As predicted, Stevo Pendarovski announced that he has signed the highly controversial census law. His move comes after Prime Minister Zaev said that there is no chance the President will not sign the law, and after US Ambassador Byrnes endorsed it.

Pendarovski said that he will hold consultations with experts and look into various aspects of the law.

After the consultations with legal experts were concluded, President Pendarovski today signed the law into force. President Pendarovski expects the census not to be politicized and that the data received from it are used for the overall development and for preparing long-term strategies for vital state interests, his office said in a statement.

VMRO-DPMNE is protesting the census, insisting that it will be a political operation and is meant to inflate the number of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia by counting all emigrants as residents.