Macedonian nationalists cry treason over historic name deal with Greece

Macedonia’s main opposition party has filed treason charges against its prime minister, Zoran Zaev, for agreeing a historic deal with Greece to change his country’s name.

The deal signed last month would see the ex-Yugoslav republic adopt the name North Macedonia, in exchange for Greece lifting its objections to Macedonia launching talks to join the European Union and Nato.

The issue has poisoned relations between the Balkan neighbours since Macedonia gained independence in 1991, because Athens said that its use of the same name as a province in northern Greece implied territorial designs on that area and a claim to the legacy of Alexander the Great, the storied ruler of ancient Macedon.

Western powers have warmly welcomed the deal but it is fiercely opposed by nationalists in Greece and Macedonia, and still faces potentially difficult hurdles in both countries before it can come into force.

Macedonian prime minister Zoran Zaev (right) with Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz in Vienna

The nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party said it had filed charges including treason and abuse of office against Mr Zaev, his foreign minister Nikola Dimitrov and parliamentary speaker Talat Xhaferi “and all those deputies who voted for this capitulatory, unconstitutional and unlawful agreement with Greece”.

Deputies from VMRO-DPMNE – which was ousted last year after a decade in power – abstained from a parliamentary vote on Thursday in which the deal was approved for a second time.

Presidential refusal
President Gjorge Ivanov, an ally of the nationalists, refused to sign the deal after it was first ratified last month.

After the second vote he cannot legally block the agreement but he is likely to maintain his refusal to sign it, stoking political tension ahead of a referendum on the name change that is expected to be held in late September or early October.

The referendum will be hotly contested, and the deal also obliges Mr Zaev to pass changes to the Macedonian constitution, a move that requires a bigger majority than he currently enjoys in parliament.

The deal has split the governing coalition in Greece, where prime minister Alexis Tsipras must also secure backing for the agreement from a deeply divided parliament.

During a debate in the chamber last month, a deputy from the far-right Golden Dawn urged the military to stage a coup and arrest Greece’s leaders to prevent the deal going through; he has since been expelled from the party and charged with treason.

By contrast, the EU, US and most of the countries’ neighbours have hailed the agreement, and Macedonia hopes to receive a formal invitation to start membership talks with Nato at its summit next week.

US vice-president Mike Pence congratulated Mr Zaev and Mr Tsipras by telephone on Thursday evening, and praised their leadership and courage in reaching a deal that he said would strengthen peace and stability in the Balkans.

Macedonia getting closer to solving name row with Greece

Macedonia has never been closer to solving its 25-year name row with Greece, but even if it fails Skopje will continue to integrate with Europe, its premier says.

“I believe that we have never had better circumstances to find a complete solution that will last for centuries and will remain forever,” Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told AFP in an interview.

The long-running name dispute between Macedonia and EU-member Greece dates back to 1991 when Skopje declared independence following the collapse of communist Yugoslavia.

Athens objects to Macedonia’s name because it has its own northern province called Macedonia, and fears it may imply territorial ambitions.

“If the dispute is not solved, the world will not end,” Zaev said.

“We will bring Europe here to Skopje (the capital). And we will push an European agenda one way or another.”

Because of the dispute, Macedonia was forced to join the United Nations under the name the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Greek veto threats have also hampered Skopje’s bid to become a member of the European Union and the NATO military alliance.

UN mediated talks to settle the row have resumed since Zaev’s Social Democrats won elections last year, ousting the nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party of Nikola Gruevski after more than ten years in power.

The negotiations have made progress after Macedonia agreed in February to change the name of the capital’s Alexander the Great airport to Skopje International Airport, in a goodwill gesture to Greece.
Macedonia had also been accused of appropriating symbols and figures that are historically considered part of Greek culture, such as Alexander the Great.

The motorway linking Macedonia with Greece was also renamed the Friendship Highway.
Zaev said he was “satisfied” that “a huge part of the issues” between Macedonia and Greece had been solved and that he was optimistic about a final deal.

He has previously said an agreement could be reached by the summer. However, the 43-year-old declined to go into details about the ongoing talks, saying “it could destroy the entire process.”
Earlier this week the European Commission recommended opening EU accession talks with Skopje, an EU candidate since 2005, in a development Zaev described as “encouraging.”

“This is a message of open doors. That is very important for Macedonia,” he said, adding that more than 75 percent of Macedonians are in favor of the country’s integration into the EU and NATO.
However, “that does not mean that we should not improve cooperation with other countries, including the Russian Federation,” Zaev said.

Russia has openly objected to the aspirations of fellow Slavic countries in the Balkans to join NATO, most recently when Montenegro became a member in mid-2017.

“I want to improve cooperation with Russia,” Zaev said.

“(But) the Russian Federation should know that for us there is no alternative to NATO and the European Union. We will remain focused on that path. That is our absolute right, our expectation and how we view the future of this country and the people that live here.”

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.

Macedonian President Pardons Strumica Mayor, Opposition Back to Assembly

President Branko Crvenkovski signed decision to pardon Strumica Mayor Zoran Zaev and his five associates, suspected of misuse of official power regarding the construction of shopping mall "Global."

Cabinet [office] of President Branko Crvenkovski said in a press release that, after the consultations with the leaders of SDSM [Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia] and DPA [Democratic Party of Albanians - PDSh in Albanian] Radmila Sekerinska and Menduh Thaci, he was informed that two political parties accepted his proposal for surpassing the political crisis in the country. SDSM and DPA return in the Macedonian Parliament, in ZELS [Association of Self-Government Units], and establish normal cooperation with institutions in the country.

Also, President Crvenkovski passed decision for not signing the decrees proclaiming the Law on Use of Languages, Law on Lobbying, Law on changes and supplements to the Law on Labour Relations, Law on changes and supplements to the Law on Expropriation, Law on changes and supplements to the Law on Practice of Law, and Law on changes and supplements to the Law on Energy.

SDSM through announcement confirmed that it accepted the proposal of President Crvenkovski for return in the parliament and also accepted the decision to pardon Zaev.

VMRO-DPMNE [Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization- Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity] late Saturday [2 August] assessed the President Crvenkovski's decisions as coup d'etat against the institutions in the Republic of Macedonia.

VMRO-DPMNE considered that with this Crvenkovski maximally misused his position exclusively in the interest of the party it belongs. This is the first case in southeastern Europe of passing a decision to pardon persons suspected of crime.

Macedonia Ministry of Justice: Decision to pardon Zoran Zaev is act against justice

Skopje. The decision of the head of state to pardon the Mayor of Strumica and the five suspected is a violent attack against the judiciary. This was announced by the Macedonian Ministry of Justice today in relation to the decision of the President of the country Branko Crvenkovski to pardon the Mayor Zoran Zaev and the other people suspected in relation to the Global trade center case in Strumica, the Macedonian agency Makfax reported.

Macedonia Opposition Figure in Police Custody

Zoran Zaev, Strumica mayor and vice president of the main opposition Social Democrats, who has been accused of abuse of abuse has been taken to a detention facility.

The Skopje District Court ruled that Zaev is to remain in police custody for the next 30 days. The Court overturned an earlier decision by an investigative judge that Zaev should not be detained.

The Trial Chamber of the Court changed its decision after a second appeal from public prosecutors, who insisted that Zaev alongside five aides should be in police custody as they could influence witnesses in the case.

A large number of Strumica residents gathered late Sunday outside the City Hall to voice support for their mayor and to express outrage at court's decision to arrest him.

“Unfortunately from day to day we become a state of precedents. Macedonia is the only country in the world where despite two decisions of the investigative judge not to order detention, the trial chamber changed that decision,” said Social Democrats' leader Radmila Sekerinska.

“This kind of thing happens only to members of the opposition and those that are successful but do not think the same as the ones in power,” she added.

Zaev and his aides were arrested on 17 July and they were brought to Skopje Court . The court initially decided not to detain Zaev while the Social Democrats claimed that the whole case was a provocation by the parties in power. Zaev was mentioned as one of the possible successor's to Sekerinska after she announced she was stepping down over the party’s crushing defeat at the June 1 general elections.

The only electoral district in which the opposition did not suffer a strong defeat at the polls was the one in which Zaev led the party candidates’ list.

Zaev along with four others is accused of abuse of office over a tender for a local shopping mall in the south-eastern town of Strumica where he is mayor.

In protest over his arrest the Social Democrats launched a boycott of parliament. If they keep up their action, the parliament will practically be left without any opposition lawmakers as last week, the main ethnic Albanian opposition, the Democratic Party of Albanians also left the assembly arguing they will return when the issues concerning greater rights for their community are addressed properly.

In June the ruling centre right VMRO DPMNE-led coalition beat the Social Democrats by winning 63 deputy seats while the Social Democrats alliance secured only 27 out of the 120 parliament seats.

The new government was voted in parliament during the weekend.

SDSM Vice President heading to prison

Unofficially, the Prosecution Body for Fight Against Organized Crime has reached a decision to imprison Strumica's mayor for 30 days, while the case against him is being prepared.

The decision was made earlier today by Skopje Court 1, though it hasn't made it public yet. Mina believes this will be made official shortly. Several hundred Strumica residents have already started gathering around the Local Administrative Building to show their support for the mayor.

According to our source, the decision of Skopje Court 1 is final, and don't intend to review or change it. The reason for the 30 days detention, according to our source, is to stop Zaev and his associates from pressuring and bribing three Strumica famillies into agreeing the land where the "Globe" Shopping Center is built didn't belong to them.

Zaev is expected to arrive at the Suto Orizari County jail this evening. Strumica residents have vowed to gather around the prison to voice their displeasure.

Zaev transferred to detention facility

Strumica mayor and SDSM's deputy head Zoran Zaev, accused of misusing his post as mayor, has been transferred to detention facility late on Sunday.

The Trial Chamber of Skopje District Court 1 ruled that Zaev is to remain in police custody in the next 30 days. The Chamber upheld the second appeal from public prosecutors, who insisted that Zaev alongside five aides be kept in police custody.

Large number of Strumica residents massed late Sunday outside the City Hall to voice support for their mayor and to express outrage at court's decision to arrest him. The locals tried to stop their mayor to surrender himself.

Zaev and his aides were arrested on 17 July and they were brought to Skopje District Court 1. After 12-hour interrogation, they were released on bail and their passports were seized.

Mayor Zaev and five of his associates are accused of wrongdoing in relation to the construction of Global shopping mall in Strumica.

Senior Macedonian opposition official re-arrested on corruption charges

Macedonian authorities have taken a key opposition figure back into custody on corruption charges after the prosecution appealed against his release on bail 10 days ago.

Zoran Zaev, the deputy leader of Macedonia's opposition party, and four aides were arrested July 17 on suspicion of embezzling €7.8 million (US$12.4 million) in public funds during the construction of a shopping mall in the southern town of Strumica.

Zaev was charged with abuse of authority.

The Skopje District Court canceled his release and late Sunday ordered Zaev and his aides held in custody for 30 days on the grounds they might influence witnesses if free.

No trial date has been set.