Macedonia

The pro-Russian party "Vazrazhdane" should be declared unconstitutional and dissolved - this is what the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee insists in an open letter, together with its co-signatories and a total of 121 people with a civil position who supported it, "Dnevnik" reported.

The General Secretariat of Civil Protection issued its daily fire risk prediction map, forecasting extreme risk of fire (risk category 5) for seven regions of Greece on Thursday.

A spokesman for the Fire Service called Wednesday "the most difficult day of the summer," as firefighters from Greece and 11 other countries were battling a total of 90 wildfires, 61 of them having started in the 24-hour period up to 6 p.m.

After average temperatures of 36.3 and a high of 42.6 degrees Celsius recorded by the country's weather stations on Friday, the mercury is expected to rise again slightly over the weekend and to reach 45C in places.

The country is facing a prolonged heat wave, one "worse than that of 1987," according to Antonis Lalos, director of the National Meteorological Service (NMS).

Registered unemployment fell by 55,198 people, or 6%, in June compared with the same month last year, but rose 1.4% in comparison with May 2023, official figures showed on Thursday.

Hotel arrivals grew 74.4% in 2022 compared with the previous year, while overnight stays rose by 79.7%, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) said in a report on Tuesday.

Arrivals and overnight stays by foreign citizens increased 86.9% and 89.3%, respectively, in 2022, while arrivals and overnight stays by Greek citizens were up 47% and 41.7%, respectively.

"Kleon," the scorching heatwave currently sweeping across the country, is set to continue on Saturday, with meteorologists predicting highs of 41 degrees Celsius in many areas of the country.

The pick up in the wind, which will reach force 7 in the Aegean from Sunday to Wednesday, will cause temperatures to drop slightly.

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.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with his North Macedonia counterpart Dimitar Kovachevski on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius on Wednesday.

According to government sources, the two leaders discussed regional developments and expressed interest in deepening bilateral relations.