Aleksandar Todevski

Borjan Jovanovski, an editor at NOVA TV, told BIRN that he suspected that an attack on him on Wednesday, when a young man approached him in a Skopje restaurant, shouted "traitor" and spat in his face, was commissioned by a senior official of the ruling VMRO DPMNE party.

Macedonia's ruling VMRO DPMNE party on Wednesday dismissed claims by the head of an important media union that it was to blame for Tuesday's assault on two reporters as well as other similar attacks on journalists.

Supporters of Macedonia's former ruling party, VMRO DPMNE, took to the streets for a second day on Tuesday to protest against a possible new coalition government following the December 11 general election.

Demonstrators claim the potential coalition between the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia, SDSM, and ethnic Albanian parties will endanger ethnic Macedonian interests.