January 26 (SeeNews) - The European Commission urged politicians in Macedonia to form a stable coalition government without delay following the December 11 parliamentary elections.
"We appeal to all political leaders to find, in full respect of all legal deadlines, common grounds for forming a stable, solid and accountable government," enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn, MEPs Ivo Vajgl, Eduard Kukan and Knut Fleckenstein, said in a joint statement published on the EC website on Wednesday. "Such a coalition should rally around a strong, inclusive, reformist consensus and inter-ethnic cooperation," they added.
After conservative VMRO-DPMNE won a narrow victory against SDSM, gaining 51 seats in the country's 120-seat parliament, it received a mandate to form a government. The deadline to propose a government is expiring on Sunday and talks between VMRO-DPMNE and the largest ethnic Albanian party and former coalition partner, DUI, are still going on. The main stumbling block is the condition which Albanian parties set that Albanian language to become official language in Macedonia.
The forming of a stable government is vital to return the country on the path toward European integration, which all parties have committed to, the officials said.
"We appeal to all politicians to continue working hard and fast on the implementation of the Przino Agreement and the Urgent Reform Priorities and to support the Special Prosecutor's Office, which must have the time and resources to do its job in an independent, non-politicised way," the Commission also said.
Macedonia has been locked in a political crisis since January 2015, when opposition SDSM leader Zoran Zaev accused the coalition government led by VMRO-DPMNE of corruption, illegal wiretapping of more than 20,000 people and covering-up a murder. The early elections were part of a EU-brokered deal.