Macedonia
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Russia says that the issue of changing the name should be discussed at UNSC.
Moscow wants to discuss US blackmails and interference in Macedonia at UNSC
In the meantime the Constitutional amendments and language law, signed by Talat Xhaferi, have been published illegally in Official Gazette, without president's approval.
Constitutional amendments, language law illegally published in Official Gazette, not signed by president Ivanov
Moscow wants to discuss US blackmails and interference in Macedonia at UNSC
In the meantime the Constitutional amendments and language law, signed by Talat Xhaferi, have been published illegally in Official Gazette, without president's approval.
Constitutional amendments, language law illegally published in Official Gazette, not signed by president Ivanov
angelburst29
The Living Force
Greece on Friday ratified a landmark accord that changes the name of neighbouring Macedonia, ending a decades-old dispute with its neighbour and opening the way for the ex-Yugoslav republic to join the European Union and NATO.
January 25, 2019 - Greece does 'Mission Impossible', ratifies North Macedonia accord
Greece does 'mission impossible', ratifies North Macedonia accord | Reuters
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras votes during a vote on an accord between Greece and Macedonia changing the former Yugoslav republic's name in Athens, Greece, January 25, 2019. REUTERS/Costas Baltas
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who hammered out the deal with his Macedonian counterpart last year, secured enough votes to scrape the vote through a deeply-divided parliament on the third day of a debate fraught with emotion, anger and cries of betrayal.
The settlement seeks to end a 28-year old row between Athens and Skopje over the use of the term “Macedonia” by renaming the tiny Balkan state “Republic of North Macedonia” to differentiate from Greece’s northern province of Macedonia.
Many Greeks opposing the deal view it as an attempt by their neighbours to hijack ancient Greek civilization and culture.
January 25, 2019 - Greece does 'Mission Impossible', ratifies North Macedonia accord
Greece does 'mission impossible', ratifies North Macedonia accord | Reuters
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who hammered out the deal with his Macedonian counterpart last year, secured enough votes to scrape the vote through a deeply-divided parliament on the third day of a debate fraught with emotion, anger and cries of betrayal.
The settlement seeks to end a 28-year old row between Athens and Skopje over the use of the term “Macedonia” by renaming the tiny Balkan state “Republic of North Macedonia” to differentiate from Greece’s northern province of Macedonia.
Many Greeks opposing the deal view it as an attempt by their neighbours to hijack ancient Greek civilization and culture.
After watching this happen I am not sure about that old saying "Sticks and stones can break my bones but names can never hurt me".
An interesting statement by Greek MP Nikos Filis from the ruling SYRIZA during the debate on the ratification of the deal to rename Macedonia.
Greek MP: Lets stop with this nonsense, Macedonia was never Greek (video)
By Gorazd Velkovski - January 25, 2019
angelburst29
The Living Force
They say, "A picture says a thousand words." Notice the facial expressions of the two men sitting near PM Alexis Tsipras.
From some of the historical background that I read, I think MP Nikos Filis is close to the facts, that there was more Turks, then Greeks in Macedonia around the 1921/22 timeline? More flex of migration happened during the late 1930's when Yugoslavia was bombed. All that bloodshed, just to break up the whole of Yugoslavia into smaller divisions, so neighboring Countries could get a piece of the pie.
"To help the Greek MP, a little fact of Aegean Macedonia is that when the land was ripped away from Macedonia (Bucharest Treaty), only 9% of the population there considered themselves “Greek”, while 76% was Macedonian, and 15% was of Turkish descent."
angelburst29
The Living Force
Serbia is ready to resume dialogue with Kosovo over the normalization of ties only after Pristina lifts import tariffs on Serbian goods imposed last year, President Aleksandar Vucic said in a letter to U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday.
January 31, 2019 - Serbia to resume Kosovo talks only after it scraps tariffs, Vucic tells Trump
Serbia to resume Kosovo talks only after it scraps tariffs, Vucic...
Serbia and its former province of Kosovo committed in 2013 to an EU-sponsored dialogue meant to resolve all issues between them, but little progress has been made.
Kosovo, which has a mainly ethnic Albanian population, seceded from Serbia in 2008 after a 1999 war in which NATO struck Serbian forces accused of carrying out atrocities during a campaign against Kosovo rebels.
Relations between them worsened late last year when Kosovo imposed 100 percent import duties on Serbian goods. The move came in a response to Belgrade’s efforts to prevent Kosovo from joining international bodies including the United Nations.
On Dec 14, Trump sent letters both to Vucic and Kosovo leader Hashim Thaci, urging them to reach a deal.
January 31, 2019 - Fifteen candidates join Presidential race in Slovakia
Fifteen candidates join presidential race in Slovakia
Voters’ concerns over rule of law and the state of democracy one year after the murder of a young investigative journalist are expected to play a part in the two-round election, scheduled for March 16 and 30.
Mass protests against political sleaze forced prime minister Robert Fico to quit after a decade, but his leftist Smer party remains in power.
Most of the leading candidates are pro-EU, making Slovakia unlikely to join the rising tide of euroscepticism sweeping the European Union.
The president does not wield much day-to-day power but is a key player when new governments are formed and appoints judges to the constitutional court.
The incumbent, Andrej Kiska, who is unaffiliated with any party and sided with protesters calling for Fico to step down last year, is not seeking re-election.
The race has no clear front runner yet. A survey this month by the pollster Focus had career diplomat and European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic tied with scientist and entrepreneur Robert Mistrik at 16.5 percent.
January 31, 2019 - Serbia to resume Kosovo talks only after it scraps tariffs, Vucic tells Trump
Serbia to resume Kosovo talks only after it scraps tariffs, Vucic...
Serbia and its former province of Kosovo committed in 2013 to an EU-sponsored dialogue meant to resolve all issues between them, but little progress has been made.
Kosovo, which has a mainly ethnic Albanian population, seceded from Serbia in 2008 after a 1999 war in which NATO struck Serbian forces accused of carrying out atrocities during a campaign against Kosovo rebels.
Relations between them worsened late last year when Kosovo imposed 100 percent import duties on Serbian goods. The move came in a response to Belgrade’s efforts to prevent Kosovo from joining international bodies including the United Nations.
On Dec 14, Trump sent letters both to Vucic and Kosovo leader Hashim Thaci, urging them to reach a deal.
January 31, 2019 - Fifteen candidates join Presidential race in Slovakia
Fifteen candidates join presidential race in Slovakia
Voters’ concerns over rule of law and the state of democracy one year after the murder of a young investigative journalist are expected to play a part in the two-round election, scheduled for March 16 and 30.
Mass protests against political sleaze forced prime minister Robert Fico to quit after a decade, but his leftist Smer party remains in power.
Most of the leading candidates are pro-EU, making Slovakia unlikely to join the rising tide of euroscepticism sweeping the European Union.
The president does not wield much day-to-day power but is a key player when new governments are formed and appoints judges to the constitutional court.
The incumbent, Andrej Kiska, who is unaffiliated with any party and sided with protesters calling for Fico to step down last year, is not seeking re-election.
The race has no clear front runner yet. A survey this month by the pollster Focus had career diplomat and European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic tied with scientist and entrepreneur Robert Mistrik at 16.5 percent.
Haradinaj won't let go taxes even if coalition collapses, because he and Zaev are making profit.
Hardinaj won't let go of taxes; now "system collapse" begins
January 31, 2019
The career of US 'messiah' who 'spreads democracy' in Macedonia is over.
US Ambassador to Macedonia Jess Baily forced to retire
By Marija Nikolovska - February 1, 2019
According to the agreement between CIA and BND for dividing Yugoslavia.
CIA & BND 1977 plans for Macedonia – why Merkel is so eager on name change
By Pero Stamatovski - February 5, 2019
CIA & BND 1977 plans for Macedonia – why Merkel is so eager on name change
By Pero Stamatovski - February 5, 2019
angelburst29
The Living Force
The state prosecutor’s office decided to abandon the case last year.
February 10, 2019 - Macedonia: 6 wrongly convicted to receive hefty compensation
Macedonia: 6 wrongly convicted to receive hefty compensation
SKOPJE, Macedonia: Macedonia’s government will reportedly pay a total of 1.2 million euros ($1.36 million) in compensation to six people wrongly convicted on terrorism-related charges.
Local TV station Sitel is reporting the compensation includes 5,500 Macedonian denars ($101.40) for each day they spent in prison, plus trial costs.
The six, along with five others on the run, were sentenced in 2011 to a total of 156 years for allegedly planting a mine on a local road in 2003 that killed two NATO soldiers and a Macedonian national.
The key witness for the prosecution was later found to have been tortured by police.
The six were provisionally released in 2015. The state prosecutor’s office decided to abandon the case last year. The five people convicted in absentia will not receive compensation.
February 8, 2019 - After years of stalling, Greece OK's Macedonia in NATO
After years of stalling, Greece oks Macedonia in NATO
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras addresses lawmakers during a parliamentary session before a vote on accession of North Macedonia to NATO in Athens, Greece, February 8, 2019. REUTERS/Costas Baltas
NATO members signed the accord with Macedonia this week, days after the Greek parliament endorsed an agreement between Athens and Skopje that changes Macedonia’s name to North Macedonia.
Under NATO alliance rules, Macedonian membership now has to be approved by each member state - giving Greek lawmakers the opportunity for another round of verbal jousting over the controversy.
It also exposed old rivalries with Russia, in a region where Moscow competes for influence with NATO and the EU. Moscow had taken a dim view of the name accord, and of Macedonian membership in NATO. It says the alliance is undermining security in the region by taking in Balkan members.
The accord over the name angered many Greeks who believed the ex-Yugoslav state was hijacking their history with a name linked to the Greek heritage of Alexander the Great, King of Macedon. Greece has a northern province called Macedonia.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of the opposition New Democracy party, said the agreement over the name change lacked legitimacy. This referred to the resignation of a junior partner from the governing coalition in January over the accord, which left the governing Syriza party short of an absolute majority in parliament.
February 8, 2019 - Macedonia's Parliament set April 21 for Presidential election
Macedonia's parliament set April 21 for presidential election
The role of president is mostly ceremonial, but he signs laws adopted by the parliament and is commander-in-chief of the army.
Once a part of Yugoslavia, Macedonia peacefully seceded in 1991 but came close to civil war in 2001 when ethnic Albanians launched an armed insurgency seeking greater autonomy.
February 10, 2019 - Macedonia: 6 wrongly convicted to receive hefty compensation
Macedonia: 6 wrongly convicted to receive hefty compensation
SKOPJE, Macedonia: Macedonia’s government will reportedly pay a total of 1.2 million euros ($1.36 million) in compensation to six people wrongly convicted on terrorism-related charges.
Local TV station Sitel is reporting the compensation includes 5,500 Macedonian denars ($101.40) for each day they spent in prison, plus trial costs.
The six, along with five others on the run, were sentenced in 2011 to a total of 156 years for allegedly planting a mine on a local road in 2003 that killed two NATO soldiers and a Macedonian national.
The key witness for the prosecution was later found to have been tortured by police.
The six were provisionally released in 2015. The state prosecutor’s office decided to abandon the case last year. The five people convicted in absentia will not receive compensation.
February 8, 2019 - After years of stalling, Greece OK's Macedonia in NATO
After years of stalling, Greece oks Macedonia in NATO
NATO members signed the accord with Macedonia this week, days after the Greek parliament endorsed an agreement between Athens and Skopje that changes Macedonia’s name to North Macedonia.
Under NATO alliance rules, Macedonian membership now has to be approved by each member state - giving Greek lawmakers the opportunity for another round of verbal jousting over the controversy.
It also exposed old rivalries with Russia, in a region where Moscow competes for influence with NATO and the EU. Moscow had taken a dim view of the name accord, and of Macedonian membership in NATO. It says the alliance is undermining security in the region by taking in Balkan members.
The accord over the name angered many Greeks who believed the ex-Yugoslav state was hijacking their history with a name linked to the Greek heritage of Alexander the Great, King of Macedon. Greece has a northern province called Macedonia.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of the opposition New Democracy party, said the agreement over the name change lacked legitimacy. This referred to the resignation of a junior partner from the governing coalition in January over the accord, which left the governing Syriza party short of an absolute majority in parliament.
February 8, 2019 - Macedonia's Parliament set April 21 for Presidential election
Macedonia's parliament set April 21 for presidential election
The role of president is mostly ceremonial, but he signs laws adopted by the parliament and is commander-in-chief of the army.
Once a part of Yugoslavia, Macedonia peacefully seceded in 1991 but came close to civil war in 2001 when ethnic Albanians launched an armed insurgency seeking greater autonomy.
The new name, the Republic of North Macedonia, entered into force on Tuesday with the arrival of the note verbale from the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the publication in the Official Gazette. The ceremony, of the new name held in front of a nameless Government building. The Macedonian president was not invited.
Macedonian national schizophrenia: NATO flag raised in front of nameless HQ
By Marija Nikolovska - February 12, 2019
Siljanovska: Raising the NATO flag is fabricating reality
12.02.2019
angelburst29
The Living Force
At the Bogorodica border crossing with Greece, Macedonian workers on Wednesday placed stencils on road signs bearing their country's official new name, the Republic of North Macedonia, making a first step in implementing a landmark deal with Athens.
February 13, 2019 - "Welcome to North Macedonia": new road signs go up on Border with Greece
'Welcome to North Macedonia': new road signs go up on border with...
Workers set up a sign with Macedonia's new name at the border between Macedonia and Greece, near Gevgelija, Macedonia February 13, 2019. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski
Under the provisions of the agreement with Athens, Macedonia’s customs office must put stencils with the new name on road signs at all border crossings and also at the airports of Skopje and Ohrid within three days.
All plaques on offices must also be replaced within four months, while the Interior Ministry should start issuing new passports by the end of 2019. The central bank in Skopje will start issuing new banknotes by the beginning of 2020.
Last week, Macedonia signed an accession protocol with NATO despite Russian criticism that further expansion by the alliance in the Balkans would undermine regional stability.
The protocol must now be ratified by all allied governments, a process that typically takes about a year.
Under the deal with Greece, the country’s previous official name ‘The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ passes into history, and with it the last vestiges of the now-defunct six-republic Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, which fell apart in a series of bloody wars in the 1990s.
Three other ex-Yugoslav republics - Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro - have already joined NATO, as have other countries in the Balkans including Albania, Bulgaria and Romania.
Of the six ex-Yugoslav republics, Serbia - which is militarily neutral and seeks close ties with both NATO and Russia - and Bosnia remain outside NATO.
February 13, 2019 - "Welcome to North Macedonia": new road signs go up on Border with Greece
'Welcome to North Macedonia': new road signs go up on border with...
Workers set up a sign with Macedonia's new name at the border between Macedonia and Greece, near Gevgelija, Macedonia February 13, 2019. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski
Under the provisions of the agreement with Athens, Macedonia’s customs office must put stencils with the new name on road signs at all border crossings and also at the airports of Skopje and Ohrid within three days.
All plaques on offices must also be replaced within four months, while the Interior Ministry should start issuing new passports by the end of 2019. The central bank in Skopje will start issuing new banknotes by the beginning of 2020.
Last week, Macedonia signed an accession protocol with NATO despite Russian criticism that further expansion by the alliance in the Balkans would undermine regional stability.
The protocol must now be ratified by all allied governments, a process that typically takes about a year.
Under the deal with Greece, the country’s previous official name ‘The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ passes into history, and with it the last vestiges of the now-defunct six-republic Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, which fell apart in a series of bloody wars in the 1990s.
Three other ex-Yugoslav republics - Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro - have already joined NATO, as have other countries in the Balkans including Albania, Bulgaria and Romania.
Of the six ex-Yugoslav republics, Serbia - which is militarily neutral and seeks close ties with both NATO and Russia - and Bosnia remain outside NATO.
Terrible bus accident happened yesterday at around 5 pm on the road from Skopje to Gostivar.
www.france24.com
Officially there are 14 victims. One more passenger passed due to the heavy injuries.
All of them were people and students from Gostivar, the town where I live and most of the passengers were coming back home from work.
Cause of the incident is unknown. According to some unofficial speculation, the cause is an exploded tire of the bus, but it is not for sure.
Everybody is in shock.
13 killed in bus accident in North Macedonia: minister - France 24
13 killed in bus accident in North Macedonia: minister
www.france24.com
Officially there are 14 victims. One more passenger passed due to the heavy injuries.
All of them were people and students from Gostivar, the town where I live and most of the passengers were coming back home from work.
Cause of the incident is unknown. According to some unofficial speculation, the cause is an exploded tire of the bus, but it is not for sure.
Everybody is in shock.
angelburst29
The Living Force
Wonder, what is behind this with the Police raid and if there might be a connection to the bus accident? An exploded tire? Is this raid a set-up to bring in NATO troops?
SKOPJE - Police in North Macedonia raided several locations on Friday to prevent a potential attack organized by the supporters of the Islamic State, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
February 15, 2019 - North Macedonia says it stopped attack by Islamic State supporters
North Macedonia says it stopped attack by Islamic State supporters
The ministry said it launched the operation after exchanging information with a “partner country”, without identifying the country.
Items and devices linked to a possible attack were seized, the ministry said, without giving further details.
The U.S. Embassy in Skopje also issued a security alert to its citizens traveling to North Macedonia on Friday warning of “a heightened risk of terrorist attacks inspired by extremist ideology in North Macedonia”.
The majority of North Macedonia’s 2 million population is Orthodox Christian, with Muslims accounting for around 35 percent of the total population.
Authorities in the former Yugoslav republic estimate as many as 130 of its citizens have fought or are currently fighting alongside Islamist groups in Syria and Iraq.
In 2016 a court sentenced six people, including an imam, to up to seven years in prison each for joining the fight or recruiting others.
Last week North Macedonia signed accession protocol with NATO and is expected to become its 30th member state once all it is ratified by all member states.
