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Macedonia: Heads meet to resolve political crisis

MACEDONIA’S four main political leaders resumed talks yesterday in an attempt to resolve the political crisis in the country.

The meeting, organised by Western diplomats, was attended by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and opposition Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev.

Two ethnic-Albanian political leaders, Democratic Union for Integration leader Ali Ahmeti and Democratic Party of Albanians leader Menduh Thaci, also attended.

Tens of thousands of people joined a protest on Sunday demanding Mr Gruevski’s resignation over claims that the government illegally tapped the phones of 20,000 citizens.

Last week also saw fierce fighting between troops and ethnic-Albanian Kosovo Liberation Front militants.

Aleksandar Pavic, of think tank the Strategic Culture Foundation, pointed to a similar situation in 2001 “after which the USA and the Western powers came in and brokered peace that gave Albanians much more power than they had before.”

Macedonia is on the route of Russia’s South Stream gas pipeline to Europe and its government has opposed sanctions against Russia over the civil war in Ukraine.

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