SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English

SDSM and VMRO-DPMNE have traded accusations over the referendum issue. “Instead of constructiveness, VMRO-DPMNE and Hristijan Mickoski, by demanding elections, by requesting a referendum, are trying to obstruct the normal functioning of institutions at the expense of the domestic economy, at the expense of citizens,” Bogdanka Kuzeska, Spokesperson for the ruling party, noted. In response, VMRO-DPMNE said that SDSM’s theses ...

Parliament Speaker Talat Xhaferi still hasn’t received the initiative for a referendum, announced by VMRO-DPMNE, his Cabinet said on Friday. “Xhaferi is abroad. Once he receives it, you will be informed on time,” it added. Earlier that day, VMRO-DPMNE Parliamentary Group Coordinator had said more than 650 signatures had been collected in less than half an hour.

On Friday, in the frames of his constitutional competences, President Stevo Pendarovski signed decrees for the new Ambassadors to Slovakia, Canada, Norway, Belgium, and Bulgaria. The decrees are for Evegenija Ilieva, Agron Buxhaku, Driton Kuci, Metodija Belevski, and Agneza Rusi Popovska to be Ambassadors to Slovakia, Canada, Norway, Belgium, and Bulgaria, respectively. Three of the candidates are presenting their priorities ...

Until the deal with Sofia is abandoned, VMRO-DPMNE will not support constitutional changes, opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski said at a press-conference on Tuesday. He is adamant that his party is not against Bulgarians being part of the Constitution. However, Mickoski described the deal as assimilatory, adding that it should be abandoned. The collection of signatures will start on Wednesday afternoon. ...

The opposition’s question is basically about whether citizens want to stop the EU path, President Stevo Pendarovski said on Tuesday, commenting on the referendum issue. He asked why the Prespa deal was not in the referendum question considering that in the Negotiating Framework, the same sentence, include both the Prespa Agreement and the Treaty with Bulgaria. Pendarovski it was about ...

Deputy PM Bojan Maricic, together with expert Vladimir Drobnjak, former Croatian negotiator, held on Tuesday two coordination meetings with ministers in charge of the clusters and Working Committee for Euro-integrations with the state secretaries of institutions, the Secretariat for European Affairs said in a press-release. Chief Negotiator and Deputy PM Maricic stated that Drobnjak’s experience and knowledge would be beneficial. ...

The Court of Appeals in Skopje has confirmed the first-instance verdicts in the 2012 Smiljkovci killings, in which Alil Demiri, Afrim Ismailovic, and Agim Ismailovic were sentenced to life in prison. After the massacre, Demiri and Afrim Ismailovic fled to Kosovo and still haven’t been extracted. According to the verdict, they murdered the four boys, Filip Slavkovski, Aleksandar Nakjevski, Cvetancko ...

At a session on Monday, VMRO-DPMNE’s Executive Committee decided to adopt a referendum question. Citizens answering will say whether they are in favour of abandonment of the Law on Ratification of the Treaty on Friendship, Good-Neighbourliness, and Cooperation between Skopje and Sofia. At a press-conference, opposition leader Hristijan Mickoski said he supported EU integration, but he didn’t support assimilation and ...

According to PM Dimitar Kovacevski, every delay and every blocking of all decisions adopted so far will mean blocking the country’s European integrations. “That is why I say that it now depends on us, on all political parties, on all MPs in Parliament, and on all engaged in the negotiations process, how quickly we will finish the EU negotiations and ...

The State Corruption for Prevention of Corruption will be deciding whether to open a case to look into the employment of Besmira Ejupi by the Foreign Ministry. It will be determining the procedure in terms of whether there was a job advertisement, whether there were other candidates, and which way Ejupi was chosen. The Commission explains that it receives a ...