Macedonians

The Thessaloniki-based National Theater of Northern Greece is celebrating an important milestone after hitting the 1-million seat mark in special group bookings.

These groups include a diverse range of theatergoers, from ex-convicts in social reintegration programs and patients at psychiatric facilities, to pensioners from community centers and school pupils for far-flung islands. 

Political statements originating from Skopje regarding the potential integration of Macedonians into the Bulgarian constitution have ignited a diplomatic dispute between Bulgaria and North Macedonia.

BELGRADE - Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali announced the Open Balkan member states - Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia - had on Friday, March 1 officially established a common labour market.

Mali said electronic services for applications by workers would become available next week and that the eGovernment portals of the three countries would become interconnected.

North Macedonia will appoint language proofreaders in official institutions and state bodies to check all materials coming out of them for correct use of the Macedonian language.

This is done by virtue of the Law on the Use of the Macedonian Language, adopted on Friday by the Parliament and signed by President Stevo Pendarovski on Tuesday.

In December 2023, travel to and from Bulgaria increased compared to the same month in the previous year, according to data from the National Statistical Institute. The number trips of Bulgarians abroad for this month has reached 649.1 thousand, increasing by 7.3% compared to December 2022.

"I am not afraid to say that the Macedonians are our closest people, we have no closer people. And I clearly want to say that we do not want anything from North Macedonia. We have no strings attached and expect nothing from you. We only want to build even closer and better relations. We are not asking you to change your constitution, that is your internal business.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic will be in Skopje, North Macedonia, on January 21-22 for a summit of the Open Balkan initiative and a Western Balkans-EU summit on the EU Growth Plan for the region, the presidential press office announced in a statement on Tuesday.

Groundbreaking DNA research spanning Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, Albania, and Greece has unveiled striking revelations about the genetic makeup of Balkan populations. The study, conducted collaboratively by scientists from Serbia, Spain, and the US, sheds light on the prevalence of Slavic genes in the region.

"If you want to join the EU, I think you won't open a new chapter if you don't follow all EU decisions, including the sanctions against Russia," Lavrov said at a press conference during the OSCE Ministerial Council, answering a question from a journalist from Serbia what the final outcome of talks between Belgrade and Pristina would be.

Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, arrived in Skopje on November 29, emphasizing North Macedonia's imperative to finalize constitutional amendments as part of its EU accession process.