Macedonia

The 2023 census in Albania not only showed alarming demographic data but stirred a fresh round of tensions with the Balkan nation's neighbors. 

Figures published late last week showed that the country's population shrank by 14% in 12 years from approximately 2.8 million to around 2.4 million. 

Bulgaria has initiated diplomatic efforts among EU member states to address what it deems as "inadmissible behavior" from prominent political figures in North Macedonia. Acting Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dimitar Glavchev underscored this during a parliamentary hearing focused on relations with North Macedonia.

Yesterday, during its meeting, the Council of Ministers approved a draft letter of intent from the Ministry of Defense and related ministries of Italy, Albania, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria. This initiative signifies the four countries' commitment to collaborate in establishing a military mobility corridor across their territories.

Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis lashed out at Skopje and Tirana on Wednesday, during a meeting with his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Schallenberg, in Athens. 

Gerapetritis warned the governments of North Macedonia and Albania that their recent actions are endangering their countries' prospects for European integration. 

President Rumen Radev commented on the suggestion by Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski of the Republic of North Macedonia to renegotiate the Friendship and Good Neighbor Agreement with Bulgaria, emphasizing that international treaties must be respected by all successive governments once signed.

The national weather service, EMY, issued an emergency bulletin on Tuesday warning of powerful storms starting in northwestern Greece on Wednesday and spreading south on Thursday, hitting several popular holiday destinations along the way.

Solid air masses coming from the northwestern Balkans towards our region will cause a deterioration of the weather mainly in the central and northern areas from Wednesday (03/07/24) noon to late afternoon on Thursday (04-07-24) with heavy rain and thunderstorms accompanied by a high frequency of lightning and local hail.

In more detail:

Sanja Božinovska, the newly appointed Minister of Energy, Mining, and Mineral Resources in North Macedonia, has Bulgarian citizenship. According to a registration at the Commercial Court in Zagreb, Božinovska worked in the Croatian branch of the "Rudnap" company as a Bulgarian citizen with a Bulgarian passport since 2013, as revealed by the North Macedonian news portal "360 Degrees".

"Assimilation has led to the creation of a Bulgarian minority in Albania," reported the media in North Macedonia, highlighting the surprising results of Albania's recent population census. These reports also pointed out that the number of Macedonians in Albania has halved.

The Greek Foreign Ministry has lambasted the leadership of North Macedonia for its "continued violation" of the Prespa name agreement signed in 2019 by the two countries, accusing it of irredentism after a post on X on Thursday by the neighboring country's president, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, who referred to "Aegean Macedonia," which is part of Greece's region of Macedonia.