13 May, 2017
The move was then violently contested by protesters who stormed the government building.
The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said he was shocked by the violence.
He also stressed the importance of an internal political dialogue, urging foreign countries not to interfere.
Police said arrests were made, but gave no further details.
Less integration is not the answer, the minister explained, commenting on the remarks made by German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who said that the latest events in Macedonia do not contribute to the country's European Union integration process.
The European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation swiftly condemned the assault on lawmakers and reporters.
Soros earlier dismissed similar accusations against him.
Protesters attacked legislators over disagreements in the election of a new parliamentary speaker.
Moscow backs the position of Mr Gruevski and supporters, and claims - without offering evidence - that the West is part of a conspiracy to install a multi-ethnic government in Skopje, which would seek to carve up the Balkans to help create a "greater Albania" - a notion that alarms Slavs in Macedonia, Serbia and Bosnia.
The minority Albanians in the country, who make up around 25 percent of the population, have long felt neglected by national politicians.
The Russian Foreign Ministry is blaming the European Union and the United States for the turmoil in Macedonia.
"I strongly condemn yesterday's attacks on members of Parliament in Skopje".
The ministry said the West's quick welcoming of the new parliament speaker showed that the step had been coordinated in advance. The head of a small ethnic Albanian opposition party and 22 police officers were also injured.
The party official spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.
Macedonia has been in a two-year political deadlock since a wiretapping scandal revealed corruption, election rigging and other criminal activities at the highest levels of government in 2015.
A statement from the U.S. embassy in Macedonia, published on Twitter, said: "We condemn the violence in the strongest possible terms".
The protesters who stormed the parliament building oppose the election of Talat Xheferi from the Albanian party DUI as speaker, and think this was done contrary to the Constitution and the law.
Gruevski, whose party ally Emil Dimitriev is acting as interim prime minister until a new government is formed, said on Facebook that "violence isn't the answer".
"The greed to take over the ruling at any cost is a direct reason that caused this unwanted situation", Gruevski said.
Meanwhile, the scheduled meeting of the leaders of the parliamentary political parties, organized by the Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov as an attempt to find a way out of the severe crisis, remains unlikely for now.
But it was unclear whether opposition leaders would attend, and political tension remained high after the riot in which 77 people were injured, mostly lightly.
Nationalist protesters descended on Macedonia's parliament, April 27, attacking lawmakers after they voted to elect a new speaker. The violence in parliament "is not consistent with democracy and is not an acceptable way to resolve differences".
