All News on Social Issues in Macedonia

Evros residents denounce visiting migration minister

Residents of Orestiada in the Evros border region in northwestern Greece greeted visiting Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis on Monday with a hail of stones, firecrackers, eggs and plastic cups of coffee to express their opposition to government plans to increase the capacities of the local reception and identification center for asylum seekers and the pre-departure detention facility.

North Macedonia in 2021 – Counting Heads, Mending Fences

History has put North Macedonia's EU accession on hold once more. Skopje will spend 2021 trying to restore momentum, while holding a long-overdue national census.

EU prospects: Green light for Western Balkans, red for North Macedonia and Albania?

The annual conclusions of the EU Council on Enlargement, Stabilization and Association of the Western Balkans are on the agenda of the ambassadors of the member states who will discuss this issue in the afternoon.
The conclusions were previously blocked by Bulgaria, which primarily vetoed the negotiating framework for North Macedonia.

Editorial: Support the National Health System!

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic highlighted the tremendous significance of public health and made people cognisant that without protecting people's health there can be no normalcy in everyday life.

In an environment fraught with economic threats and restrictions the economy cannot function effectively and efficiently and society cannot flower and create.

Top court says legal to expel unvaccinated children from kindergartens

Greece's top administrative court ruled on Thursday that it is legal to remove children who have not been vaccinated from nurseries and kindergartens, citing a constitutional obligation of the State to protect public health.

Editorial: Shadows and whispers

The deadly second wave of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Northern Greece, which is characterised by a super spread of the virus, took public health authorities by surprise, devastated local hospitals, and to a large extent changed the epidemiological picture of the country as a whole, stirring heightened concern in the population.

North Macedonia: Police find 148 migrants in trucks

Police in North Macedonia say they have discovered 148 migrants crammed into trucks in two separate operations in central and northern parts of the country, and have arrested two men on suspicion of trafficking migrants.

14-Day Quarantine for Persons Arriving in Bulgaria from Northern Macedonia, No Quarantine for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro

The Minister of Health issued Order which introduced a 14-day mandatory quarantine for persons arriving in Bulgaria from the Republic of Northern Macedonia.

The same order lifted the 14-day quarantine for citizens arriving from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.

Grevena officials oppose ministry's refugee housing plan

The mayor and the deputy regional governor in the town and regional unit of Grevena, northern Greece, expressed their opposition to a government plan to house refugees and migrants in hotels in the mountainous parts of the region in the coming days, as part of ongoing efforts to relieve pressure on camps on the islands.

Wildly Wrong: North Macedonia’s Population Mystery

This is the latest in a series of articles about the demographic crisis facing Central and Southeast Europe.

See also: Bye-Bye, Balkans: A Region in Critical Demographic Decline

North Macedonia Denies ‘Downplaying’ Bulgaria’s Conditions on EU Talks

The government in North Macedonia has rejected opposition accusations that has downplayed the tough preconditions that Bulgaria has set on the expected launch of EU membership talks and on the gradual solving of open issues.

IMF, EU 3bn Loan Welcomed in Balkans Despite Unknowns

EU candidate states from the West Balkans have welcomed the offer of 3 billion euros in emergency loans, to be distributed among 10 states bordering or near the EU, although the borrowing conditions remain to be determined, the European Commission confirmed to BIRN.