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Roundup: EU urges Macedonian president to allow SDSM to form gov't

Xinhua, March 3, 2017 Adjust font size:

European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini on Thursday asked the President of Macedonia Gjorge Ivanov to reverse his decision and allow the head of Social Democratic Union party (SDSM) Zoran Zaev to form government.

"The constitution of Macedonia says that the mandate should be given to the candidate belonging to the parties which have majority in the parliament. This is the constitution and we expect it to be respected," Mogherini told reporters Thursday following her meetings and discussions with political actors here.

According to Mogherini, Macedonia should form a government as soon as possible and solve the prolonged political deadlock.

However, Ivanov said that he couldn't give the mandate to Zaev considering that the SDSM leader "adopted a political platform which was adopted in a neighboring country."

According to him, accepting such a platform would put Macedonia in a subservient position and undermined its unitary character.

But Mogherini responded "Political players must be aware of the fact that Macedonia is a multi-ethnic state and the rights of everyone must be respected."

Ali Ahmeti, the head of the largest ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), told reporters after meeting Mogherini that institutional, systemic crisis in Macedonia must not turn into an ethnic one.

Meanwhile, Zaev said Mogherini's visit a serious show of support for the European aspirations of Macedonia.

"We are happy the EU remains committed to Macedonia's future as a full-fledged EU member," Zaev said in a press conference after a meeting with the top EU official.

He said his 67 parliamentary mandates laid a solid democratic foundation to grant a mandate to form a government. Therefore, he said that he hoped the president would reconsider his decision.

However, the ruling party VMRO-DPMNE led by Nikola Gruevski, said new elections would be the only way out of crisis.

"The new snap elections would be the best way to stability and overcoming the political crisis," the party said in a press statement. Enditem