Moscow concerned about Macedonia crisis' impact on Balkan situation - Russian Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW. Feb 2 (Interfax) - The ongoing political crisis in Macedonia may have negative implications for the Balkan situation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
"The shameless, Machiavelli-style manipulation of voters' will is threatening to detonate the situation in Macedonia and to upset the fragile stability in the entire Balkan region," the ministry said in a commentary posted on its website.
The ministry stated a pronounced deepening of the political crisis in Macedonia and said that the 'artificially induced' early parliamentary elections of December 11, 2016, did not help settle the situation.
"It looks like a gross external influence is being exerted on the political forces in Macedonia under pseudo-democratic slogans," the ministry said, adding that "the goal is obvious - to deal with Macedonian politicians unwelcome by the West and to reconfigure the authorities despite the explicit support of voters to the Coalition For a Better Macedonia led by Nikola Gruevski and the Democratic Union for Integration led by Ali Ahmeti."
"Moscow is particularly concerned by the fact that in multi-ethnic and multi-confessional Macedonia, which has experienced a severe inter-ethnic conflict, politicians of one ethnic community are actually deciding on the basis of an external ultimatum which bloc of another community will join the future ruling coalition," it said.
"We believe that the abandonment of the vicious practice of external regulation, the focus on real democracy and the resolution of domestic problems by the Balkan countries themselves is the foundation of stronger confidence between local peoples and climate of security and cooperation in the region," the ministry said.