VMRO-DPMNE

The Macedonian governing party VMRO-DPMNE is set on organizing a counter-protest at 8 pm in front of the Parliament building. The organizers claim that Macedonia is currently facing '' a directed attack aiming at destabilization'' of the country.

Macedonia's opposition was set to lead a major rally on May 17 in the troubled Balkan country, as the conservative government grapples with a deep political crisis and an outbreak of violence.

The leaders of the four biggest political parties in Macedonia have agreed to continue their talks on Monday to make another attempt to ease political tensions in the country, MIA news agency reported.

The leaders of the four biggest political parties in Macedonia have started a meeting in a bid to start a dialogue aimed at defusing the political tensions, MIA news agency reported on Thursday.

US Ambassador to Macedonia Jess Baily and the head of the EU Delegation in Skopje Aivo Orav are attending the meeting as observers.

The leaders of the four biggest political parties in Macedonia will meet on Thursday in a bid to reduce the political tensions, the country's private TV channel Telma has reported.

More police officers have died of their wounds after the Saturday attack in Kumanovo, northwestern Macedonia, local media reports suggest.

Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska earlier said the shootout between gunmen and police had claimed the lives of 5 officers and had left 30 injured.

A photoreporter and a police officer have been injured in Wednesday's protests in Macedonian capital Skopje as demonstrators gathered for a second night to demand that the government stepped down.

Wednesday's gathering in front of the Macedonian Parliament was more peaceful that the previous one, which on Tuesday evening left dozens wounded.

The political tensions in Macedonia remain heightened as the opposition SDSM leader Zoran Zaev hurled fresh accusations against the government.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Zaev stated that he will expose facts proving that the state leadership and the interior ministry plotted in the cover-up of a 2011 police killing.

The Macedonian state prosecutor formally indicted the country's top opposition politician late on April 30 over his role in a surveillance scandal that challenged the nine-year rule of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. 

For months Zoran Zaev, the leader of the opposition Social Democrats has been publishing wire-taps he says he received from a whistleblower. 

Macedonian journalists staged protests in the capital Skopje Wednesday evening, following the death threat sent to journalist Borjan Jovanovski, Reuters reported.