North Macedonia

President of the Republic of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski is on a two-day visit to Brussels, where he is holding a series of working meetings, including with the EP's standing rapporteur for the country, Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Renew Europe Group, Bulgaria).

Serbian citizens will be exempted from paying road tolls in North Macedonia during the summer holiday season from 15 June to 15 August as a sign of gratitude for the vaccines Serbia has procured, North Macedonian Health Minister Venko Filipče announced on Tuesday.

A resurrected project to build high-rise buildings on a prominent site in the centre of North Macedonia's capital Skopje has sparked petitions and criticism of the authorities for their inaction in preventing it.

In an open letter to Prime Minister Zoran Zaev sent on Wednesday, 29 civic organisations, including prominent architects, urged him to stop the project.

Confusion about what government will emerge in Bulgaria after recent elections had dimmed North Macedonia's hopes of a speedy resolution to their differences - and of a reopened path to the EU.

The head of the main opposition VMRO DPMNE party in North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, told Alfa TV on Thursday that since his party revealed a passport forgery scam involving the police, he and his loved ones had received grave threats.

Surprise

Bulgaria's April 4 Parliamentary election was always going to produce an interesting result, given the strong polling of several populist or anti-corruption groupings taking part. Yet the final outcome was a surprise to most observers and many of the participants.

The Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that at least nine police officers have been arrested so far on suspicion of being part of a group that issued false passports and identity documents to foreign citizens.

"The operation is ongoing and we will have more info once it wraps up, later today or tomorrow," a high-ranking official in the Interior Ministry told BIRN.

A curfew is introduced in the Republic of North Macedonia from today until April 20, and all dining facilities will be closed, Skopje editions reported. At a press conference, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev announced that the curfew will start at 8 p.m. and last until 5 a.m., and restaurants will be closed for the next two weeks.

After North Macedonia's parliament failed to meet a Wednesday deadline to amend the census law and delay the long-awaited operation due to begin on Thursday, the State Statistical Office - in charge of the headcount - said it will not send census takers out into the field.

Germany suffered a stunning 2-1 home loss to North Macedonia in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday, while defending champions France edged Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-0 and England beat a Poland side missing the injured Robert Lewandowski.