Nikola Gruevski

President Stevo Pendarovski defended Erol Musliu on Thursday, calling him a "a top professional", after the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI party, the junior partner in North Macedonia's ruling coalition, criticised his appointment as the new National Intelligence Agency chief.

There were chaotic scenes at Skopje's Appeals Court on Thursday, with the defendants shouting that they do not recognise the court, at the start of a hearing to decide on whether to hold a retrial of 33 ethnic Albanians who were convicted of involvement in a deadly two-day shootout in the town of Kumanovo in May 2015.

The group of ethnic Albanians appeared in court as they have been granted a retrial by the North Macedonia judicial authorities.

While the authorities in North Macedonia seek his arrest and extradition from Hungary, the country's fugitive ex-prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, has said he intends to release a new book, based on his PhD, at the ongoing Skopje Book Fair.

Meanwhile, the main problem blocking progress has been solved - 'North Macedonia' has become a reality. Or has it?

State capture

North Macedonia ex-prime minister Nikola Gruevski arrives in the court in Skopje, 2018. Photo: EPA-EFE/GEORGI LICOVSKI

This Sunday will see the first round of presidential elections.

The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, has stressed the trade and investment opportunities created by the Greece-North Macedonia Prespa Agreement and confirmed a controversial initiative for the two countries to exchange cultural monuments.

I first visited Skopje in 1997 to attend a peace concert by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. It had all the elements to become a charming city with a strong modernist identity, expanding on the reconstruction that was carried out with the help of Greek architect Constantinos Doxiadis after the devastating earthquake in 1963.

This was stated by Nikola Gruevski, the former Macedonian prime minister who has received asylum in Hungary.

In his first TV appearance since he escaped from Macedonia to Hungary in November last year, former Macedonian prime minister and former VMRO DPMNE party leader Nikola Gruevski said he fled from Macedonia after "reliable sources" warned him that the new government was plotting to assassinate him.

Amid intensive talks with party leaders to secure the parliamentary votes needed to ratify a contentious deal on the name dispute with Greece, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Friday sought to dampen concerns in Athens over the agreement.