North Macedonia

With 70 votes "for", 47 "against" and not a single "abstention", the Macedonian deputies adopted the agenda of their 123rd meeting with a single item - the changes to include Bulgarians in the constitution, which should open the way to negotiations with the European Union.

"We played a nice game of chess," President Vui wrote on his official Instagram account.
Earlier today, President Vui visited the Aleksi Winery together with the President of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovski.4

The largest party representing North Macedonia's ethnic Albanian minority offered to pull its ministers from the government to meet a demand from the opposition to clear the way for European Union membership talks.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been informed about a Bulgarian citizen injured in an accident in Skopje before the football match between PFC "Levski" and the local FC "Shkupi". This was announced by the BTA department. According to initial information, it was an attack in the northern part of the city and stab wounds were inflicted with cold weapons.

Two-thirds of the citizens in North Macedonia put Bulgaria at the top of a list that includes the biggest opponents of their country's European integration.

In homophobic North Macedonia, the LGBT Safe House in Skopje provides a vital refuge for some of the country's most marginalised people.

Hundreds of people from North Macedonia with no papers - who cannot access any social services - can now get them thanks to the campaigning work of NGOs and some determined MPs.

"Bulgaria is the weakest member state of the EU and we (North Macedonia) have problems not with the strongest, but the weakest state in the EU. Bulgaria needs the EU much more than the EU needs Bulgaria. No one can convince me that the biggest EU capitals cannot put pressure on Bulgaria.

"Germany supports North Macedonia's EU membership and recognizes the identity, language and culture of its people. Now Skopje must implement the promised change in its constitution to remove all obstacles to the country's membership in the European community".

EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, believes that there is no obstacle to North Macedonia's accession to the block.