North Macedonia

As North Macedonia over the weekend commemorated the 80th anniversary of the deportation of 7,144 Macedonian Jews to Nazi death camps, done when most of its territory was under Bulgarian occupation, some in Bulgaria took offence at the language used.

BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he would meet with EU special envoy for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue Miroslav Lajcak on Monday and Tuesday and speak in more detail about his views on the Kosovo-Metohija situation on Wednesday or Thursday, before a trip to Ohrid, North Macedonia.

BRUSSELS - A high-ranking EU official said on Thursday the next meeting between Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Pristina's PM Albin Kurti would be held on March 18 in Ohrid, North Macedonia, and address a Community of Serb Municipalities and an annex on implementation of an EU proposal.

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.

"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.

The United States is calling on Bulgaria and North Macedonia to "de-escalate" their rhetoric and quickly resolve "bilateral disputes".

This is stated in a position of the US State Department, expressed to the Macedonian section of "Voice of America".

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of North Macedonia will take all necessary measures to ensure that the celebration of the anniversary of the birth of Gotse Delchev passes without incident. This was assured by the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia Oliver Spasovski after a meeting with his Bulgarian colleague Ivan Demerdzhiev.

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.

The Bulgarian theatrical production "Vrazhalec" (Вражалец), which was supposed to delight the audience in three North Macedonian towns at the beginning of February, will not take place.