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Republic of Macedonia’s Opposition Seeks to Dissolve Parliament

Republic of Macedonia’s Opposition Seeks to Dissolve Parliament

(Bloomberg) -- The Republic of Macedonia’s opposition started proceedings to dissolve parliament and prepare for early elections in a move with little chance of success as the country moves to clinch NATO membership.

The nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party, which opposes a constitutional change adopted three weeks ago renaming the former Yugoslav state to “the Republic of North Macedonia,” filed a motion Monday to dissolve the assembly, TV24 in Skopje reported, citing the party. The constitutional amendment, yet to come in effect, resolves a decades-long dispute with neighboring Greece, which has promised to unblock Macedonia’s bids to join the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

VMRO-DPMNE controls fewer than 50 lawmakers in the 120-member chamber. Prime Minister Zoran Zaev hasn’t ruled out a snap election as he seeks to capitalize on his diplomatic success. NATO countries are expected to sign off on Macedonia’s accession by the end of next week, Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov said Monday in Skopje.

To contact the reporter on this story: Slav Okov in Sofia at sokov@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net, Andras Gergely, Michael Winfrey

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