The mayor of Strumica, Zoran Zaev, was detained in Strumica this morning on charges of abusing his official powers, media report. The Interior Ministry confirmed his arrest and said the official detailed report would be issued later in the day.

Zaev is SDSM's deputy president and is known as Strumica's successful mayor. The web portal Kirilica says Zaev has been expressly taken before the Basic Court 1 in Skopje.

The leadership of SDSM is surprised and is not commenting on its deputy president's arrest for now. SDSM spokesperson Emilijan Stankovik said the party would announce details regarding this case later in the day. SDSM president Radmila Sekerinska refused to give a statement on the phone as regards Zaev's detention.

The SDSM parliamentary group decided to walk out of Parliament in protest against Zaev's arrest. SDSM leader Sekerinska previously said in Parliament that VMRO-DPMNE was bothered by the fact that Zaev was definitely the most successful mayor in Macedonia, that this was a "murder of democracy" and that for this reason SDSM no longer had any reasons to stay in Parliament.