Zoran Zaev, leader of the LSDM opposition party in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, said for the German daily Die Zeit, that seven Albanians sentenced for the murder of five Macedonian citizens in Smilkovac, Skopje, are innocent. He said that making public the taping material on this case could induce turmoil of the Albanian ethnic community in FYROM. “There can be victims. Therefore we are currently having intensive discussions with Albanians in order to find ways of preventing such reaction. We should be careful with the truth,” Zaev reportedly said.

He added that he does not expect resignation of the Prime Minister Gruevski and according to him, a transitory government could enable Gruevski’s departure with dignity.