Skopje

Bulgaria has made a big mistake, the time for harassment of North Macedonia is over, says former US Ambassador to Sofia James Pardew. On events in his homeland, he commented briefly and clearly: "Trump has disgraced us, he's finished."

Harbinger of city's divisive makeover

The erection of the controversial church foreshadowed the bigger and much more divisive government project to revamp the entire capital in classical style, known as "Skopje 2014", which was first revealed in CGI in a government video in 2010.

Surprise, Surprise

Picture showing a TV screen inside Government Headquarters building, as seen trough a window, showing Ludovic Orban, Romania's premier and the leader of PNL (National Liberal Party), announcing live his resignation after parliamentary elections in Bucharest, Romania, 07 December 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/ROBERT GHEMENT

Although Skopje appointed former Prime Minister Vlado Buchkovski as special representative in Sofia, Macedonian politicians themselves do not trust him, and this is evident from the fact that he has an assistant, the state secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Bulgarian historians in a joint history commission continue to dispute the adjective "Macedonian" used in North Macedonia's history text books.

North Macedonia's NATO air policing program is reportedly being discussed by Skopje and Sofia as part of the bid to find common ground that will resolve a conflict between the two neighboring countries that has led Bulgaria to raise obstacles to North Macedonia's European Union accession.

A similar problem, to a lesser extent, appears when searching for news reports from May 5, 2015.

That was when the then opposition Social Democrats in North Macedonia published wiretapped recordings suggesting that police and top officials might have been involved in a police cover-up of the brutal murder of a young man, Martin Neskovski.

Countries in the Balkan region are still heavily dependent on Russian gas, making them vulnerable to pressure from Moscow, the US ambassador to Skopje, Kate Byrnes, warned during the Macedonian Energy Forum 2020 on Monday.

On 23 November Sofia Ranks 13th by Air Pollution in the World

This morning capital Bulgaria's capital Sofia is in the red air pollution sector. The fine particulate matter indicator is 59.2 μg/m³, according to the Sofia Air Quality Index, BGNES reports.

The opening of the border came an hour after it was officially announced that it would be opened, and EU citizens who want to enter Bulgaria must first fill in a questionnaire stating their full name and place where they are traveling, BTA reports.