Croatian PM sharply condemns incidents in Macedonian parliament

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Friday condemned in the strongest terms an attack on deputies, reporters and police in the Macedonian parliament on Thursday and called on all political stakeholders in the country to calm down the tension in line with democratic principles and procedures.

"Political dialogue within institutions and between democratically elected representatives of the people is the only way to overcome political crisis and to overcome deep divisions. Each institution should continue acting within its constitutional and legal powers in order to enable the continuation of democratic political processes," Plenkovic said.

"Croatia and I as the prime minister will continue to support Macedonia on its Euro-Atlantic integration journey as the only guarantee to achieve the long-term and sustainable stability and security of Macedonia as well as of the entire Southeast European region."

More than 100 persons were injured in Skopje on Thursday in clashes that ensued after a group of angry right-wing demonstrators, unhappy with the appointment of ethnic Albanian Talat Xhaferi as Speaker of Parliament, stormed the parliament building. The appointment was made by a coalition of Social Democrat Zoran Zaev and parties of the ethnic Albanian minority. Zaev was slightly injured in the melee.

Text: Hina

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