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| - North Macedonia will postpone a mid-April early election to prevent further spread of the coronavirus, politicians in the Balkan state said Tuesday. "We shared our view that these are not (suitable) conditions for organising the elections," former premier Zoran Zaev, head of the Social Democrats, said after all parties met to discuss the matter in the president's residence in Skopje. It is still too early in the health crisis to set a new date, the parties agreed. "We all unanimously showed today that the health of the citizens is top priority," the head of rival right-wing VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski, said after the meeting. Authorities have already imposed heavy restrictions on public life to prevent an outbreak in the country, which has recorded nearly 30 infections of COVID-19. The government has banned all public and private gatherings, closed schools and shuttered restaurants and other entertainment venues nationwide. The snap poll was called by Zaev in October after he failed to get approval from the European Union to start North Macedonia's membership talks to join the bloc. That had been the key goal of his administration and the reason his government pushed ahead with the politically painful decision to add "North" to the country's name to resolve a long-running dispute with neighbouring Greece, who had been blocking the country's EU path. Although Brussels applauded the diplomatic breakthrough and said North Macedonia had met all of its reform conditions to start negotiations, France used a veto to derail the process. EU officials are now trying to get all member states on board to approve the start of talks ahead of an EU summit scheduled for May. str-ssm/pma
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