The President of FYROM, Gjorge Ivanov announced he would refuse to sign a bill regarding the extension of the use of the Albanian language which voted in the country’s parliament. The parliament had passed the bill in a tumultuous session earlier on Wednesday, amid flying glasses of water and scuffles and the intervention of the chamber’s guard to avoid physical confrontation between former PM Nikola Gruevski and the assembly’s president.

Mr Ivanov justified his refusal to ratify the bill on the fact that parliamentary regulations had not been upheld during the voting process while claiming that it contravened the country’s Constitution. The President of the country made it clear that he would not sign the bill if it was brought to him for a second time, despite the fact that he is obliged to ratify it under FYROM’s Constitution.

His refusal is expected to seriously jeopardise the already fragile political stability in the Balkan nation. Mr Ivanov is affiliated with the opposition nationalist party of VMRO-DPMNE which has strongly opposed the bill.