The 360 news site reports that a letter from the US Embassy likely prompted the Parliament to put an end to the procedure to elect new judges on the Constitutional Court.

Three judges are set to retire and several months ago the Parliament was moving to appoint new ones. The Zaev regime already appointed a top loyalist in the judiciary, judge Dobrila Kacarska, to be President of the court which has power to examine and strike down laws and regulations, and was hoping to complete its take-over of the institution.

But, according to the news outlet which is close to the US Embassy, a letter from a US rule of law officer was sent to the head of the Parliament Committee Kostadin Kostadinov – one of the closest confidants of Zoran Zaev. After the letter was received, the process was stopped.

360 reports that the Embassy asked for information about how advanced the process is. The Embassy confirmed that it sent a letter, but would not detail its content.