Macedonia's president refused to award Zoran Zaev a mandate to form government

Mr Ivanov has refused to give Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev a mandate to form government, despite having proof of a majority in parliament, claiming the opposition leader did not denounce the "platform coming from a foreign country" presumably referring to Albania. The president insisted that the ethnic Albanian platform breached Macedonia's constitution and the 2001 Ohrid Peace Accord, which granted greater rights to the country's ethnic Albanians.

AAP Images/ EPA/GEORGI LICOVSKI Source: AAP Images/ EPA/GEORGI LICOVSKI