Skopje

Greece and North Macedonia on Friday exchanged notes verbales that upgrade the role of their respective liaison offices in Athens and Skopje to that of embassies.

The Greek Foreign Embassy confirmed the initiative with an announcement on Friday.

"This is a great day for diplomacy, and even greater for our citizens," North Macedonia's Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.

Greece on Tuesday conducted its first fighter jet flight over North Macedonia, in a mission that was carried out by an F-16 from the Hellenic Tactical Air Force's 110 Combat Wing, based in Larissa.

The purpose of the mission was to locate any radar blank sectors and to test the compatibility of reconnaissance systems.

The new Pristina-Skopje highway has been touted as a major boost to trade with Kosovo's neighbours - but experts say the economic benefits are unclear, and the project also lacks transparency.

The Prespes name deal signed between Athens and Skopje should serve as a blueprint for resolving many bilateral differences in the Western Balkans, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Palmer was quoted on Friday by the Athens-Macedonia News Agency as telling Radio Free Europe.

Pope Francis was seen off by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov at a farewell ceremony at the Government terminal at Sofia airport, Focus News Agency reports. Members of the National Guards Unit also took part in the official ceremony. The head of the Roman Catholic Church then boarded the Al-Italy aircraft along with the Vatican delegation.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church was greeted by the president and prime minister of North Macedonia, Djordje Ivanov and Zoran Zaev, and other representatives of the government and the city of Skopje.

The first round of presidential elections in North Macedonia on Sunday is seen as a key test for the center-left government's survival in a society deeply divided by the country's name change to end a decades-old dispute with neighboring Greece.

Environment and Energy Minister Yorgos Stathakis has said that despite the popular backlash from the Prespa Agreement, North Macedonia's EU prospects and course will serve to highlight the benefits of the accord.

Stathakis said it will take time for the positive repercussions of the agreement to become evident to the general public.

A four-member family - mother, father and two children - died after the small plane they traveled from Ohrid to Sofia crashed in Macedonia.

Greece's prime minister landed in Skopje on April 2 for a landmark visit to the newly renamed North Macedonia after a decades-long identity row between the two countries.