EU, US Press Macedonia over Special Prosecution Delay

The overdue National Prosecutors Council session comes after the European Union delegation to Skopje and the United States embassy urged it on Tuesday to stop delaying and allow the team proposed by recently-appointed Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva to start working as soon as possible.

"It is critical that the Council of Public Prosecutors fulfils its role under the law on investigation of intercepted communications and appoints Ms. Janeva's team, so that her office can begin carrying out its mandate and performing its duties independently and free from any form of political pressure," the EU delegation and US embassy said in a joint statement.

The formation of an independent special prosecution to investigate illegal surveillance cases was agreed in an EU-brokered deal between Macedonia's warring government and opposition last month in a bid to end the political crisis that has gripped the country.  

The head of the National Prosecutors Council, Petar Anevski, said on Tuesday that it will decide separately on each of the 14 proposed deputy special prosecutors and that "due to the specifics of the matter", the session will probably last longer than normal, possibly taking two days.

Janeva previously demanded their approval as soon as possible and in one package.

Before the approval procedure, the National Prosecutors Council demanded and got a working, financial and personnel plan from Janeva, which it reviewed on Tuesday. The demand was seen by some as yet another excuse to delay the approval of the deputies.

Janeva told media this weekend that if all goes well, the first criminal charges against politicians and high officials may be put in place before early general elections in April.

However Janeva was...