North Macedonia

People race horses in Doxato, a town located in northeastern Drama, in a photo made available on Tuesday. The custom dates back to ancient Macedonia and is annually revived at the beginning of May.

Polls opened in North Macedonia on Wednesday in parliamentary and presidential elections in which the rightist opposition is expected to gain ground against a ruling party that has failed to progress talks to join the EU and stamp out corruption.

The European Commission hopes Northern Macedonia will begin accession talks with the EU the soonest possible and, referring to bilateral disputes between Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria, as well as Albania and Greece, reiterated its position that bilateral disputes should not delay the accession process.

The citizens of North Macedonia no longer consider Greece as a threat to their country but they remain concerned about Bulgaria and Russia, a survey of five Balkan countries has found.

The opinion poll, conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the US-based International Republican Institute (IRI), also found that Albanians consider Greece a serious threat to their country.

Voters in Northern Macedonia go to the polls Wednesday for a double election - parliamentary and presidential - following a campaign in which the country's aspirations to join the European Union have played a central role.

The expected victory of the center-right nationalist VMRO-DPMNE party in North Macedonia's presidential and parliamentary elections is worrying Greek officials, who do not know how far the new government will go towards questioning, or even repudiating, the 2018 Prespes Agreement, which put an end to nearly 30 years of tension between the two countries over the name "Macedonia," which Greeks co

BELGRADE - A total 153,155 foreign tourists, mostly Bulgarians (14,278) and Russians (14,122), visited Serbia in March, which was a 9.7 pct increase y-o-y.

Tourists from the region - Bosnia and Herzegovina (12,983), Croatia (11,486) and North Macedonia (10,188) follow, the national statistical office said.

Recent developments in North Macedonia suggest a further decline in relations with Bulgaria, with the presidential elections serving as a litmus test for the sentiment towards Bulgaria within the country.

Ekrem Ramadani used to work in the once flourishing textile industry in the town of Tetovo in North Macedonia. Today, 76 and still working, he scrapes by selling beans, onions and garlic from his modest farm.

Nektaria Stamouli, the deputy editor in chief of Kathimerini's English Edition and Politico's Eastern Mediterranean correspondent, joins Thanos Davelis to look at Wednesday's election in North Macedonia, and its broader implications for the country's relations with its neighbors and its EU aspirations.