The main parties, VMRO-DPMNE and SDSM, are moving closer toward holding a meeting of party leaders on the crisis with Bulgaria. VMRO demanded such a meeting, where Prime Minister Zoran Zaev would explain what he is doing with regard to the growing crisis, but so far he refused.

Today, Zaev said that he is open to the idea, and that if President Pendarovski doesn’t hold one, he will call for a meeting of party leaders. VMRO-DPMNE President Hristijan Mickoski quickly replied that it is not the place of Pendarovski to convene the party leaders, but they should organize a meeting themselves. The meeting should take place before the end of the year.

I don’t see a role for Pendarovski in this situation. He is not a party leader. I would not participate in such a format hosted by him, Mickoski said.

The opposition has long accused the ruling SDSM party of refusing to brief the wider public and other political leaders about the failure of its policy toward Bulgaria, which led to a Bulgarian veto against Macedonia’s EU accession talks. Even Zaev’s top diplomats, Nikola Dimitrov and Bujar Osmani, refused to attend hearings at the Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee.