Europe

German Special Envoy Sent to Macedonia to Discuss Crisis

For the Third Time This Month, a German Envoy is Visiting Macedonia to Discuss Possible Solutions to the Current Political Crisis Affecting the Country

June 10th, 2016
Macedonia.jpg

Johannes Haindl, the German envoy to Macedonia, visited Skopje for the third time this month in efforts to solve the current political crisis in the country. He is set to meet with the leaders of the four main Macedonian political parties, a meeting which is going to take place after several weeks without formal negotiations. The main task of the German envoy is to present a more concrete plan for the formation of a new interim government, which will then carry out reforms before the snap polls. 

Last year Macedonia established an interim government, but on May 18th of this year, the Parliament voted to postpone elections following concerns that proprieties for free elections had not been met. The opposition, along with EU and US representatives, insisted on postponing elections because of the efforts to clean up the electoral roll, while media reforms and mechanisms to prevent voter intimidation had not yet been implemented. Opposition ministers were then dismissed from government and replaced with deputies from the ruling party, VMRO DPMNE.

Haindl’s visit comes after anti-government protestors have set a deadline of June 18th for their demands to be fulfilled, among which are: allowing the Special Prosecution to undertake its work without restriction; the creation of a special court for high-level crime and the formation of an interim government that will organise free and fair elections. The crisis was sparked after claims that the government formerly led by VMRO DPMNE chief Gruevski was responsible of the illegal wiretapping of several thousands of people. On the other hand, Gruevski claims that the unnamed foreign intelligence fabricated the tapes and gave them to the opposition in order to destabilize the country.

 

References

Cultural Diplomacy News
Laura Serra, CD News