The Macedonian Parliament will ratify the NATO accession protocol on February 11, just before the legislative body is dissolved in preparation of the early elections on April 12. Speaker Talat Xhaferi said that he will invite the leaders of the main parties, Hristijan Mickoski and Zoran Zaev, to the session, as well as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and parliament representatives from regional NATO members. It is expected that Spain, the last remaining NATO member which hasn’t ratified Macedonia’s accession, will do so by then.

Xhaferi also said that he is prepared to convene the Parliament if a two thirds majority is provided to adopt the new law on state prosecutors. The leading parties are locked in a heated debate over the law, which would determine which direction will the on-going campaign to go after top politicians for alleged corruption take after the elections. The SDSM party has made full use of the SPO and OJO services of state prosecutors to go after the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, but is now resisting calls that the opposition appoints a prosecutor to look into the numerous corruption scandals of the nearly three years long SDSM term in office.