Macedonia Leader Urges Govt Dialogue

Skopje _ Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski called for restraint and dialogue on Thursday following a decision by a key ethnic Albanian party to pull out of government.

Speaking during a visit to Skopje University, President Crvenkovski said he expected the parties to hold a meeting on Monday.

“We must not get ourselves into a situation where there is no government or where the government has no credibility in this crucial historic period,” Crvenkovski said. He added that he would suggest ways of overcoming the present crisis when the meeting of the coalition parties is convened.

He urged political leaders to exercise restraint and to act responsibly in the coming weeks ahead of the key NATO summit in Bucharest at which Macedonia hopes to receive an invitation to join the alliance.

“What we need now is basic political stability, as broad a political consensus as possible and credible institutions,” Crvenkovski said.

Macedonia is under growing diplomatic pressure to reach a rapid compromise with neighbouring Greece over the “name” dispute in order to avoid a Greek veto of its NATO membership bid. Read more at http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/8466/

On Wednesday the Democratic party of Albanians, DPA, announced its “definite” decision to leave the center-right coalition government of VMRO-DPMNE leader Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.

The reason for the move was Gruevski’s alleged rejection of the DPA’s six demands involving greater concessions for the Albanian community, which comprises around one quarter of the population in Macedonia. Read more at http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/8568/