Greek PM Tsipras: If there is an opportunity for a solution, it would be a national stupidity not to make good use of it


Under the title ‘If there is an opportunity for a solution, it would be a national stupidity not to make good use of it’ Sunday’s edition of the Greek newspaper Ethnos conveys an interview of Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras related to Athens-Skopje name dispute, MIA reports from Athens. ‘The solution would mean a mutually …

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Greeks to rally against use of ‘Macedonia’ in name dispute with Skopje


‘Macedonia is Greece’ – reads a billboard hanged over a stage in downtown Thessaloniki where a long-announced protest against the use of term ‘Macedonia’ in any solution to Athens-Skopje name dispute is set to commence at 14:00h local time.  The police have tightened the security measures for the protest, as well as the counter-protest of …

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Greek media offer extensive reports on latest developments related to Athens-Skopje name dispute


Greek media keep offering extensive, detailed reports on the latest developments related to Athens-Skopje name dispute, MIA reports from the capital of Greece. The front pages of Sunday’s editions present analyses of the latest round of name negotiations in New York, upcoming meeting of the Macedonian, Greek Prime Ministers, Zoran Zaev and Alexisi Tsipras respectively, …

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Bulgarian Parliament ratifies Friendship Agreement with Macedonia


The National Assembly of Bulgaria Thursday ratified the Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation Agreement between Bulgaria and Macedonia. It was backed unanimously on first and second reading. The agreement signed on August 1, 2017 by the two countries’ prime ministers is a legally binding document which provides a solid basis for good neighbourly relations and cooperation, BTA informs. …

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Macedonia to recognize Interpol’s Travel Document


The Macedonian government and the International Criminal Police Organization – Interpol will sign an agreement on recognizing the Interpol Travel Document as agreed on Tuesday in Lyon by Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski and Interpol’s Secretary General Jürgen Stock. Under the agreement, Macedonia will recognize the travel document used by authorized officials only when carrying out official duties on …

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Kosovo’s Thaci and Haradinaj condemn killing of leading Serb politician


Kosovo President Hashim Thaci has strongly denounced the killing of a Serb political leader in the northern city of Mitrovica, AP reported. Oliver Ivanovic, leader of the Citizens’ Initiative Freedom, Democracy, Justice party was shot dead Tuesday morning by still-unknown assailants. In a reaction on his Facebook page Thaci called on law enforcement authorities “to …

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President Vucic calls Ivanovic’s murder ‘terrorist act’


Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said Tuesday that Serbia views the fatal attack on Oliver Ivanovic in Kosovo earlier in the day as a “terrorist act.” “Serbia will take all necessary measures so the killer or killers are found,” he pledged. Vucic said the country is demanding that international missions in Kosovo include his country in their …

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Macedonia-Bulgaria treaty guarantees long-term friendly relations, say Zaev and Borisov


Long-term friendly relations between Bulgaria and Macedonia and a stable foundation for cooperation in the region based on European values is guaranteed by the Agreement on Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation, which was ratified yesterday by Macedonia’s Parliament. This was concluded by the prime ministers of Bulgaria and Macedonia – Boyko Borisov and Zoran Zaev …

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Freedom House: Macedonia among ‘partly free’ countries


Macedonia is ranked as ‘partly free’ by the US-based non-governmental organization (NGO) Freedom House, which released Tuesday its report “Freedom in the World – Democracy in Crisis”. In the report, Macedonia is singled out as ‘a country to watch’ in 2018 because ‘it may experience important developments in the coming year.’ “A democratically elected, ethnically inclusive …

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Macedonians living in US stage protest against potential change of their homeland name


Macedonians living in the US staged Sunday a protest in front of Macedonia’s Embassy in Washington, voicing their opposition to a potential change of the country’s constitutional name. During the protest United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) President Meto Koloski launched a new movement ‘We are Macedonia’ as a response to worrisome political development in the homeland, …

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Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes Macedonia’s Parliament decision to ratify friendship treaty


The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry welcomed Monday the decision of the Macedonian Parliament to ratify the Treaty of Friendship, BTA reports. The ratification confirms the will to foster good-neighbourly relations which are an important element of the European perspective of all countries in the Western Balkans, Bulgaria’s MoFA said in statement. Bulgaria will continue its active …

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Lavrov: Russia will recognise the name agreed between Athens and Skopje


Moscow, 15 January 2018 – The intensified Macedonia’s name talks is linked to the desire of the United States to bring this country into NATO, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday during his annual press conference in Moscow. Lavrov said that efforts have been in long-standing twilight sleep for number of years and US decided to …

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Velikov-Petkov: Bulgaria supports Macedonia’s EU and NATO membership


Skopje, 15 January 2018 – Bulgaria supports Macedonia’s EU and NATO membership, Bulgarian Ambassador to Skopje Ivan Velikov Petkov told Monday the Parliament’s Committee on European Affairs, presenting the priorities of the Bulgaria’s Presidency of the EU Council. “Bulgaria supports Macedonian government’s efforts, the opposition and the civil society to achieve the highest national goals – membership …

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Kammenos proposes name referendum


Athens, 14 January 2018 – Panos Kammenos, the leader of junior coalition partner Independent Greeks (ANEL), has proposed holding a referendum on the name dispute, MIA reports from Athens. “The Greek people will have to decide on the unprecedented, in the history of man, [decision to] cede their history and civilization to another people,” Kammenos said in …

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Turkey says it will oust Kurdish fighters from Afrin, Syria


Turkey’s president vowed to oust Kurdish fighters from Afrin, northern Syria, Saturday as Syrian rebels also said they are bracing for such an operation, AP reports. Speaking in the eastern province of Elazig, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, that Turkey will intervene if the “terrorists in Afrin do not …

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Katrougalos: Name solution not ‘tool for irredentism’


Athens, 14 January 2018 – Georgios Katrougalos, Greece’s Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, has said the possible name solution should not be a tool for irredentism, MIA reports from Athens. “We are negotiating a name that will make a clear distinction between the historical Greek Macedonia and the country which capital is Skopje, a name that will …

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