Law enforcement in the Republic of Macedonia

A former prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) who is on the run following a prison sentence on corruption charges entered Montenegro earlier this week from Albania but left the same day, Montenegro's police said Friday.

His party, the opposition VMRO-DPMNE, says that he is not with them.

Gruevski did not respond to serving a two-year prison sentence, which is why the police are now searching for him.

Gruevski was sentenced to two years in prison for abusing official position to illegally acquire an armored Mercedes.

By the order of the Criminal Court in Skopje, Macedonian police on Monday confirmed that they had issued an arrest warrant for former prime minister Nikola Gruevski who is to serve his two-year jail sentence.

This was issued after the Appeal Court last Friday rejected the former prime minister's appeal for a postponement of his sentence.

The Criminal Court in Skopje confirmed on Friday that it has handed a 'referral act' to ex-premier Nikola Gruevski, saying he should start serving his jail sentence at the prison in Shuto Orizari, near Skopje, on November 8 at the latest.

Maceodnia's Appeals Court on Friday confirmed former prime minister Nikola Gruevski's two-year jail sentence.

In an interview for Kurir news website, published on Friday, Nikola Gruevski said he plans to tender his resignation as leader of VMRO DPMNE soon, regardless of the outcome of ongoing party analysis about its defeat in the October local elections and earlier general election.

Milan Zarubica, called one of the "greatest makers of synthetic drugs" in the region by Serbia's Interior Ministry, was arrested on Friday in Serbia together with seven others suspected of making and selling narcotics.

Several hundred people led by Gruevski and other high-ranking VMRO DPMNE party members protested on Tuesday amid a heavy police presence in front of the Skopje Criminal Court, where the suspects who were arrested in the morning were taken before a judge.

The number of Macedonian citizens holidaying in Albania for the summer has grown to the point where Albania has asked Macedonian police to help patrol the resorts.

Following an agreement between the Interior Ministries of Albania and Macedonia, this summer, for the first time, police from neighbouring Macedonia will help Albanian police tackle not only road policing but also crime.

SKOPJE, MACEDONIA —
Polls opened Sunday in Macedonia for a general election called two years early as part of a Western-brokered agreement to end a paralyzing political crisis.