The Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) declared they would rejoin Macedonia's cabinet, thus ending a 10-day political crisis that was said to place a significant setback before the country's prospects for NATO and EU membership.

DPA decided to rejoin the cabinet after receiving assurances that their demands for wider rights for the ethnic Albanians in Macedonia will be granted.

These include larger quotas for Albanians in the state administration, placing the Albanian flag together with the Macedonian flag on top of state institutions, declaring the Albanian language second official one, and rehabilitation of the former fighters of the Army for National Liberation that staged a revolt in northwest Macedonia in 2001.

The agreement restores the majority in the government led by the VMRO-DPMNE party of PM Nikola Gruevski and allows the cabinet to focus on the NATO summit in Bucharest on April 2, where Macedonia expects to receive an official invitation to join the block.

The crisis over the Albanians' demands and the government's instability in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia fuelled widespread fears that this might be the beginning of a conflict in the ethnically divided country, coming in the wake of Kosovo's recently declared independence.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!