Macedonia

10,000 Bulgarians traveled to Europe's most affected country by a coronavirus - Italy, last month. This is shown by the data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI).

Police on Friday announced that there were 1,113 recorded violations of the lockdown imposed to stop the spread of the new coronavirus throughout Greece on Thursday, while there were seven arrests for the illegal operation of shops and other businesses.

Turkey on March 27 congratulated North Macedonia and Albania for opening accession talks with the European Union.

"We congratulate our friends and Allies North Macedonia and Albania on the start of their EU accession negotiations and the EU," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

As Greece entered the fourth day of a full lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19, the Hellenic Police (ELAS) said it arrested six people for opening their business and recorded 1,155 violations of the ban on unnecessary movement on March 25, throughout the country.

The government of Northern Macedonia has decided today to introduce a movement ban for all citizens from 4 pm to 5 am on weekends to limit the spread of coronavirus, BTA reported.

The government's decision was announced by government spokesman after today's press conference by Health Minister Venko Filipce, who announced a new death and new COVID-19 cases.

European affairs ministers agreed Tuesday to allow Albania and North Macedonia to begin European Union membership talks, paving the way for the bloc's leaders to sign off on the move that could end years of setbacks and disappointment for the two Balkan nations.

The European Union can start membership negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, according to a draft decision by the bloc's 27 member states seen by Reuters on Monday and due to be finalised this week.

Police were on the streets of Thessaloniki from early Monday morning, checking whether citizens were complying with the rules of a lockdown announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Sunday night. 

Northern Macedonia will become a NATO member soon, all NATO countries have completed the process of ratifying its membership protocol. This was announced by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, presenting his annual report on the state of NATO in 2019.

Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski has declared a state of emergency throughout Northern Macedonia, BGNES reported.

In a statement to the nation, Pendarovski said this was necessary to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Prime Minister Oliver Spasovski called on parliament to declare a state of emergency because of the spread of COVID-19 at noon today.