Latest News from Macedonia

Italy: EU enlargement-strategic priority

BRUSSELS - EU enlargement to the Western Balkan countries and Turkey is among Italy's strategic priorities during its EU Presidency, reads the document presenting the country's program that was published in Brussels on Thursday.

Construction of Kosovo-Macedonia highway starts

PRISTINA - A groundbreaking ceremony held Thursday in the village of Ugljare, situated between the municipalities of Kosovo Polje and Gracanica, marked the beginning of construction of the Pristina-Djeneral Jankovic-Skopje highway.

Construction Begins on Kosovo-Macedonia Highway

Construction on the ‘Arben Xhaferi’ highway - named after a late Albanian politician in Macedonia - started on Thursday with a ceremony inaugurated by Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci and state officials from Macedonia in Fushe Kosove/Kosovo Polje.

“Today is a special day for Kosovo, it is a blessed day,” Thaci said after symbolically beginning work on the 60-kilometre highway.

Prosecutor's Office demands 8 years of prison for Subotic

BELGRADE - The Prosecutor's Office for Organised Crime suggested to the Belgrade Special Court on Thursday that businessmen Stanko Subotic should be sentenced to eight years of imprisonment for organising cigarette smuggling actions in Serbia during the '90s, while the proposed sentence for his associates entails two to six years of imprisonment.

Darko Lungulov's movie to be screened at Pula festival

BELGRADE - “Monument to Michael Jackson”, the latest film by Serbian director and screenwriter Darko Lungulov, has been included in the program of the 61st Pula Film Festival.

Platinum Wolf exercise under way at Base South

BUJANOVAC - Platinum Wolf 2014 - a military exercise involving 270 servicemen from Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Croatia and the United States - is underway at Base South in Bujanovac, southern Serbia.

Macedonia Probes Abuse of Blind Orphan Boy

The Ministry of Social Affairs said it was “thoroughly” investigating the case and that it had launched disciplinary measures against social workers in the town of Bitola who were in charge of assessing the boy, named Leon, whose age has not been revealed. 

Verbic: Horizon 2020 chance for small, medium enterprises

BRUSSELS - The European Horizon 2020 programme opens up great opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises, Serbia's Minister of Education, Science and Technology Srdjan Verbic said on Tuesday as Serbia joined the programme, aimed at encouraging innovation and scientific development.

Macedonia Moves to Rule Out Same-Sex Marriage

The motion to define marriage strictly as a union of one man and one woman, submitted at the weekend, was one of the first orders of business of the conservative Government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski  after it was re-elected in April.

Macedonia Tight-Lipped on US Secret Surveillance

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski claimed that he did not have enough information to say anything about the allegations mentioned in recent leaked data from whistleblower and former National Security Agency, NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Strategy on cultural cooperation in region adopted

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Culture and Information Ivan Tasovac is staying in his first official visit to Macedonia, during which he participated in the Annual Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Culture of South East Europe, during which the Regional strategy on cooperation in the culture sector in South-East European countries was adopted on Saturday.

Showers, storms expected in the north and east as heat wave eases

Showers and thunderstorms are expected to hit Central and Eastern Macedonia, the islands of the Sporades and northern Evia late on Friday and on Saturday, the Hellenic National Meteorological Service (HNMS) said on Friday.

Billy Idol sets Belgrade's Kalemegdan alight

BELGRADE - British rocker Billy Idol delivered a rousing performance at Kalemegdan late Thursday in front of around 18,000 people at the 2014 Belgrade Calling festival.

With his sideman Steve Stevens, Idol played a selection of his classic hits.

EU Mediation Proposed in Macedonia Political Row

The ruling VMRO DPMNE party of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has said it is willing to accept European mediation in further talks with the opposition Social Democrats, SDSM, after a first attempt at dialogue made no progress.

The Floods Scared Off the Seaside Tourists

The recent disastrous floods in the north eastern parts of Bulgaria led to reservation cancellations, said Economy Ministry, quoted by the bTV national channel. 

The hotel owners along the coast are already calculating the expected losses as some Russian tourists already started cancelling their vacations. 

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