Macedonia

Ban Ki-moon’s visit this month is stirring speculation about new initiatives in the dispute over Macedonia’s name – though few expect the fact-finding trip to result in a breakthrough.Ban Ki-moon arrives in Skopje on 25 July as part of a tour of Western Balkan countries from July 19 to 26. …

Construction of four 42-storey skyscrapers, set to be the tallest buildings in Macedonia, started on Monday in Skopje.The Turkish company, Cevahir Holding, plans to invest some 300 million euro in the project that should be completed within three years in the Skopje municipality of Aerodrom.The complex will hold a mix …

Macedonia should complete its long-awaited rail link to the Bulgarian border by 2022, after beginning work in 2013, the Transport Minister said.Minister Mile Janakieski said the country plans to start building the first section of the railway towards the eastern border by March 2013. He said that talks with the …

Athens has yet to respond to Macedonia’s request for intensified bilateral cooperation and a declaration of friendship.Athens has yet to issue any official response after Macedonia at the weekend proposed a set of bilateral agreements with Greece to be crowned by a declaration of friendship and cooperation. But, off the …

The latest addition to the grand revamp of the Macedonian capital known as Skopje 2014 will be a brand new building for the Central Bank.Macedonia’s Central Bank plans to swap its modernist headquarters for a new one that will match the profile of the city’s grand makeover, known as Skopje …

Macedonia has now joined the Russian-led South Stream gas pipeline project, the Vice Prime Minister Zoran Stavreski said in Russia, confirming that Russia and Gazprom, the company in charge of the project, have now given the green light.”There’s no more dilemma – Macedonia is joining the international gas pipeline corridor …

Civic group slaps lawsuits on half the members of the Macedonian parliament for having supported a recently adopted Lustration Law that they describe as unconstitutional.A group of intellectuals, part of the civil initiative Citizens for European Macedonia, GEM, has submitted law suits against MPs from the ruling parties, including the …

Ljubco Georgievski and Branko Crvenkovski, whose bitter political rivalry dominated the 1990s, agreed on Thursday to cooperate in unseating the VMRO-DPMNE-led government of Nikola Gruevski.Two former prime ministers, from opposing ends of the political spectrum, after a meeting on Thursday in Skopje said they were ready to put aside old …

A new nameless equestrian statue in Skopje has angered some on account of its striking resemblance to Todor Aleksandrov, a controversial figure in Macedonian history.The five-metre statue financed by the Ministry of Culture and erected in the Skopje municipality of Kisela Voda is officially entitled “Macedonian equestrian revolutionary”. But to …

Macedonia is stirring negative propaganda against Greece, Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Gregory Delavekouras said, in response to ‘genocide’ remarks by Macedonia’s leader.Athens has responded critically following a recent interview with Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski in which he accused Greece of having waged “political genocide” against Macedonia for 20 years.