President Stevo Pendarovski said that he discussed Zaev’s planned resignation with European leaders while he was at the climate conference in Glasgow.

According to Pendarovski, also outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked him repeatedly why Zaev made the decision and whether it is a good idea. Zaev announced he will resign after losing the local elections, but yesterday he said he will “postpone” his resignation, prompting the opposition to schedule a vote of no confidence.

I will allow myself to be indiscreet. I had a number of short meetings with officials, and the German Chancellor asked me a number of times about the motives behind the resignation. I said that of course I think it is not a good idea to resign while having a four year mandate because of a number of local races. The NATO Secretary General asked me the same thing twice in an hour, hour and half, and I urged him to speak with Zaev and ask directly. The international community was surprised by the announcement, given how well Zaev was received by them in the past years, Pendarovski said.