A new splinter faction is appearing in SDSM. Former party official Petar Atanasov, who was Deputy Education Minister under Zaev, is forming a new party named Macedonia Modern.

It’s the second faction to formally turn into a party, after the one created by the Mayor of Kumanovo Maksim Dimitrievski. Both Dimitrievski and Atanasov broke with Zaev and the leadership of the party over their repeated concessions to neighboring countries on their nationalist demands.

Macedonia Modern is a movement meant to resolve the socio-economic, societal and cultural problems of the citizens. We need new solutions for a modern society, for the municipalities that don’t function and for a new wave of development, Atanasov said during the presentation of the movement in the village of Novo Selo near Strumica, along with its co-leader Stevce Stojanov.