Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski accepted parliamentarian Gjorgji Orovcanec's initiative for the holding of an emergency assembly session at which the parliamentarians would discuss the country's political priorities and Gruevski's agreement with BDI leader Ali Ahmeti.

The Government declared a state of crisis on the whole territory of the Republic of Macedonia as a result of the high temperatures and the large number of fires throughout the country. This state of crisis will be in force over the next 14 days, with a possibility of extension.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski discussed the political dialogue in Macedonia and the implementation of the reforms with EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn and EU Senior Representative for Security and Foreign Policy Javier Solana in Brussels yesterday.

"The mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is still reviewing the figures for the growth of the gross domestic product in Macedonia. But according to initial estimates, the situation looks good," Mark Griffiths, head of the IMF mission, said prior to his meeting with Finance Minister Trajko Slaveski.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Deputy Prime Minister Gabriela Konevska-Trajkovska will pay an official visit to Brussels on Tuesday, where they will meet with EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn and EU Special Representative for Security and Foreign Policy Javier Solana.

During his meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and a number of senior U.S. officials in Washington over the past couple of days, Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki was reassured that Macedonia had the U.S. support for joining NATO and that the country needed to continue its reforms and more frequently promote the results of their implementation before the EU member states.

Macedonian Justice Minister Mihajlo Manevski rejected Hague Tribunal Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte's claims that Macedonia is not prepared to assume the Hague Tribunal cases.

The Government encourages oil distributors from Macedonia to start importing diesel with ECO 5 standards and plans to cancel the import duty on this type of fuel, which stands at 20 percent per liter.

The Vatican expressed support yesterday for Macedonia's membership in NATO and the EU. The Holy See welcomed the Government's measures against corruption and organized crime, the media report.

The National and Regional Roads Fund will file a request with the management board of the road Corridor 8 for accelerating the procedure for completing the second part of the studies developed by the Corridor 8 International Working Group.

Fund officials say that the money required for the development of the feasibility studies will be asked from the Italian corporation in charge of funding studies for unfinished road sections of Corridor 8, as well as for its alternative solutions in the territory of the Republic of Macedonia.

A special traffic regime, special security measures, and restriction of movement will be introduced in Ohrid as of Wednesday. Approximately 1,500 members of delegations, personnel, and observers are expected to arrive in Ohrid for the second Security Forum of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), which will be held on 28 and 29 June.

The Government and the opposition expressed moderate optimism following yesterday's meeting of the leaders of the parliamentary parties that they would overcome the blockade of the judicial reforms at next week's meeting.

During his visit to Berlin, Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski received some very encouraging messages about Macedonia's accession to NATO and was told that the EU enlargement process would not stop.

Abdurahman Mehmeti from PPD was elected local self-government minister yesterday with 68 votes for.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said before the parliamentarians yesterday that former Local Self-government Minister Zoran Konjanovski performed his job excellently. He expressed conviction that Mehmeti would administer this ministry equally well.

The Government and the opposition will meet to discuss speeding up of the judicial reforms. The media comment that, by agreeing to a dialogue with the opposition, the Government will finally unblock the reforms and the judicature will finally be put on the agenda.

Metodija Smilenski (69), owner of the bankrupt "Export-Import Banka" charged with misappropriating approximately $50 million, was extradited to Macedonia from Serbia yesterday. The Macedonian police received Smilenski at the Tabanovce border crossing. Smilenski was taken to the prison in Skopje under heavy police security. The court ruled a 30-day detention against Smilenski in his absence.

The priority state interest for Macedonia to become a member of NATO next year resulted in a meeting between Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and President Branko Crvenkovski in the President's Office yesterday. All media assessed that this meeting did not contribute toward improvement of the cohabitation between the president and prime minister.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and PPD Chairman Abdylhadi Vejseli stated yesterday that PPD had officially become part of the government coalition. PPD received the Local Self-government Ministry, the state secretary post in the Interior Ministry, and a few director posts.

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski held a working lunch with his coalition partners PDSH Deputy Chairman Menduh Thaci and NSDP leader Tito Petkovski yesterday, at which he informed them about his meeting with US President George Bush. PDSH's Thaci said after the meeting with the prime minister that he is satisfied with President Bush's statement that Kosovo should receive independence, while NSDP's Petkovski stressed that Macedonia should not gamble away its chance for membership in NATO.

US President George Bush said in Tirana on Sunday that Macedonia, Albania, and Croatia belong in NATO and that they should receive an invitation for membership at the forthcoming NATO Summit in Bucharest.

Coalition partners Nikola Gruevski and Menduh Thaci shook hands in front of the TV cameras yesterday. They showed that they are united prior to today's assembly session at which a no-confidence vote will be taken.

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament adopted MEP Erik Meijer's draft report on Macedonia yesterday with 59 votes for and four votes against.

NATO is a common objective of Macedonia and Albania, and these two countries, together with Croatia, expect to receive an invitation for membership at the summit in year 2008, Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki and Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha said in Skopje on Friday. They expect strong support for membership in NATO from US President George Bush, who will visit Tirana next week.

SDSM Chairwoman Radmila Sekerinska directly accused Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski yesterday of "lying to the Assembly, the parliamentarians, and the Macedonian public", the media report.

The BDI parliamentarians returned to the Assembly yesterday following a four-month long boycott of the same. This party's claim that they reached an agreement with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski on all of their demands provoked a fierce debate in the Parliament yesterday.

The joint press release of the EU Mission and the US Embassy in Skopje regarding the conclusion of the political dialogue says that the the EU Mission and the US Embassy in Skopje welcome the agreement on the political dialogue reached between VMRO-DPMNE and BDI as an important step forward in the country's NATO and EU integration process.

PDSH will remain in the Government. But this has to be explained to the public now, following PDSH Deputy Chairman Menduh Thaci's threat that this party would withdraw from the ruling coalition, "Dnevnik" reports. "Utrinski Vesnik" writes that Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and Thaci are keeping silent and that the crisis in the Government is continuing. The daily notes that Thaci's threat that they would make official their decision to withdraw from the Government by Monday the latest was not carried through.