All News on Social Issues in Macedonia
Balkan Crime-Busting Operation Yields Drugs and Firearms
A major police action involving 8,300 police from 28 countries and designed to curb crime orginating from the Balkans has resulted in almost half a million people, vehicles and premises being checked on the ground, Europol said on Friday.
Police chief orders probe into journalist assault
The chief of the Greek Police (ELAS), Lieutenant General Aristides Andrikopoulos, ordered on Tuesday an internal investigation into a journalist's claims that he was verbally and physically attacked by riot police officers during a protest against the Macedonia name deal in Thessaloniki on Saturday.
Ministry slammed for late reaction to West Nile virus
Health authorities in Greece came under fire on Friday for their delayed response to the spread of the West Nile virus, which has claimed 17 lives so far.
Macedonia Criticised for 'Disappointing' Progress on Corruption
The Group of States against Corruption, GRECO said in its second compliance report, published on Thursday, that Macedonia has made no substantial progress in implementing recommendations on preventing corruption among MPs, judges and prosecutors.
Two new cases of West Nile Virus in northern Greece
Two new cases of the West Nile Virus were recorded in Central Macedonia, bringing the total for the region to six, the state-run Athens-Macedonian news agency reported on Tuesday.
Aleksandar Vucic: Serbia has Surpassed Bulgaria and has Better Standard of Living
Serbian President Aleksandar Vukic said his country has already outperformed Bulgaria in regards to average salary. Currently in Serbia it is 424 euros.
Poll sees ND holding lead, 7 in 10 opposing name deal
A new opinion poll conducted by MRB puts conservative New Democracy 9.8 percentage points ahead of leftist SYRIZA and finds that seven in 10 do not support the recent Macedonia name deal.
According to the nationwide survey, which was conducted on a sample of 2,000 people, if elections were held now ND would garner 31 percent of the vote and SYRIZA 21.2 percent.
German government toppling "would be bad news for Balkans"
This includes the nomalization of the relations between Belgrade and Pristina, says professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade Dragan Djukanovic.
Location of Putin-Trump July 16 meeting revealed
The White House announced it on Thursday.
According to this, the two world leaders will discuss relations between their countries, but also "a range of national security issues."
Topics will include Syria and Ukraine, Trump said on Wednesday, but also possibly alleged Russian election meddling.
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"Does EU plan migrant centers in Serbia? No"
In an interview with the daily Politika, Avramopoulos said that the EU has not spoken to African or Western Balkan countries about establishing migrant centers in Africa or on European soil, but outside the EU. Asked if there was a plan in the EU for such centers to be in Serbia, Avramopoulos replied, "No, not at all."
Rama Scorns Idea of Albania Hosting Processing Camps
Speaking to the German newspaper Bild, he said Albania "will not build refugee centres, even in exchange for EU accession ... The refugee crisis must be solved independently of the current state of our accession efforts."
Speculation Grows Over 'Migrant Camps' in Albania
The European Union faces a fresh crisis over the handling of migration policy after Sunday evening's meeting of 16 EU leaders failed to reach any agreement.
EU Denies Wanting Albania to Host Rescued Refugees
In a response to a query from BIRN, it answered: "No. The regions are not yet identified as we are only talking about possibly exploring this concept," asked whether plans exist to create the so-called "Regional Disembarkation Platforms" in Albania.
UNHCR: Greece hosting 58,000 refugees and migrants in early June
The number of refugees, asylum seekers and people with no citizenship in Greece totaled 58,000 in early June, according to figures released by the Greek chapter of the UNHCR on Wednesday, World Refugee Day.
A flawed deal
The agreement on the name dispute that the government of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reached is a result of flawed beliefs and a total lack of understanding of the basic rules of negotiations.
Here, Skopje adopted the position "what is ours is ours and what is Greece's is negotiable" - of course Greece came out holding the short end of the stick.