Zoran Zaev

Witnessing the leaders of Serbia, Albania, and North Macedonia share a moment of collective jubilation is not something that happens every day, especially in a region known for its past rifts and differences.

The Bulgarian political world was shocked into action on August 10 when the party that won the country's July 11 elections, There is Such a Nation, withdrew its ministerial nominations, including a large number of young unknowns who were educated abroad, one day before a scheduled parliamentary approval vote.  

An arrangement has been reached to cancel border controls between Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania as of 1 January, 2023, President Aleksandar Vučić said in Skopje on Thursday.

North Macedonia, Serbia and Albania aim to practically scrap all border obstacles for their citizens and businesses by 2023, eliminating long and tedious waits for travellers and complicated paperwork for companies.

The prime ministers of North Macedonia and Albania, Zoran Zaev and Edi Rama, are also taking part in the forum.
Vui was first handed letters of thanks for his help in the fight against coronavirus and donations of vaccines to North Macedonia. He thanked them and then announced the big plans that North Macedonia, Albania and Serbia have.

The leaders of Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia have criticized Brussels for its slow EU enlargement, promising to continue with its own travel zone and business zone while waiting for the bloc to receive them.
"We know that there is fatigue from EU enlargement," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in an interview.

Bulgaria is pushing for an end to "discrimination" against the Bulgarian minority in North Macedonia, with Bulgarian Rumen Radev discussing the topic with his Austrian counterpart Alexander Van der Belen on Monday in Vienna.

North Macedonia's new draft law on the control of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, which the government approved on Monday and will be sent to parliament soon, where is likely to be passed by the ruling majority, will enable exports of cannabis flowers for medical purposes.

American football stars Lance Briggs, Turk McBride, and Donnie Caldwell, backed by the founder and director of the famed Exit music festival in Serbia, Dusan Kovacevic, have told BIRN that they have already picked a location for growing medicinal marijuana in North Macedonia.

Brnabic will speak at the high-level plenary session, which starts at 12 o'clock, the government's Office for Cooperation with the Media announced. The topics of the panel are preserving and reviving the European perspective of the region, successes and challenges in the Western Balkans, as well as joint work on managing the future.