The early parliamentary elections will be held on 5 June, said Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski after SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski announced earlier that they would not boycott the elections.

“SDSM is going to participate in the early parliamentary elections without any demands, according to the election rules and on the date that VMRO-DPMNE defines,” Crvenkovski said before his fellow party members Wednesday.

Immediately after Crvenkovski’s statement, Gruevski revealed the election date, asking why the leader of the opposition held Macedonian hostage for four months with diverse demands and conditions.

“After setting dozens of demands and conditions and after we accepted them all, Branko Crvenkovski “courageously” said he accepted the elections. Why did he waste so much time and had to torture the whole public and the international community and put at risk the recommendation from the EU for opening accession talks? After all Macedonian and Albanian parties showed signals that they would run in the elections and that his politics has no perspective, he is trying to present his debacle as a victory. And we should all faint now out of exuberance over his decision. You are not convincing, Branko,” Gruevski said.

SDSM is going to take part in the early parliamentary elections, said party leader Branko Crvenkovski. As of today, the opposition party has no demands, he added.

“We are not returning to Parliament and we are no longer conducting any talks with VMRO-DPMNE and the government,” Crvenkovski said at the press conference in the headquarters of the party.

Crvenkovski said that he would not let the prime minister and VMRO-DPMNE leader, Nikola Gruevski, force the opposition to a boycott.

“Pass whatever election law and voters’ list you wish and spend as much budget money on media advertisements as you like. Just say the day of elections and we’ll be there,” Crvenkovski said.

The leader of the opposition party called on the citizens to support him and said he was confident that his party was going to defeat VMRO-DPMNE in the early elections.

- Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said the presentation of the Macedonian team at the Court in the Hague was good and based on real arguments. He expects the Court to confirm justice and make sure there are no winners and losers in the case but that winners are the international norm and the international law that pertain to the Interim Accord.

We demand that legal stability be established whereby Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic integration would be achieved. With such an appeal to the International Court of Justice in the Hague, Nikola Dimitrov closed Monday the presentation of the Macedonian arguments in the second round of the public hearing in Macedonia’s lawsuit against Greece for breaching the Interim Accord. Before 15 judges from across the world, Dimitrov, the Macedonian co-agent in the dispute, stressed that Macedonia was going to honor the decision of the Court, whatever it is, and added that neither the lawsuit nor its outcome would have an effect on the name issue talks, Vecer reports.  

“We want a verdict that will restore legal stability and confirm that what has already been agreed upon should not be used as something for gaining advantage in the name issue talks. If the verdict is in our favor, both parties have the same burden and same impetus to continue talking concerning the name of my country. The effect of your verdict will be solely to help restore the regime that both parties honored for 13 years,” Dimitrov said and pointed out that Macedonia is not tying to monopolize the name of Macedonia and is not opposing its use for referring to one of the Greek provinces.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski categorically rejected Sunday SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski’s proposal that the early parliamentary elections should be held after a guarantee is received that the Public Revenue Office is not going to block Velija Ramkovski’s media with new measures. Gruevski said this condition was unacceptable.

“We cannot accept blackmails that would make institutions dysfunctional or selective toward the legal and physical entities. We appeal to SDSM to renounce the unlawful and illegitimate demands, which are not within the Government’s authorization, and to feel content with the Government’s acceptance of all their other demands. The boycott is a serious damage that they as a party inflict to our country,” Gruevski said, welcoming the decision of opposition PDSH to return to Parliament.

SDSM replied Sunday that their decision to boycott the elections remained unless their conditions were accepted.

-    On Monday, the second phase of the public hearing will begin in the Hague-based International Court of Justice, in Macedonia’s lawsuit against the Republic of Greece. According to announcements, the Macedonian team will have the opportunity to respond to Greece’s allegations.

The elections should be held on 26 June; the governing parties should guarantee that non-judicial authorities, such as the Public Revenue Office (PRO), are not going to take any new decisions concerning the accounts of A1 and the papers before the early elections are over; and a law should be passed for even distribution of money to the media in the election period. These are the new proposals that SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski sent Thursday to the three political parties that participated in the meeting in President Ivanov’s office Tuesday, Utrinski vesnik reports.

Crvenkovski said at the press conference that SDSM was sure of the political motives behind the court decision but will respect the decision of the Criminal Council that confirmed that the accounts of these media should stay blocked. However, Crvenkovski believes that after this step, “Gruevski’s argument that he cannot and will not interfere with the judicial decisions, unless Goran Trajkovski has been elected a judge overnight is no longer valid.”

Following Demokracia e Re leader Imer Selmani’s appeal of two days ago for foreign mediation between the leaders of the political parties, there are no concrete reactions from the US Embassy and the Skopje-based EU Office.

The EU office only said that, the dialogue between the Government and the opposition is necessary to reach consensus over the present difficulties and to move forward. The written statement also says that the issues regarding the functioning of Parliament and the holding of elections require full dedication.”

The political dialogue that collapsed Tuesday is the main topic in the political circles accompanied by the central question of whether Gruevski is going to realize his threat of holding elections without the opposition and whether Crvenkovski is truly going to boycott.

The leader of Demokracia e Re, Selmani, appealed for international mediation immediately after the failure of the meeting with President Gjorge Ivanov Tuesday to produce results.

- Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki met with his Dutch counterpart Uri Rosenthal in the Hague, Wednesday. At the meeting, Milososki underlined that Macedonia may count on Dutch support on its road to the EU membership.

The meeting of the leaders of VMRO-DPMNE, SDSM, BDI and Demokracia e Re, Nikola Gruevski, Branko Crvenkovski, Ali Ahmeti and Imer Selmani at President Gjorge Ivanov’s office Tuesday lasted less than an hour and ended without an agreement over the open issues as regards the holding of early parliamentary elections.

Prime Minister and VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski said Crvenkovski came to the meeting with the intention to prevent reaching an agreement and holding elections.

This shows that he has no intention of running in the elections, Gruevski said. He also said the government accepted many demands of the opposition but some of them were irrational and illogical.

 

Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki presented Monday the Macedonian arguments in the lawsuit against Greece before the Hague-based International Court of Justice. According to Milososki, Greece, ever since Macedonia proclaimed independence, is contesting the name of our country and this policy has created serious difficulties in the country’s Euro-integration processes. In the argumentation of the Macedonian side all available public statements, letters and interviews of Greek state organs, published in the media, were presented. The Court is expected to pass the verdict this autumn. 

The public hearing in Macedonia’s lawsuit against Greece for breaching the Interim Accord the two countries signed in 1995 begins Monday (21 March).

Macedonia filed the application on 17 November 2008 after Greece did not allow Macedonia to join NATO under the provisional reference of “former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” at the Summit of the Alliance in April of that year. In its application Macedonia demands of the Court “to protect its rights defined in the Interim Accord”, which would make it possible for Macedonia to become a member of NATO and the EU under the provisional reference. Law professionals say that Macedonia has strong arguments to substantiate its application.

- The leader’s meeting in the presidential residence of Gjorgje Ivanov lasted up to six hours on Sunday. According to partisan sources, small progress has been achieved even though the parties stuck to their demands.  Nevertheless, on Friday, SDSM president Branko Crvenkovski did not accept the invitation for a leader’s meeting which was only attended by Gruevski and Ahmeti. Another leader’s meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

The Republic of Macedonia is well prepared for the public hearing that starts Monday (21 March) before the International Court of Justice in the Hague regarding the lawsuit against the Republic of Greece over the violation of the interim Accord both countries signed in 1995, says the team representing Macedonia.

In the application that Macedonia submitted in November 2008, it is requested of the Court to determine that at the NATO Summit in Bucharest in April 2008 Greece breached Article 11 of the Interim Accord by not allowing for Macedonia to be extended an invitation to join NATO under the provisional reference of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The Court is requested to impose on Greece to honor all its responsibilities arising from Article 11.

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov has scheduled a meeting late Friday with leaders of VMRO-DPMNE, SDSM and BDI, in an attempt to overcome the political crisis and Parliament boycott. The party leaders have confirmed their participation at the meeting, which will be held in presidential residence.  

With 49 votes in favor, seven against and three abstentions, the foreign affairs commission of the European Parliament adopted Wednesday the resolution on Macedonia’s progress in 2010. The report, drafted by Slovenian MEP Zoran Thaler and rapporteur on Macedonia, recommends that Macedonia should open membership negotiations with the EU as soon as possible.

Of the 152 filed amendments, 14 compromise and another 50 amendments were adopted, MIA’s correspondent said.

“Our goal is that Macedonia joins the EU in near future. Therefore the European Parliament recommends that the accession talks should begin immediately, which was confirmed and called for by the EC twice,” Thaler said.

It is evident that the demands of SDSM are just an excuse for them not to participate in the early elections, that is to say to delay them, because they know they do not have the citizens’ support and they would be opposition in the next four years as well, VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski said after his 10-hour meeting with SDSM leader Branko Crvenkovski Tuesday. Crvenkovski stated earlier that unless the key demands of SDSM were met, they would not return to Parliament and may boycott the elections. In his view, it is good that the leaders met and a meaningful debate was opened, primarily regarding the election law and also regarding the other issues that the opposition set as conditions for returning to Parliament and participating in the coming parliamentary elections.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) gave a grant of more than 5.1 million US dollars to five Macedonian non-governmental organizations for projects fostering entrepreneurship and energy efficiency in Macedonia.

“Since 1993, the US government invested over a billion dollars in Macedonia. Half of that money was realized through the activities of USAID for creation of jobs, cracking down on corruption and preparing Macedonian students for the labor market of the 21st century,” US Ambassador Philip Reeker said.

He stressed that the Macedonian non-governmental organizations competed against many organizations from other countries in getting funding for these projects. The Ministry of Economy too is going to allocate money this year for carrying out similar programs through domestic NGOs, foundations, business centers and incubators.

The two political opponents, the Prime Minister and leader of VMRO-DPMNE, Nikola Gruevski, and the chairman of SDSM, Branko Crvenkovski, are going to meet Tuesday at 13.00 hrs. This is going to be their first meeting after Crvenkovski restored himself to the position of chairman of the largest opposition party. The meeting will most probably took place at the Club of MPs but it is not ruled out for the prime minister to change the location in the last minute and invite his most fierce rival in his government office.

They will have a lot of issues to talk about. As an act of good will so that things can finally move forward, Crvenkovski said Friday that the unblocking of the accounts of A1, Vreme, Spic and **** e Re was no longer a precondition for talks but a topic for discussion between the political parties. The Social Democrats refuse to renounce their demand that the government should let the media operate as well as their other demands. The opposition is primarily going to insist that consensus be reached with all relevant political parties regarding the election law, the media law and all the other conditions for holding fair and democratic elections.

 

By transferring the urns of the killed Jews from Bitola, Stip and Skopje to the Memorial Holocaust Center in Skopje, the ceremonies preceding the opening of this important and rare building on a global scale went underway Thursday morning.

With high military honors and guard escort, the procession of urns led by the mayors of the three cities and high-ranking officials from all over the world slowly and solemnly moved along Macedonia Street. Before the Stone Bridge, the military orchestra joined them and led the way to the Memorial Center, the eternal resting place of the killed Macedonian Jews.

Boris Kondarko is SDSM’s proposal for president of the State Election Commission (SEC) that was submitted to the Parliament, Friday. The proposal is envisaged to be found on the agenda at the session of the Committee on Election and Appointment Issues, Friday afternoon. On 15 March, the Parliament is to vote.  

The strategic partnership with our friends in Washington is the general orientation of the Macedonian Government, said Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki.

“During this Government’s term, the document on strategic partnership between Macedonia and the USA was signed too and we believe that this relation, as well as our alliances on the ground such those in Iraq and Afghanistan, is confirmation that our friendship is firmly established,” Minister Milososki said.

Minister Milososki made this statement following the column of former ambassador Risto Nikovski in Nova Makedonija in which Nikovski directly attacks US Ambassador Philip Reeker. In his subsequent statement, Nikovski assessed also that the USA was not Macedonia’s strategic partner.

- The ceremony of opening the Memorial Holocaust Center in Skopje Thursday will be attended by Christophe Bergner, deputy interior minister of Germany, and a number of high-ranking diplomats from Austria, Switzerland, France, Vatican, including US State Secretary Hillary Clinton’s special envoy, Douglas Davidson. Representatives of the Russian Federation as well as Albanian President Bamir Topi and the new Kosovo President Behgjet Pacolli will attend as well.

The census will be postponed for certain better times, the leader of the coalition partner in office BDI, Ali Ahmeti, said Tuesday. He put down BDI’s decision to assume such a position on the recent developments in the country and the atmosphere Macedonia is currently in.  

“The census will be taken in some better time,” Ahmeti said. Asked what time was suitable for the census, Ahmeti replied: “I think it is not very important when the census is taken, either October or November. It is important though that it is taken after the early elections.”

- Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska said the Government accepted the modifications to the election law proposed by SDSM. She believes that after this step, the opposition should return to parliament to help vote through the election law and call the elections. She explained that the election law gives a legal framework for quality, fair and democratic elections, as well as for imposing sanctions against all breaching regulations. Most modifications refer to regulating the vote of the diaspora.

- Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar pays Tuesday and Wednesday an official visit to the Republic of Macedonia, upon an invitation of Macedonian counterpart Antonio Milososki. Zbogar will also meet with leaders of the Macedonian parties. 

Without any votes against, Nikola Gruevski has been reelected president of governing VMRO-DPMNE and the party is going to stay the course over the next four years as well. At the 14th party congress held in Bitola, of 639 present delegates, 610 took part in the vote, 609 voted in favor and one ballot was invalid.

Thanking for the trust, Gruevski addressed directly his biggest rival, opposition leader Branko Crvenkovski, inviting him to elections and reiterating that “no one has the right to hold Macedonia hostage”. Either the con man or the rule of law and the institutions of the state wins, Gruevski said.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski told his partners from the coalition “For Better Macedonia” in Skopje Thursday he was ready to accept the term for elections that SDSM was going to propose provided the opposition party stopped the boycott. This means that the early elections could be held in end May or early June. In the meantime, the Parliament is going to work on crating conditions for fair and democratic elections. According to unofficial information, Gruevski explained to his partners that he accepted for the leader of SDSM to set the time of the elections in order to avoid receiving a negative report from Brussels, Dnevnik reports. He reiterated that of all the conditions that the opposition set, two could not be met – unblocking the accounts of Velija Ramkovski’s media for that was a matter of the court and the demand for equitable distribution of budget money for campaigns to all media.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski does not reject the possibility of organizing early parliamentary elections even if the opposition boycotts them. On the other hand, next week BDI will present its stance on what it would do if the opposition boycotts the elections.

Zoran Jovanovski from SDSM stated that the election of the president of the State Election Commission without the opposition might be legal but not legitimate. 

The Parliament will elect a president of the State Election Commission on 15 March, announced Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanoski. Veljanoski emphasized that he was informed that SDSM would propose its own candidate. 

The Social Democrats are going to wait till the end with their proposal for president of the State Election Commission (DIK), who should be reported as a candidate at the competition by Saturday, Dnevnik reports. Tanja Altandzieva, currently a member of the Commission proposed by SDSM is speculated to be the candidate for president. Her advantage is the fact that she is experienced in this field but a problem would be that her position as member would then be vacated and filling it would take additional time. In that case, the impression will be that SDSM wishes to buy time again until the elections. That is not our goal, party sources say, which is why other candidates are being considered as well.