Macedonia

MACEDONIA Macedonia’s parliament adopted a new Law on Parliament after heated debate on Monday night, in a session boycotted by an opposition ethnic Albanian party. The Democratic Party of Albanians, DPA , kept its pledge to boycott parliament from this week, in lieu of the collapse of the ruling coalition. …

SKOPJE, Macedonia Macedonia will respond to the latest proposals for solving the Athens-Skopje name row this week, the country’s negotiator to the UN-mediated talks, Zoran Jolevski, told local media. Jolevski, who is in Skopje for consultations with the state leadership, said on Sunday that he already spoken to President Georgi …

SKOPJE, Macedonia New legislation, reforming the functioning of parliament in line with EU accession pre-conditions, looks set to feature on the agenda of Monday’s legislative session. After a short summer break, Macedonia’s legislators have until September 15 to pass a series of laws that the European Commission, EC, has set …

BULGARIA, MACEDONIA Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov promised that he will look into the case of Spaska Mitrova. Tthe ex-Bulgarian President Petar Stojanov discussed the Mitrova case with the Macedonian President Ivanov in a telephone conversation. Ivanov vowed to get familiarized with this case in the following days, take adequate actions …

BULGARIA Bulgaria’s Minister without a portfolio, Bozhidar Dimitrov, said Friday he was ready to serve the three-month prison sentence of Spaska Mitrova, a Macedonian with Bulgarian passport. The 23-year-old Mitrova was jailed over failing to provide a bed in her parent’s house for her former husband who was supposed to …

SKOPJE, Macedonia Macedonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs publically discharged Sofia’s reactions, concerning the case “Mitrova”, as unreasonable and false. This was discussed during MoFA’s meeting with the executor of the Bulgarian embassy in Skopje. The MoFA pointed out that although Spaska Mitrova has a Bulgarian passport, she has to answer …

A Macedonian court’s decision to send a Macedonian resident with Bulgarian citizenship to jail is sparking mutual recriminations. Sofia complained about the alleged harsh treatment meted out to its citizens after Spaska Mitrova was subsequently sentenced to 3-months in jail earlier this month. This, because she would not let her …

Macedonia is marking eight years since the signing of the 2001 Ohrid Peace Accord, which put an end to a six month ethnic Albanian insurgency. The central ceremony marking the anniversary will be held in the winter resort of Mavrovo, situated near the north-western town of Tetovo, a focal point …

MACEDONIA Opposition claims that the 2001 Ohrid Peace Accord is a dead letter are unfounded, Macedonia’s Deputy Prime Minister Abdilakim Ademi says. The pact ended that year’s short-lived ethnic Albanian insurgency, promising the country’s largest minority official recognition of its language and culture and positive discrimination in state employment.

Albania should block Macedonia’s NATO accession if Skopje continues to neglect its large Albanian community, the head of an ethnic Albanian party in Macedonia says. Menduh Thaci, the head of the opposition Democratic Party of Albanians, DPA, told a Monday press conference that he considered asking Albanian Prime Minister Sali …