I described everything—what the chief of the opposition told me, the findings of the Interior Ministry and the Prosecution, the court verdict that has already been reached, and the confessions of certain people in the court procedure about the crimes they committed. The rest will be a part of a further court process in Macedonia, which, as I said, will be transparent. We are open to any kind of monitoring in this respect of everything that will be happening, said Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski after meeting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels on Wednesday.

According to unconfirmed information, the putsch case, in which criminal charges were pressed against opposition leader Zoran Zaev, was also discussed at PM Gruevski’s working lunch with several NATO ambassadors, including those of Great Britain and the USA.

The position of NATO is that the whole case needs to be resolved institutionally. Mr. Stoltenberg made it clear that an independent and comprehensive investigation has to be carried out into these very serious allegations and that those responsible are held accountable.  

“It’s not possible for me to comment on the allegations concerning foreign intelligence services having been active in the country. What I can say is that I underlined the importance of freedom of press and of allowing the opposition to have good working conditions. Those are important democratic values that need to be honoured by all parties involved,” Mr. Stoltenberg said.

He thanked Macedonia for its contribution to the NATO missions and praised its defence sector reforms but also said that NATO was watching with concern the latest political developments in Skopje and that the progress made in carrying out reforms depended on the effective democratic dialogue and the widespread trust in the rule of law and freedom of media.