Gjorge Ivanov

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will pay a one-day visit to Slovenia on Saturday to attend a summit of the Brdo-Brijuni Process, hosted by Slovenian and Croatian Presidents Borut Pahor and Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic.

Bulgarian politicians have reacted sharply to claim of Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Slavonic alphabet had arrived in Russia from Macedonian land. Putin voiced this thesis while in a meeting with his Macedonian counterpart Gjorge Ivanov and his words were quoted on the Kremlin website, BNR reported.

Photo: kremlin.ru

Moscow has been "closely monitoring the developments in Macedonia," Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

This is according to a Beta report on Wednesday, that quoted Macedonia's MIA agency.

Putin made the remarks as he met with Macedonian (FYROM) President Gjorge Ivanov, who is on a two-day visit to Moscow.

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov, on a visit to Russia, is expected to meet President Putin on Wednesday to "discuss issues pertaining to further development of bilateral cooperation", Putin's office wrote in a press release.

"They will also exchange opinions on current regional issues and, primarily, on the situation in the Balkans," the same press release reads.

REUTERS

The US didn't resolve Macedonia's crisis, it made it much worse, and the fate of the Balkans is now in jeopardy because of the latest American-brokered "deal".

The head of the ethnic Albanian Besa party in Macedonia, Bilall Kasami, on Wednesday said his party's participation in a new Social Democrat-led government will depend on whether other participants propose ministers who are entangled in corruption scandals.

Macedonia's Prime Minister-designate Zoran Zaev - who received a mandate to form a government on Wednesday - accused Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic of running a hostile "campaign", when talking about an alleged "Macedonian scenario" that would then create instability in Serbia as well.

SDSM leader Zoran Zaev (left) meets with President Gjorge Ivanov on February 27. - Photo: MIA

Macedonian (FYROM) President Gjorge Ivanov has given the mandate to form a government to the leader of the SDSM party Zoran Zaev.

Macedonia's President Gjorge Ivanov on Wednesday mandated Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev to form a coalition government with ethnic Albanian parties after holding off for nearly six months, raising hopes for an end to a two-year political deadlock.

After several months of refusing to do so, Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov on Wednesday finally awarded the mandate for forming a government to the Social Democrat leader, Zoran Zaev, removing all remaining obstacles for a peaceful transfer of power.