Latest News from Macedonia
150 Romanian troops participate in Saber Junction 19 exercise in Germany
Approximately 5,400 troops from 16 countries, including Romania, participate over September 3-30 in multinational exercise "Saber Junction 19" (SJ19), which is mostly carried out in the training centres in Grefenwoehr and Hohenfels, but also at the Ramstein Air Base, in Germany, reads a release of the Land Forces Staff on Tuesday.
"Albanian spring has already begun"; Taravari: New Kosovo with Kurti as its leader
He said that "Albanian spring has already begun".
Following Kurti's stay in Gostivar, Taravari called on Albanians to vote for Vetvendosje! on his Facebook profile, seeing Kurti as a "cure" for healing Kosovo society and bringing well-being to all Albanians.
Balkan Insight’s Week in Pictures
A young man drives an electric scooter through the main square in the Macedonian capital of Skopje on September 12. With more and more people driving electric scooters, there has been an influx of accidents as there is no specific roads for these transportation devices. Photo: EPA-EFE/Georgi Licovksi.
Strong winds stoking fires, hampering sailing
Firefighters were struggling on Friday to control blazes in Marathon, northeast of the Greek capital, in Hania on Crete and on Chios in the Aegean Sea, amid strong winds and dry conditions.
All three blazes were in remote locations and were not a threat to residential areas, though strong winds were hampering the firefighting effort.
Turkey Appoints New Ambassador to Sofia
For the first time, the post will be occupied by a woman.
Turkey sends new ambassador to Sofia. For the first time in the history of Turkish diplomacy, a female diplomat will occupy the post of ambassador to Bulgaria, BTA reports.
On the V4 - WB Summit in Prague, Brnabic greeted with a bouquet, Pristina absent
Apart from the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, as a host of the event, the lunch is attended by the prime ministers of Hungary Victor Orban, Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of Slovakia Peter Pelegrini, as well as prime ministers of Western Balkans, among others, Albanian PM Edi Rama, Montenegrin PM Dusko Markovic, and Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia, Zoran Zaev.
Plan to turn lignite plants into energy storage units
The European Commission is examining the possibility of turning Western Macedonia in northern Greece into an electrical energy storage center for the Balkans, in cooperation with the World Bank and companies that are seeking opportunities for the commercial development of unfledged or pilot technologies for energy storage.
Detained North Macedonia Prosecutor Demands Transfer of Cases
North Macedonia's outgoing chief Special Prosecutor, Katica Janeva, who was detained in August 21 as a suspect in the high-profile "Extortion" affair, has been criticised for sending a letter to her colleagues demanding that all their cases be transferred to the regular prosecutor's office.
Intensive Traffic at Borders with Romania, Turkey, Greece and Serbia
Border traffic with Romania, Turkey, Greece and Serbia is intensive, Border Police DG reports.
At the border with the Republic of Serbia, traffic is intensive at the exit for passenger cars.
At the border with Greece, traffic is intensive at the Kulata border checkpoint at the exit for cars and trucks, and at Makaza border checkpoint at the exit for cars.
Northern Macedonia Expects to Receive a Start Date For Talks with the EU
Northern Macedonia expects to receive a start date for talks with the European Union in October, Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov said.
For Reuters, he explained that this step is important so as not to discourage Balkan governments wishing to reform or young people who are otherwise seeking a "European way of life" elsewhere.
Informal meeting between Mitsotakis, Borissov canceled
An informal meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borissov, originally scheduled for Wednesday evening in Athens, has been canceled, state-run Athens-Macedonia news agency reports.
The Bulgarian premier is on a private visit to Athens, the report said.
North Macedonia expects date for EU accession talks in October
North Macedonia expects to get a date for the start of EU accession talks in October and is worried the Balkans region would be discouraged about reform if discussions do not begin, its foreign minister said on Tuesday.
Bulgarians Plan to Travel more in 2019
Bulgarians plan to travel more in 2019, which is an increase of 8% compared to 2018. According to this year's Masterindex poll, 66% of respondents plan to travel outside the country.
EU ministers ‘more positive’ over West Balkan membership talks, Finnish FM says
Finland's foreign minister said on Friday his EU colleagues were increasingly hopeful they could eventually move towards membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania, though he gave no timeline.
Ekaterina Zaharieva Talks with the Foreign Minister of Northern Macedonia
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva discussed the European perspective of the Republic of Northern Macedonia with her colleague Nikola Dimitrov. The two spoke in Helsinki during an informal meeting of the first EU diplomats with their counterparts from the six countries of the Western Balkans.