Macedonia

The Director-General of Enlargement at the European Commission, Stefano Sannino, on Tuesday arrived on a surprise visit to Macedonia to try to resolve the ongoing political crisis.The EU delegation to Macedonia confirmed that Sannino had arrived in the country but had nothing to add about his agenda. Unofficially, he has …

As the deadline nears for a decision on the announced opposition boycott of the local elections, EU politicians are heading to Skopje to kick start dialogue between opposition and government.As the deadline to submit lists of candidates for the March local elections looms on February 16, it will soon be …

Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro have taken milk produced by two Croatian dairies off the market amid fears of contamination by potentially dangerous aflatoxin M1.The four countries moved to withdraw the suspect products after a scientific analysis in Vienna at the weekend showed that the amount of aflatoxin M1 in …

A motion from a ruling party MP on limiting the time that legislators can spend on discussions in parliament has further angered the opposition.Opposition Social Democrats have attacked as provocative a bid to amend the parliamentary rulebook to limit the time spent on debates. “The government is showing its totalitarian …

Macedonian government says if opposition MPs resign from parliament, simultaneous by-elections may take place for the vacated seats – but no general election will be held.Macedonia’s ruling party, VMRO- DPMNE, says that if opposition Social Democrat MPs resign their seats, elections will be held only for the 43 vacated seats, …

In a new bid to force an early general election, opposition Social Democrat MPs say they will resign from parliament ‘in days’.The opposition Social Democrats issued their resignation threat, saying the government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski had ignored their demands for early general elections. The MPs’ resignations will arrive …

The move to “out” gay journalists in Macedonia is only the latest bizarre twist in the media – as a competition to outdo a recent spoof interview in Serbia appeared to spiral out of control. “We are calling on our readers to tell us the names of [suspected gay] journalists …

Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament have issued a call for a renewed EU commitment to the Western Balkan enlargement process.Hannes Swoboda, president of the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, said enlargement momentum should be stimulated again so that the Western Balkans could join the European Union. …

The UN mediator in the ‘name’ dispute, Matthew Nimetz, sounded optimistic after wrapping up a fresh round of talks with both sides in New York – but provided no details.After a two-hour joint meeting with Macedonia’s negotiator, Zoran Jolevski and Greece’s Adamantios Vassilakis, UN mediator Nimetz said he saw signs …

Macedonians angered by repeated hikes in their utility bills are to present a petition to parliament on Wednesday.Protesters against high utility bills plan to take to the streets of Skopje on Wednesday before submitting a petition to parliament containing 13,000 signatures collected over recent months. The law says civil initiatives …