SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English

According to Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski, the expansion of the US blacklist is expected. As he said on Friday, he believes new names will be added in the future, too. The Minister considers that the latest changes to the blacklist should also result in concrete measures domestically, such as laws to ban the participation of blacklisted entities in tenders to ...

Asked about Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski’s statement regarding a legal framework for companies designated by the US Department of the Treasury not to be able to participate in public procurement, VMRO-DPMNE Vice-President Aleksandar Nikoloski said on Saturday he agreed with that. “I think that’s something that should be given serious thought. In the first part, I think it’s a good ...

On Friday, asked about the part of the press-release by the Department of the Treasury concerning ex-PM Zoran Zaev and ex-Government Secretary-General Dragi Raskovski in relation to Montenegro’s Miodrag Davidovic, Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski said he didn’t have such information. Asked whether it had been aware or acted upon information about bribery, highlighted in the Treasury’s decision, the Public Prosecutor’s ...

According to PM Dimitar Kovacevski, VMRO-DPMNE is responsible for halting the EU path of North Macedonia. “There was a VMRO-DPMNE-led government for 11 years. During that period, there was no step forward, no decision regarding NATO and EU membership. It always postponed solutions, which resulted in us having more difficult and worse ones,” he said in an interview with Kanal ...

Even though there is no confirmation, VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski expects the elections to be held simultaneously. He believes that will happen due to previous statements by members of DUI’s leadership about the issue of simultaneous elections. According to VMRO-DPMNE, if the parliamentary elections are held in the so-called regular period, that should be done on 8 May while the ...

The reactions to the Popova Sapka cross have continued. Tetovo Mayor and BESA leader Bilall Kasami, together with his coalition partners from the ethnic Albanian coalition, have called on the Ohrid Archdiocese to immediately remove it. In their view, DUI and SDSM are exploiting religious facilities to score political points. When it comes to DUI Vice President Bujar Osmani, however, ...

Traffic on state roads runs smoothly, on somewhat wet roads. At certain roads going through ravines, minor rockslides are possible. The MAKEDONIJAPAT PE calls for careful driving and adjustment of the speed to the conditions of the road. The MAKEDONIJAPAT PE’s on-call teams are constantly on-site and keep all roads passable.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated businessperson Sergey Samsonenko, his wife, Irina Samsonenko, and businessperson Jordan Kamchev’s mother, Ratka Kunoska Kamcheva, pursuant to Western Balkans-related Executive Order (E.O.) 14033. “Samsonenko, Irina, and Kamcheva are being designated pursuant to E.O. 14033 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological ...

At the US-Adriatic Charter (A5) Defence Ministerial Meeting in Skopje on Thursday, Celeste Wallander, US Assistant Secretary of Defence for International Security Affairs, said her country was ready to contribute to the Western Balkans’s stability. As she added, the US is very grateful to its allies and partners in the Western Balkans that are committed and act to reach compromise, ...

At Thursday’s joint session of the National European Integration Council and the Committee on European Affairs of Parliament, the European Commission’s Report on North Macedonia was discussed. The Head of the EU Delegation, Ambassador David Geer, citing the document, said much more work was needed regarding judiciary, corruption, and human rights. According to him, there’s no progress in fighting crime, ...