International relations

Miletic is serving his sentence in a prison in Finland.

NATO foreign ministers welcomed North Macedonia as the alliance's newest member on Thursday, ending a long process that included a change to the country's name.

"We welcome North Macedonia as NATO's 30th ally," NATO foreign ministers said in a statement following a video conference, which North Macedonia's minister was part of as a full member.

The U.N. Security Council on March 30 for the first time approved resolutions remotely after painstaking negotiations among diplomats who are teleworking due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Bulgaria closes its borders until April 17. The measure applies to all non-European citizens or arrivals from the following EU Member States and Schengen countries: Italy, Spain, France, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

North Macedonia on Friday officially became the 30th member of the NATO military alliance.

"North Macedonia is now part of the NATO family, a family of 30 nations and almost 1 billion people. A family based on the certainty that, no matter what challenges we face, we are all stronger and safer together," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement. [AP]
 

By order of Minister of Health, Kiril Ananiev, the entry into and transit through the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria of heavy goods vehicles travelling to the Republic of Turkey and arriving from the following countries is temporarily suspended as of March 25:

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday that the IMF expects the global economic recession in 2020 to be "at least as bad as during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis or worse" .

Turkey on March 20 condemned a recent terrorist attack in the northeastern region of Gao in Mali that killed 29 people including two soldiers.

Terrorists on March 19 attacked an army camp in Tarkint village in the Gao city area.

Turkey has launched a legal challenge at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against EU tariffs on steel imports, the country's Trade Ministry said on March 20.

The EU launched an investigation and imposed curbs on steel imports in July 2018 in response to import duties applied by the United States.

Turkey on March 17 congratulated North Macedonia on its accession to NATO.

"#NorthMacedonia's accession to @NATO has been ratified by all Allies. Congratulations my friend @Dmitrov_Nikola, welcome to the Alliance!," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Twitter.