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
Ethnic Bulgarians have a very low birth rate. According to some, this could put at risk the economic growth, while others are afraid of the unstoppable growth of the Turkish and Roma communities. Bulgaria is stirred by demographic anguish, and now president Parvanov decided to act
A citizen from Skopje climbed a telephone post last month and cut the wire. A final individual act of bitter resentment against the monopolistic behavior of Macedonian Telecom. This is but the most radical of citizens' outcries against the arrogant conduct of the Telecom over the past 4 years in Macedonia
On 9 November 2005, 19 months after the Macedonian government submitted the application for membership, and 9 months after the submission of the EU questionnaire to Brussels, the EU issued an opinion recommending candidate status for Macedonia
Since 1991, when declared its independence under the name "Republic of Macedonia", the young Balkan state has been struggling with Greece, which claims the name cannot be used, sinche is essential part of his historical heritage. After almost 15 years, the dispute is still unresolved
Macedonia marks four years of the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA), the peace deal that brought an end to the armed conflict from 2001 that was threatening to throw the country into ethnic war. Still, only few celebrate it
There has been quite a lot of talk lately of re-branding the image of the Balkans by acknowledging that it is capable of producing not only wickedness and that it can contribute or be the home to also good things.This article is a small contribution in this direction
There are 54.000 Roma in Macedonia (a questionable piece of statistics as the identity declaration of Roma can be quite ambiguous). Of them, 17.000 are unemployed and 14.000 cannot afford the basic necessities. Another statistics says that 85% of the Roma in Macedonia receive social welfare
Polls carried throughout the Balkans repeatedly show that 50-70% of young people would leave their countries at the first given chance. The reasons are lack of perspective, poverty, unemployment. Usually youth unemployment rates are 2-4 times higher than the overall ones
The most traumatic case in Macedonian judicial history, the "Rastanski Lozja" case, came to an end. The senior members of the Macedonian intelligence and police, accused of murdering six Pakistani and one Indian in 2002, to present it as an act against international terrorism, have been all acquitted
On March 13 around 1.700.000 voters in Macedonia will go to the polls to elect mayors and councilors for 84 municipalities.This is will be the first test of the country's political maturity after the submission of the EU Questionnaire in Brussels earlier this month
The December 2004 Summit of the EU was marked by the historic decision to commence membership negotiations with Turkey; still the timeline implied for their completion goes quite beyond 2012. How about Macedonia then? When can she expect to join?
The Oasis of Peace - this how Macedonian politicians used to refer to their country earlier in the 90s. The conflict arrived in 2001, though Macedonia was lucky to have a more confined one than others around. Still, the country is a fair shareholder in the sad reality of a tormented region
On 7 November Macedonians will go out to the polls to support or reject the new law on territorial boundaries.Voices coming from the joint opposition say that these new territorial arrangements create the possibility for the claim of the Greater Albania, the government answers that the success of the referendum would mean "NO" to Europe
