Macedonia

Lawyer, Speaker of Parliament and Minister of Justice Dimitar Peshev, one of the major figures to oppose the deportation of Bulgarian Jews. Photo: Bulgarian National Television.

BRUSSELS - The EU special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak has announced the next meeting in the dialogue would be held in Ohrid, North Macedonia, later this month.

In a Twitter post, Lajcak wrote he had met with North Macedonian Deputy PM Bojan Maricic and thanked him for North Macedonia's strong support to the dialogue.

Macedonian and Bulgarian members of the joint history commission - established to find common ground between the two radically different views on history - differ sharply on the external pressures that they say are hampering progress.

The 151st birthday of an Ottoman-era hero claimed by both Macedonians and Bulgarians threatens to further worsen already ice-cold relations between the two neighbours.

Bulgaria's parliament on Thursday adopted a declaration condemning the recent attack on a Bulgarian activist in neighbouring North Macedonia, an alleged "anti-Bulgarian campaign" in the country and warning that this could derail Skopje's EU integration.

"Recently, we have witnessed the escalation of tensions between North Macedonia and Bulgaria with regrettable incidents and provocations," he emphasized on the occasion of the meeting in Brussels with Bujar Osmani, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia."

The interior ministers of North Macedonia and neighboring Bulgaria met Monday to discuss security arrangements ahead of weekend celebrations to honor a 19th-century revolutionary viewed as a hero in both countries.

Oliver Spasovski held talks with Bulgaria's Ivan Demerdzhiev amid fears of potential clashes by opposing nationalist groups.

After seven postponements, the trial began on Friday over the attack on the former mayor of Thessaloniki, Yiannis Boutaris, during the commemoration of the Genocide of the Pontians in May 2018 in White Tower Square.

SKOPJE- Serbia is committed to develop friendly relations with North Macedonia and countries in the region in line with mutual interests at regional and global level, Serbian Defence Minister Milos Vucevic said during a conversation with North Macedonian counterpart Slavjanka Petrovska in Skopje on Friday.

Bulgaria will demand with a note to provide access to people traveling to North Macedonia for the worshiping of the Gotse Delchev memorial on February 4. Representatives of the Bulgarian embassy there will also take part in the celebrations.