Politicians battered in Parliament as protesters storm vote in Macedonia
POLITICIANS have been injured in a violent protest after a group stormed into the Macedonian parliament.
Protesters storm Macedonian parliament
After an Albanian was elected as parliament speaker a huge group of protestors attacked the leader of the Social Democrats.
Live television footage showed Social Democratic leader Zoran Zaev with blood trickling from one side of his forehead, not long after he announced that the majority coalition led by his party had elected Talat Xhaferi as parliament speaker.
His party, along with ethnic Albanian allies, voted in the Albanian speaker promoting massive outcry.
Nationalist protesters were angered over Xhaferi's election, taking out their anger by beating up another lawmaker in parliament.
Broken glass littered the floor and traces of blood were seen in hallways, witnesses said.
Social Democratic leader Zoran Zaev with blood on his face
Politicians emerge with bloody faces after Albanian elected as speaker
Macedonia has been without a functioning government since 2015 when the country sank into political turmoil over a wiretapping scandal that brought down the ruling nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party bloc.
Around 200 protesters were in the massive group, many of which were masked.
Police were called in quickly but did not immediately end the chaos, it was reported.
Multiple men were pictured with blood over their heads and faces emerging from Parliament
I condemn the attacks on MPs in Skopje in the strongest terms. Violence has NO place in Parliament
A majority coalition is currently in power with Zaev and ethnic Albanians, although the Government has not been officially formed.
The alliance has sparked daily street protests by Macedonian nationalists in Skopje
EU commissioner in charge of enlargement, Johannes Hahn, said: "I condemn the attacks on MPs in Skopje in the strongest terms. Violence has NO place in Parliament. Democracy must run its course.
Protesters entered Macedonia's parliament after the governing Social Democrats and ethnic Albanian
Mats Staffansson, Sweden's ambassador to Skopje said: "This is the time for dialogue and not for violence."