The Western Balkans is not Switzerland so that it does not need NATO membership, because the region is a channel of terrorism-related extreme ideologies, heard Thursday’s debate on the tasks, challenges and opportunities from Macedonia’s NATO membership. The discussion was organized by NGO Civil, in the framework of project “Free Media for Free Society”, funded […]
The name can be resolved only when there are no signs of irredentism, because irredentism is contrary to international law and European legislation, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos said, reiterating his position about Macedonia that constitutional changes are necessary, remove of irredentist positions and afterwards solution to the problem and Euro-Atlantic integration. Aimed at finding a […]
Berlin – The new German government firmly backs the European perspective of the Western Balkans, taking into consideration the continuing importance of the EU’s enlargement policy for promoting peace, stability, and cooperation. This is part of the draft coalition agreement between CDU/CSU and SPD, German daily Die Welt reports, pointing out that final details were now being added to the text of […]
Serbia wants to see the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece settled and it will support any solution agreed by the two countries, Serbian Ambassador to Macedonia Dusanka Divjak Tomic said Wednesday. “Serbia wishes Macedonia all the best since it is its close neighbor and a traditional friend. We sincerely hope the issue between Macedonia and […]
A meeting of the PMs of Macedonia and Greece, Zoran Zaev and Alexis Tsipras, hasn’t been scheduled yet, government spokesman Mile Bosnjakovski told a news conference Wednesday. Answering a journalist question as to whether Athens as part of the name negotiations was expected to demand amendments to the Articles 3 and 49 of the Constitution […]
Prime Minister Zoran Zaev at Wednesday’s press conference in the government confirms that a new meeting at the ministerial level within negotiation process mediated by UN envoy Matthew Nimetz will be held next week. “I hope that meeting between foreign ministers of the two countries as new level in the negotiations, led by UN mediator […]
There is consensus as to whether we should negotiate, as to whether we should accept some kind of compromise, because both conservative and social democratic administrations have at some point accepted certain compromises, Macedonian Defense Minister Radmila Sekerinska told Greece’s Skai TV. Speaking as a guest of the TV show ‘Istories’, Sekerinska said that the […]
We are prepared for a geographic determinant, said Prime Minister Zoran Zaev on Tuesday while highlighting the importance of the name dispute and the need to give talks a chance. “I want our citizens and the people of neighboring Greece to know the details, but most of all I would like to see success in the negotiating process. […]
The highway leading from Macedonia to the southern border with Greece will be renamed ‘Friendship Highway’ and the Skopje Airport will be called “Skopje International Airport’, Prime Minister Zoran Zaev told a news conference Tuesday with the EU Ambassador to Macedonia, Samuel Zbogar. The decision passed today by the government, Zaev said, once again affirms the […]
The EU Enlargement Strategy with the Western Balkans offers a clear European perspective for all six regional countries, but Brussels will not allow the accession of countries with open issues, said EU Ambassador to Macedonia, Samuel Zbogar on Tuesday. Regarding the Strategy timeline and the EU accession of new countries in 2025, Zbogar said it […]
The Western Balkans are part of Europe. We share the same history, the same geography, the same cultural heritage and the same opportunities and challenges within the European Union, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini told a joint press conference alongside EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn presenting the Western […]
Greece’s foreign minister has spoken exclusively to Euronews following Sunday’s mass rally in Athens over the decades-long Macedonia dispute. Hundreds of thousands of Greeks protested outside parliament over negotiations to allow the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to shorten their official name to “Macedonia”. Many say it implies a territorial claim on Greece’s northern Macedonia […]
The new name to be used internally and internationally after the country integrates in the EU, no mandatory constitutional change, non-exclusivity clause on terms “Macedonia” and “Macedonian” for commercial uses, the new name to be used not translated or translated at the discretion of each party, read the proposals from the ‘set of ideas’ of […]
The Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MANU) and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAN) during their meeting on Monday expressed readiness to help both governments carry out the Good Neighborly Relations Agreement. To do this, the academies will form an inter-academic group headed by their presidents. The inter-academic group, as MANU writes in its […]
Without a name compromise, the EU Balkan strategy risks collapse, Carl Bildt tweeted on Monday. “I think it will require some heavy lifting by heavy EU states and institutions to get a Macedonia name compromise. But without one the EU Balkan strategy risks collapse,” the former premier and foreign minister of Sweden wrote on his […]
The protest at the main square in Athens on Sunday titled “Macedonia means Greece” was calm and incident-free, MIA reports from the Greek capital. Prior to the protest, organizers said people from all over the country arrived for the rally, expecting at least one million people to attend. On the other hand, the Greek police […]
With the message “Macedonia will always be a Greek country”, Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis addressed a crowd of citizens who protested in central Athens on Wednesday against the use of the term “Macedonia” in the definitive name agreement between Greece and Macedonia. According to police reports, in the center of Athens, about 140 thousand […]
Athens – Only 22.5% of Greeks accept a composite name, and seven out of 10, or 71.5% want a solution without the term Macedonia, shows the opinion poll conducted by Thessaloniki University Macedonia and the Foreign Policy Foundation ELiAMEP, which publishes the Greek Journal “Kathimerini”. In 2016, on the same issue, within the same research, […]
Greece’s composer and resistance icon Mikis Theodorakis on Sunday called for a referendum to be held on any government deal aimed at solving a long-running name row with Macedonia. “Macedonia was, is and will forever be Greek,” 93-year-old Theodorakis told a massive crowd of protesters gathered in Athens. “If a government considers signing on behalf […]
Not a single protest against government anti-austerity measures, protests against wages and pensions cuts failed to gather as many Greeks as Sunday’s rally held in the central Syntagma Square in Athens against the use of Macedonia name, MIA’s correspondent from Athens reports. Hundreds of thousands of Greeks have taken to the streets of Athens, including […]
