Russian embassy in Skopje

The Russian foreign ministry has declared a Macedonian diplomat as persona non grata and expelled them from their role in the Macedonian embassy in Moscow and the country.

Olivera Chaushevska-Dimovska was the charge d'affaires of North Macedonia at the country's embassy.

While Bulgaria is making efforts to improve relations with North Macedonia, the Russian embassy in Skopje issued a message that could only be seen as a provocation in Sofia.

24 May is celebrated in several countries, including Bulgaria, Russia and North Macedonia, as the day of the Saint Brothers Cyril and Methodius and of the Cyrillic script.

North Macedonia has declared a diplomat from the Russian embassy in Skopje persona non grata, official sources confirmed for news site MKD.mk.

Savvidi's group of companies issued a statement on Tuesday strongly denying claims that he gave hundreds of thousands of euros to Macedonian opponents of the country's proposed name change, including opposition politicians and football hooligans.

Russian embassies in Croatia, Romania and Macedonia have strongly criticised the three countries' decision to expel diplomats to show solidarity with Britain in the wake of the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

Albania, Croatia, Macedonia and Romania joined other EU countries in expelling some Russian diplomats on Monday.

The Russian embassy in Skopje on Thursday reacted to a question posted on Twitter by its US counterpart about how to curb the air pollution problem in Macedonia's capital by promoting Moscow's own energy scheme.