Geography of the Republic of Macedonia

French President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed Friday's ratification of the Prespes deal by the Greek Parliament.

"I welcome the vote on the Prespa agreement. That is an example of courage and unity for Europe," Macron said in a message on Twitter late Friday.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also hailed the outcome of the vote.

A vote has been scheduled in the Greek parliament for Friday to ratify the Prespa Agreement, changing the name of Greece's neighbor to the north from "the Republic of Macedonia" to "the Republic of North Macedonia."

As Macedonia begins talks about joining NATO, an ongoing US military exercise may pave the way for restoring the country's landmark Krivolak army training centre to its full capacity, offering thousands of NATO soldiers a place to drill.

MACEDONIA: Companies have been invited to prequalify for a contract to complete Phase 2 of the planned rail link from Kumanovo to the Bulgarian border, which is being developed as part of Pan-European Corridor VIII from the Adriatic to the Black Sea.

As the two leading candidates for the post of Mayor of Skopje try to woo ethnic Albanian voters ahead of the vote on October 15, both are avoiding the kind of divisive ethnic language that marred last year's general elections.

The mayors of Macedonia's 80 municipalities, plus the capital, Skopje, over the last four years delivered less than half the capital projects they promised, a new BIRN database, "Municipalities Uncovered," shows.

The database analyzes the municipal budgets for capital investments as well as their overall budgets from 2013 to 2016.

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US and Macedonian troops have started a joint 14-day military excercise in Macedonia aimed at strengthen the operational readiness of Macedonian Army engineers as well as of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defence units.

The joint exercise held at the country's Krivolak base will also strengthen the interoperability between the two armies.

Four people were killed when the heavy storm hit Tetovo and nearby mountain villages on Monday afternoon, the police confirmed early Tuesday.

The victims were identified only as 'A.I.' aged seven, 'H.F.' aged 83, 'A.M.' aged 14 and 'R.A.' aged 15.

A six-year-old girl from the village of Shipkovica is also listed as missing.

Around 20 hooded hooligans tried to wreck the second birthday party of the centre for support of the LGBT community on Thursday in Skopje, vandalizing the "Damar" cafe in the Old Bazaar area, where the event took place. 

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Macedonia's Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Zoran Stavreski, has denied environmentalists' claims that the coat of the planned dam in the Mavrovo national park may soar from the originally planned sum of €85 to almost €200 million.

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