Macedonia's Gruevski calls for dialogue on encyclopaedia

28/09/2009

SKOPJE, Macedonia -- Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski called for dialogue Sunday (September 27th) in order to resolve issues with the newly published Macedonian encyclopaedia. He said that as the publication has obviously offended Albanians in Macedonia, dialogue is necessary to overcome the situation. Ali Ahmeti, leader of the Democratic Union for Integration -- a coalition partner of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE -- has called on Gruevski and President Gjorge Ivanov to distance themselves from the encyclopaedia. The Macedonian Academy of Arts and Science (MANU)'s newly published book has sparked angry reactions among Albanian intellectuals and politicians inside Macedonia, as well as in Albania and Kosovo, because of the way the Albanian community is portrayed. After a wave of criticism, the MANU decided to amend controversial texts. (Makfax, MIA, Sitel, A1 - 27/09/09)