Political leaders in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) agreed to hold elections in early 2016. EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn said that the decision to conduct elections by the end of April was a result of the deep political crisis in the country. Hahn told reporters of the agreement for early elections after a day-long meeting with key political figures in FYROM, including Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and main opposition socialist SDSM leader Zoran Zaev.

The country’s last elections were in April 2014, however there were claims of electoral fraud and a refusal to recognize the results. SDSM deputies have been boycotting the country’s parliaments as a result of these claims. Furthermore, the center-left opposition has accused Gruevski of wiretapping 20,000 people, including politicians and journalists.

The government is also accused of the murder of at least 18 people killed in clashes, including eight police officers, in clashes with an ethnic Albanian group in the region. Ethnic Albanians are seeking more rights for their community that makes up a quarter of the 2.1-million population.

Greece has vetoed FYROM to enter into the EU and NATO over a long-standing name dispute over the use of “Macedonia” that Greece has historical right to. Greece has further being enraged by Gruevski’s decision to transform Skopje, FYROM’s capital, into an Ancient Greek-styled wonderland with monumental neoclassical buildings, statues depicting figures from Greek antiquity and a huge gigantic centerpiece featuring Alexander the Great.