Macedonia Opposition Stays Out of Crisis Talks

The opposition Social Democrats, SDSM, on Friday blamed the government for the fact that the National Prosecutors Council only approved seven out of 14 proposed deputy special prosecutors, again delaying investigations into the alleged mass illegal wiretapping that sparked the ongoing political crisis in Macedonia.

The SDSM urged the National Prosecutors Council to respect the recently-adopted Special Prosecution Law and allow Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva to complete her team so she can start working as soon as possible.

"We demand an emergency meeting of the four [leading political] parties and representatives of the international community over the breaching of the Special Prosecution Law and the setting up of deadlines for fulfilling the legal obligations," the SDSM said in a statement.

"It is in the interest of Macedonia's future that the Special Prosecutor be allowed to work independently," it added.

The party on Wednesday suspended its participation in the EU-brokered talks aimed at resolving the political crisis, in protest at the National Prosecutors Council's actions.

The EU and US ambassadors to Macedonia on Thursday also expressed concern over the Prosecutors Council move to cut Janeva's team in half.

Veteran Macedonian lawyer Aleksandar Tortevski said that the Council had no right interfering in Janeva's choices of deputies, only to approve them. He said the Special Prosecution Law gives Janeva full autonomy to decide upon such issues.

"They cannot decide that Janeva should have seven instead of 14 deputies because that institution [the special prosecution] functions according to the Special Prosecution Law," Tortevski said.

Amid the fresh political turmoil, visiting European Parliament's...