Political impasse in Macedonia

On 17 May 2015, Skopje saw an anti-government demonstration, organised by the opposition party, the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) led by Zoran Zaev. Approximately 40,000-60,000 people attended the protest, which was one of the largest ever held in Macedonia. The protesters demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and the establishment of a technical government which would call a snap parliamentary election. Gruevski leads the current coalition government composed of VMRO-DPMNE and a party representing the Albanian minority, DUI.

In response to this demonstration VMRO-DPMNE organised a rally in support of the government on 18 May 2015, where a similar number of participants gathered. Attempts at mediation between the conflicted parties made by MEPs and the Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy, Johannes Hahn have so far failed to produce any results.