Macedonia

Now is the right moment for a compromise solution to the row between Athens and Skopje over Macedonia’s name, the European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said on Tuesday in Skopje. During talks with Macedonia’s Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, Solana urged the leadership to do everything in its power …

ZAGREB, Croatia Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said Skopje will reply to UN mediator Matthew Nimetz’s latest proposals on the name dispute with Greece by the end of August. After a meeting in Croatia with his counterpart Stipe Mesic on Monday (July 13th), Ivanov welcomed Athens’ willingness to resolve the row …

The unresolved case of Justice Minister Mihajlo Manevski, who had been illegally receiving both a minister’s salary and a state pension for several months, has been chosen by Macedonian media editors as the murkiest corruption-related case in June. The case garnered 17 out of 19 votes from Macedonia’s top media …

BRUSSELS, Belgium The European Commission (EC) will ask the EU Council next week to offer visa-free travel to citizens of Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia, EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot said on Thursday (July 9th). Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn will officially present the proposal in Strasbourg on Tuesday. It will require …

The start of a Macedonian parliamentary session to debate the recent reshuffling of the cabinet of centre-right Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and to appoint new ministers has so far been marked by a heated verbal exchange between the PM and the outgoing Finance Minister Trajko Slaveski, who was fired on …

The European Commission will propose lifting visa restrictions on three Western Balkans states – Macedonia, Serbia and Montengro – the Justice Commissioner confirmed Friday. “A proposal will be made next Tuesday in Strasbourg to liberalize visas for nationals of the Western Balkans,” Jacques Barrot said in Brussels. “Under this proposal, …

The reshuffling of the Macedonian government led by centre-right Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski will be verified in Parliament on Friday. Parliamentary Speaker Trajko Veljanoski expressly set the session for the dismissal and appointment of ministers after several members of Gruevski’s team on Wednesday resigned and one was dismissed in what …

Government donations of state-owned land to the country’s two leading religious communities to erect a church and a mosque in Skopje will fail in the Constitutional Court, law experts warn. The move represents an attempt to indirectly finance religious communities and contradicts the secular character of the state, they say.

Macedonian top officials late Wednesday held a meeting to discuss the latest talks with the UN “name” row mediator Matthew Nimetz, reiterating that any possible compromise with Greece over Macedonia’s name would have to be supported by the public. The meeting, summoned by Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov, was attended by …

SKOPJE, Macedonia The UN mediator in the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece, Matthew Nimetz, arrived on a two-day visit to Skopje on Monday (July 6th) and met with Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki. Joining them was Macedonia’s representative in the name talks, Zoran Jolevski.