Macedonia opposition ends Parliament boycott

Macedonia's opposition Social Democrats and allied parties have ended an 18-day boycott of Parliament after the president pardoned a party official accused of corruption.

President Branko Crvenkovski says his weekend pardon of Social Democrat deputy leader Zoran Zaev was justified because the boycott was hurting the Balkan country's prospects of joining NATO and the European Union.

The party and its allies ended their boycott on Monday.

The party maintains that Zaev's July 17 arrest on suspicion embezzling millions in public funds was politically motivated by the country's conservative government.