MOSCOW. April 28 (Interfax) - Moscow is urging the West to stop interfering with the internal affairs of Macedonia and notes cases of unceremonious manipulation of public opinion, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary.
"We are deeply concerned about the latest events in the Republic of Macedonia. The opposition, which lost the parliament election, actually tried to grab power on April 27 by electing the Assembly (parliament) chairman in a blatant violation of procedure," the ministry said.
"EU officials and the ambassadors of certain European countries and the United States immediately welcomed the 'new chairman' of the parliament, who, by the way, is a former field commander of the pro-Albanian 'People's Liberation Army'. No doubt, this swift and coordinated response demonstrates that the action was planned in advance with the secret knowledge of 'external curators' of the Macedonian opposition," it said.
"This is further proof that the principal reason for the ongoing domestic political crisis in the Republic of Macedonia is gross interference in the internal affairs of this country. This is an obvious act of unceremonious manipulation of the people's will aimed at deposing the lawful government," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"Further development of this scenario and attempts to modify the country on the basis of the so-called 'Tirana platform' are fraught with escalation of tensions and a conflict, including an inter-ethnic one," it said.
"Under these circumstances, intra-Macedonian dialogue based on the constitution and laws is the only way to find an appropriate solution. Any external pressure should stop and responsible political forces of the Republic of Macedonia should be allowed to determine the future of national development," the ministry said.
There were disturbances on Thursday evening and during the night: followers of the Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity broke into parliament following news of the election of ethnic Albanian Talat Jaferi as parliament speaker. The Macedonian Interior Ministry reported that the situation near the parliament building had been normalized: deputies were evacuated, and the police used force against the protesters.