Antonijo Milososki

The news of the cancellation of this year's Ohrid Swimming Marathon came out of the blue on Wednesday, after President Stevo Pendarovski, the traditional patron of the event, met the head of the National Swimming Federation, Goran Stojanovski.

Macedonia's main opposition VMRO DPMNE party insists that its MPs' caucus in parliament stands united behind the new party chief, Hristijan Mickoski, elected in December - despite growing evidence to the contrary.

"The caucus is strong and united. All MPs are actively participating in the decision-making process within the organs of the party," VMRO DPMNE told BIRN on Thursday.

The central and the executive committees of Macedonia's opposition VMRO DPMNE party have until Friday to address the complaints of some 30 prominent party members who claim that the election of a new leader, slated for this weekend at a party congress, will be marred by fraud.

Macedonian police say they have boosted security in and around the mountain town of Krusevo in case of incidents during Wednesday's commemoration of Ilinden, the St Elijah's Day uprising against Ottoman rule in 1903.

Macedonia's former ruling VMRO DPMNE party has removed several indicted former ministers and senior officials from its executive committee - although with ousted PM Nikola Gruevski still leading the party, the changes appear more cosmetic than substantial, observers say.