Caretaker PM Oliver Spasovski, accompanied by SDSM leader Zoran Zaev and the Director of the Commission for Relations with Religious Communities and Religious Groups, Darijan Sotirovski, held a meeting with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul. Spasovski invited Bartholomew to visit Macedonia and meet Orthodox believers. VMRO-DPMNE called for an explanation about the capacity in which Zaev participated in the meeting. In response, SDSM said the meeting had been a result of the invitation sent from the Ecumenical Patriarch to Zaev during the latter’s term as PM. According to the ruling party, during the preparations of the meeting, Spasovski was elected caretaker PM.