Skopje

A man wearing a protective face mask and gloves ventures into a subway station in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia on April 2, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/Borislav Troshev.

Amid the global coronavirus pandemic, a man wearing a face mask walks the streets of Sarajevo on April 2, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/Fehim Demir.

Labour inspectorates say they do not have the resources to look into a spike in reported abuses.

Early indications in some countries point to layoffs in the thousands. Public sector workers, for now, appear safe, but not necessarily their wages.

Skopje Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced Democratic Union for Integration, DUI party officials Ejup Alimi and Ismet Guri to three-and-a-half years in jail each for the "destruction of electoral materials" in Skopje's municipality of Cair during the 2013 local polls.

The Greek Foreign Ministry has congratulated North Macedonia for becoming the 30th member of NATO.

"We congratulate the Republic of North Macedonia that joins NATO as the 30th member of our alliance. We welcome our neighbors to the NATO family and look forward to working together as allies," it tweeted.

The European Union could open accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia within weeks as both countries have made good progress in their preparations, the European Commission's enlargement chief, Oliver Varhelyi, said on Thursday.

A mother and a daughter from the south-eastern town of Strumica have become the first and so far the only citizens of North Macedonia to face the possibility of up to one year in jail for not abiding by the rules on protection from infectious diseases.

"I don't want to risk going to my doctor and I need therapy. Please go to my doctor so she can prescribe my medication, because I only have pills left for three days."

This was one of the calls that the Red Cross's municipal HQ in the Skopje municipality of Karposh received on Wednesday morning.

EU ambassadors are to make a decision on Thursday on a draft document agreeing the start of accession talks for Albania and North Macedonia.

If they approve the draft, the decision is expected to be confirmed later this month by EU foreign ministers and prime ministers, who are set to convene, probably via video conferences, on March 24 and 26 respectively.

One of the fake galleons that were one of the most ridiculed features of the former government's faux-historic Skopje 2014 revamp of the capital is to be removed by mid-April on the order of the city authorities.

The heads of North Macedonia's main political parties met at the presidential palace in Skopje on Tuesday and agreed to postpone the early elections, which were originally slated for April 12.

The modalities for the postponement and a new election date have yet to be determined, however.