German Envoy Expected to Revive Macedonia Crisis Talks

The German special envoy for Macedonia, Johannes Haindl, arrives in Skopje on Tuesday and is expected to revive Macedonia crisis talks as anti-government protester's patience runs thin.

Haindl is scheduled to meet with the leaders of the four main political parties in the country during his third visit in the last month, although little is officially known about the content of the talks. The meeting comes after several weeks without formal negotiations.

Unofficially, the German envoy is expected to offer a set of more detailed measures as a way out of Macedonia's deep political crisis, according to political party sources that spoke to BIRN under the condition of anonymity.

"He is expected to present a more concrete plan that involves advice on the formation of a new interim government" tasked to carry out reforms prior to snap polls, the source said.

Political analyst Albert Musliu expects that Haindl's visit should speed things up.

"Haindl's arrival should be a trigger for moving forward [in the political talks], and out of the dead spot we are in currently and for several weeks," Musliu said.

As part of last year's EU-brokered crisis accord, Macedonia established an interim government that was expected to carry out key reforms prior to early elections.  But on May 18 of this year, Macedonia's parliament voted to postpone the June 5 election following concerns that remaining reform priorities for free elections had not been met.

The ruling majority in parliament dismissed opposition ministers from the government and replaced them with deputies from the ruling VMRO DPMNE party that same day, effectively suspending the provisional government.

The opposition, as well as EU and US...