The history of the indipendent Macedonia is strongly linked to its first president, Kiro Gligorov, who led it during the difficult years of the Yugoslav crisis. Gligorov, still active and respected in his country, marked last week his ninetieth birthday in a Skopje restaurant
Since 1999, Kosovo has been experiencing an "interval in time which is altogether determined by things that are no longer and by things that are not yet. In history, these intervals have shown more than once that they may contain the moment of truth". The question is how to face this moment of truth, and it is tightly linked to standards and status
Alshar, an ancient mine located in the southern Balkans, in Macedonia, is said to contain minerals to be found nowhere else on the planet. The rarest of them all - the lorandite, is thought to have the potential to let us understand the work of the sun. Science-fiction or reality?
Monday, 16 April 2007 the trial against Macedonia's former Interior Minister from the time of the ethnic conflict in 2001, Ljube Boskovski, started at The Hague Criminal Tribunal. Together with him accused is also Johan Tarculovski, a police commander of the special police forces
Identifying the very low level of foreign direct investment as one of the serious causes of the slow growth of the local economy, the Macedonian government launched an aggressive campaign aimed at attracting foreign businesses to "Discover the New Business Heaven in Europe": Macedonia
The latest enlargement was greeted with not much fuss in Macedonia. Life goes on and very few politicians responded with statements or analyses. Bulgaria, being closer, receives more attention. Romania is already far away
Monospitovo is a village in the region of Strumica in the eastern part of the country. Known for its green house gardening. Over the last several years 50-60 families per year have been migrating, most of them to Italy
''Do not change people to make changes'' said recently the EU to Macedonia. Along with support and encouragement for the new government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, the political leadership of the country has started to receive its first warnings and disapprovals from Europe
"Greater economic growth, investment, de-politicization and professionalism of the public administration, reduction of bureaucracy, and uncompromised fight against corruption", are the promises of the new Macedonian government to its citizens.
After the defeat in the national elections on 5 July, the leading opposition party in the Macedonian camp, the social democrats - SDSM, undergoes strife and divisions.
In 1999 Macedonia and Bulgaria signed a bilateral agreement, wherein they committed not to interfere with each other's internal affairs. Since then their relations have been quite friendly, in spite of the old quarrels about history and language, which have never been solved and keep re-emerging
Veles, formerly known as Titov Veles, population circa 50.000 is a city in central Macedonia, some 50 km south of the capital Skopje. In addition, it is one of the most polluted places in the Balkans
As election frenzy rises with the approaching of the general elections in Macedonia, one thing is clear - a lot depends on them. On 5 July voters will go to the polls to elect the new parliament. Things have to go smoothly this time
A last round of public disquiet over the border issue between Macedonia and Kosovo seems appeased with yesterday's visit to Skopje of Kosovo Prime Minister Mr. Agim Ceku. The border issue is of technical nature, they agreed, and it cannot disrupt neighborly relations
The biggest ever criminal proceedings in Macedonia started in April bringing to trial 28 people accused of human trafficking. They are accused to have been part of a well organized transnational network that has been smuggling migrants from Macedonia into Greece
Silence, desolation, houses in decay, lifelessness. This is a common sight from the Macedonian countryside. As odd as it may seem in a country as small in territory as Macedonia, its rural parts are dying out.It has started more than 50 years ago. But its consequences are more and more visible with time
Many towns and villages in Macedonia maintain carnival festivities, but two of them are particularly important - Vevcani and Strumica. It is said that the Vevcani carnival is as much as 1.400 years old, the one in Strumica is more recent but much bigger, and festivities last for 5 days
"At the Marshal's", a new place on the map of center-town Skopje, is a house of remembrance and nostalgia, and a unique memorial place which pays respect to Tito, all of this combined with the smell of traditional Balkan cuisine. A restaurant. Dedicated to the Marshal and his country
Two Macedonian citizens, who were kidnapped last week near Basra and held hostage, were released yesterday after ransom was paid.Faruk Ademi and Rasim Ramadani were kidnapped near Basra, where they worked for Ecolog, a multinational contractor of the British army
