Macedonia’s opposition was set to lead a major anti-government rally yesterday in the troubled Balkan country, which is struggling through a deep political crisis and an outbreak of violence.
The protests are the culmination of months of wrangling between conservative Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and his center-left opponents, which has already sparked clashes on the streets of the capital, Skopje.
The country’s troubles deepened last weekend with a shootout in the northern town of Kumanovo between police and ethnic Albanian rebels that left 18 people dead, including eight police officers.
It marked the worst unrest in the former Yugoslav republic since its 2001 conflict between ethnic Albanian guerillas and the government. The opposition Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM), led by Zoran Zaev, is calling for the government to resign, accusing the ruling party of wiretapping 20,000 people, including politicians, journalists and religious leaders.
Zaev has over recent months released snippets of the alleged recordings that appear to show widespread government corruption, a murder cover-up and other wrongdoings.
His party has also boycotted parliament since an election in April last year, in which it claims Gruevski’s VMRO-DPMNE party committed fraud.
“The time has come to show that we no longer want to live in a state led by Gruevski. See you Sunday,” a SDSM statement said ahead of the protests, which were expected to attract thousands.
However, Gruevski has remained defiant, insisting in an interview late on Saturday that he would not resign.
His government denies making the telephone recordings released by Zaev, but not that the voices are authentic — although it says some are heavily edited or out of context.
The government in turn accuses Zaev and his followers of spying and of wishing to destabilize the country and is due to hold a rival street protest today.
Gruevski, Zaev and ethnic Albanian party leaders held talks this week under global pressure to resolve the crisis, which could further hamper Macedonia’s already stalled bid for membership in the EU and NATO.
All sides pledged to condemn violence and support democratic values, but there was little sign of a serious resolution.
Two ministers and the intelligence chief resigned on Tuesday last week, having all been accused of involvement in the wiretapping scandal.
However, Muamer Pajaziti, a Macedonian professor on European integration at Pristina University, said the resignations were only “a maneuver of survival” by an increasingly unpopular government.
“The opposition and the public will not accept it as a solution. There is a critical mass for change led by the opposition. Slowly, on a larger scale, there are preparations for a broad anti-government coalition,” Pajaziti told reporters.
Thirty alleged gunmen, including 18 ethnic Albanians from neighboring Kosovo, have been charged with terror offenses following last weekend’s shootout in Kumanovo.
Authorities claim a “particularly dangerous terrorist group” of ethnic Albanians had been planning a major attack. However, the opposition and analysts suggested the timing of the unrest was suspicious, given the huge pressure facing Gruevski’s government.
Ethnic Albanians make up about one-quarter of Macedonia’s 2.1 million inhabitants.
Macedonia obtained EU candidate status in 2005, but is yet to begin accession talks due to opposition from Greece. Athens denies its neighbor the right to use the name Macedonia, arguing it implies a claim on the northern Greek region of the same name.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was