Macedonian nationalists

The leader of the main opposition party in North Macedonia has said that if elected prime minister, he would refer to the country solely as "Macedonia," regardless of the 2018 Prespes Agreement that settled the dispute with Greece over the country's name.

Amidst the political fervor preceding the upcoming parliamentary elections in North Macedonia on May 8, VMRO-DPMNE, the main opposition party, has proposed a postponement of constitutional changes regarding the inclusion of Bulgarians. The announcement came from Timco Mucunski, deputy chairman of VMRO-DPMNE, during the presentation of the party's program for the impending elections.

BUCHAREST - Serbian PM Ana Brnabic attended on Wednesday a European People's Party (EPP) congress in Bucharest, where she also held several important meetings.

Before the congress, Brnabic had a cordial encounter with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Bulgaria has provided assurances to the US special envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, that it will not introduce fresh conditions for the accession of the Republic of North Macedonia into the European Union (EU).

Former PM and VMRO DPMNE leader Ljubco Georgievski says North Macedonia should be more flexible in dealing with its dispute with neighbouring Bulgaria.

In a first-instance verdict, the Skopje Criminal Court on Friday found the former head of the secret police, Saso Mijalkov, guilty on all three accounts, of criminal association, abuse of office and receiving a reward for illegal influence, handing him a jail sentence of 12 years.

Authorities in North Macedonia confirmed on Monday that they have issued a national arrest warrant for former secret police chief Saso Mijalkov, after police fruitlessly tried to find him at several locations in the capital, Skopje, on Sunday evening, to escort him to house detention on court orders. The authorities are expected to issue an international arrest warrant as well.

Although five potential war crimes cases were initially investigated by the North Macedonia's authorities in 2002, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY, then took over the cases.

The trial has started in Skopje of those charged with organising a mob assault on parliament in North Macedonia in April 2017, aimed at preventing the then opposition Social Democrats from taking power.

Journalist Tomislav Kezarovski expressed unhappiness on Tuesday at the decision by the prosecution, saying that he had been denied the chance to overturn his conviction at a retrial.

"I want a chance to prove my innocence and be acquitted by the court," Kezarovski told a hearing in Skopje on Tuesday.