling Social Democrats, SDSM, celebrated a convincing victory Sunday night during the first round of local elections, widely regarded as a key test of the new government's popularity.

On Sunday, local elections are being held in Macedonia, which is a test for the new left-wing government five months after it came to power in an acute political crisis after a decade of conservative government, the Associated Press reported.

The campaign for the October 15 local elections in Macedonia will feature a mixed bag of local topics and big national issues, observers say - adding that the result will serve as an important barometer of the popularity of new course of the country following the change of regime at a national level.

Photo: Reuters

Minareport claims that US Ambassador to FYROM (Macedonia) Jess Baily has been directly involved in the wiretapping affair targeting Serbian diplomats and officials.

The Macedonian website referred to Baily as a CIA officer "whose cover is 'US ambassador to Macedonia'."