All News on Politics in Macedonia
Dacic to attend foreign ministers' meeting in Kotor
BELGRADE - Serbia's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic will participate in the Informal meeting of the Western Balkans Foreign Ministers in Kotor, Montenegro, on Thursday.
Retrial Demanded in Macedonia Mass Murder Case
Ali Ahmeti, the head of the junior party in Macedonia's ruling coalition, the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, demanded on Tuesday a transparent retrial and a public presentation of the evidence that led to the conviction of six ethnic Albanians for terrorism - a verdict that sparked unrest on the streets of the capital last week.
Ethnic Albanians stage protests in Macedonia
SKOPJE – Ethnic Albanians in Macedonia have been protesting for a few days demanding the release of six members of the Albanian community in the country sentenced to a life in prison.
The six Albanians were sentenced to life for a brutal murder of five Macedonians in Smilkovci, near Skopje, in 2012.
Construction of Kosovo-Macedonia highway starts
PRISTINA - A groundbreaking ceremony held Thursday in the village of Ugljare, situated between the municipalities of Kosovo Polje and Gracanica, marked the beginning of construction of the Pristina-Djeneral Jankovic-Skopje highway.
Construction Begins on Kosovo-Macedonia Highway
Construction on the ‘Arben Xhaferi’ highway - named after a late Albanian politician in Macedonia - started on Thursday with a ceremony inaugurated by Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and state officials from Macedonia in Fushe Kosove/Kosovo Polje.
“Today is a special day for Kosovo, it is a blessed day,” Thaci said after symbolically beginning work on the 60-kilometre highway.
Platinum Wolf exercise under way at Base South
BUJANOVAC - Platinum Wolf 2014 - a military exercise involving 270 servicemen from Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Croatia and the United States - is underway at Base South in Bujanovac, southern Serbia.
Macedonia Moves to Rule Out Same-Sex Marriage
The motion to define marriage strictly as a union of one man and one woman, submitted at the weekend, was one of the first orders of business of the conservative Government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski after it was re-elected in April.
Macedonia Tight-Lipped on US Secret Surveillance
Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski claimed that he did not have enough information to say anything about the allegations mentioned in recent leaked data from whistleblower and former National Security Agency, NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
EU Mediation Proposed in Macedonia Political Row
The ruling VMRO DPMNE party of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has said it is willing to accept European mediation in further talks with the opposition Social Democrats, SDSM, after a first attempt at dialogue made no progress.
NATO Rejects Montenegro Membership in 2014
NATO secretary-general Andres Fogh Rasmussen announced after ministerial meetings in Brussels on Wednesday that Montenegro would not be invited to join at a summit in September.
“On Montenegro, we will open intensified and focused talks, and we will assess at the latest by the end of 2015 whether to invite Montenegro to join the alliance,” Rasmussen said.
Bulgarian President to Attend SEECP Summit in Bucharest
President Rosen Plevneliev will take part in the meeting of the heads of state and government of the South East European Co-operation Process (SEECP) countries on June 25.
This is the highest level of political dialogue in the region in this format, according to the President's press office.
The SEECP was launched on Bulgaria's initiative in 1996.
Macedonian Leaders Meet to Tackle Post-Election Feud
Prime minister and ruling VMRO DPMNE party leader Nikola Gruevski and Zoran Zaev, the head of the main opposition party, the Social Democrats, SDSM, are starting talks on Tuesday in Skopje to discuss ending the crisis that erupted when the opposition disputed the April elections.
Parliament Gives Macedonia's New Govt the Nod
Macedonia's parliament was expected to endorse the PM's new cabinet since the ruling parties led by Nikola Gruevski's VMRO DPMNE won a solid majority in the assembly at the April general elections.
The vote was 77 in favour and 6 against. No one abstained.
The session passed without almost any opposition MPs present in the chamber.
Macedonia Leaders to Meet to Defuse Election Feud
Macedonia's opposition Social Democrats, SDSM, said their leader, Zoran Zaev, had accepted a proposal to meet Prime Minister and VMRO DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski in the coming days to discuss ending the crisis that could worsen Macedonia's EU and NATO membership hopes.
It remains to be seen whether Gruevski's proposed date of Friday is acceptable for the opposition.
Boycott of Macedonian Parliament Starts to Fray
At least two opposition MPs in Macedonia say they may return to parliament, defying the opposition’s decision to collectively resign following the April elections, which they deem fraudulent.
Solza Grceva, from the main opposition Socal Democratic Party, SDSM, has until Thursday - when parliament will verify the resignations of the opposition MPs - to decide whether to return.