Skopje

"The topic of North Macedonia has become an object of political abuse of all kinds. There is a strategic solution for Bulgaria, we must look for possible solutions, not to accumulate political dividends. Our task as a state is not to veto or stop RNM but to complete our goals - the rights of Bulgarians in the Republic of North Macedonia, the common history, the language of hatred.

"Mostly thanks to your prayers brothers and sister, and thanks to the prayers of all the saints, we established unity," Porfirije said in an address during the liturgy with Archbishop Stefan, the head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, MPC.

Macedonian and Serbian churches held a joint liturgy in the St. Clement of Ohrid temple in Skopje. Photo: SPC

The Foreign Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, said this was the last chance to save relations with Bulgaria. According to him, if the Bulgarian side does not revoke its veto for RNM membership in the EU in June, relations between the two countries will not be frozen, but the government in Skopje will no longer focus on this issue, BTA reports.

"I cannot compromise with the rights of Macedonian Bulgarians. They must be in the Constitution." This was stated by Bulgarian President Rumen Radev in his half-hour speech at the opening of a conference on "European perspective for good neighborly relations between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia".

The Bulgarian airline GullivAir has stopped selling tickets for the Sofia-Skopje flight since May 21, the specialized aircraft portal Ex Yu Aviation announced.

According to Macedonian media, the flights are carried out with 7-8 passengers, and there were cases when there were only two or three people on board, less than the crew.

The new mayor of North Macedonia's capital Skopje, Danela Arsovska, has raised eyebrows after announcing she had tracked down a bronze statue of Ottoman-era rebel Andon Lazov Kjoseto, which was removed by her predecessor in 2018, and might call a referendum on the statue's reinstallment.

"I will come to Sofia as often as necessary in order to reach a decision (lifting the Bulgarian veto on North Macedonia's membership in the EU) by the end of June, we have no time, the war has shown us how important the European integration is."

Škofja Loka – One of Slovenia’s most prolific painters France Slana has died, aged 95, several media reported on Monday. He was most known for his oil paintings and watercolours, but also for his prints, painted ceramics and tapestries. He was one of the 1964 recipients of the Prešeren Fund Prize.

A 5.7-magnitude earthquake rocked southern Bosnia late on April 22, killing one person and injuring several others, local media reports said.

A 28-year-old woman who was injured when a rock fell on her house in the town of Stolac, near Mostar, died in hospital, a medical source quoted by media said. Several others were lightly injured, including members of the victim's family.

Nikola Gruevski, who was tried in absentia, was found guilty at Skopje Criminal Court on Thursday of unlawfully acquiring over 1.3 million euros from his former ruling VMRO DPMNE party, and of instigating a money-laundering scheme to cover his tracks and buy property with the proceeds.