The speaker of Macedonia's parliament, Trajko Veljanovski, set December 11 as the date for a long-awaited parliamentary election aimed at ending a 20-month crisis in the Balkan country over a wiretapping scandal.

 

Macedonia was thrown into turmoil in February 2015 when the opposition accused then-Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and his counter-intelligence chief of listening in on the phone calls of more than 20,000 people.

 

"We are returning our mandate back to the people who are the only and most legitimate authority," Veljanovski said in a statement.

 

Under an EU-brokered agreement to end the crisis, Gruevski stood aside last year to pave the way for an early election. Politicians also agreed to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the scandal.