The number of newborns was 5.502, or a 7,2 percent drop in the second quarter of 2017, compared to the same period last year. According to the State Statistics Bureau, there was also a drop in the number of deaths, by 6,1 percent. A total of 4.544 people died in the second quarter, including 54 infants. The Statistics Bureau also informed that there were 3.447 new marriages in the quarter - an increase of 7,8 percent compared to the same quarter last year. The number of divorces stood at 436 for an annual increase of 13,5 percent.…
Today, the Minister of Foriegn Affairs, Nikola Dimitrov, did not want comment on exactly what was said at this morning’s meeting with his Greek counterpart, Nikos Kotzias. He said it would not be correct to comment that they would only discuss confidence building measures, taking into account that trust is crucial to good relations. “It’s necessary to determine what is most important for Greece in this matter, to explain what is most important for the Republic of Macedonia. It is clear that the process, both formally and substantially…
Turkish Airlines will utilise its wide-body Airbus A330-200/-300 aircraft on flights from Istanbul to Skopje and Podgorica next Monday to cater for the additional demand generated by the Eid al-Adha holiday, which this year runs from Thursday until Monday. The 289-seat A330-300, featuring 28 seats in business class and the remaining 261 in economy, will be dispatched on the Monday evening service to Skopje, while both the morning and afternoon flights to Podgorica will be run by the 250-seat A330-200 jet. An additional afternoon flig…
Macedonia's Embassy in the USA has no information thus far on affected Macedonian nationals by the catastrophic floods in Houston, as hurricane Harvey dropped torrential rains on that part of the country. The Embassy is in touch with US officials services for natural disaster management for any new updates, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday in a press release. However, all Macedonian nationals that might be affected by the floods, may contact the Embassy in the US on the phone numbers: 00 1 202 390 7418 and 001 202 6…
European and Macedonian handball champion Vardar won third place in the Super Globe 2017 tournament in Qatar. Vardar beat hosts Al Sadd with 37 goals to 19 in the third place finale to claim the 150.000 EUR prize. Al Sadd was a worthy competitor in the first half, during which both teams held on to the lead at times, but Vardar was able to make its quality show and end the halftime with four goals advantage (14:10). In the second half, there was no question which is the better team, and Vardar finished the game with 18 goals differenc…
Greece maintains expectations low from the upcoming visit by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias to Macedonia, write Greek papers. To Vima reports that Kotzias will try to maintain a middle ground approach and to prevent a situation where it is seen that the Macedonian side has a monopoly on the constructive approach in the name issue, and will try to show that conditions are not yet ripe to quickly resolve the issue. Main item on the agenda will be the confidence building measures between the two countries, which don't directly …
Following the excellent matches in Swiss Lugano after gaining a more engaging role on the pitch, one of our best football players, Ezgjan Alioski, changed the club environment this summer and signed for Leeds United. Since the very beginning of the season in the Championship League, the popular Gianni has won sympathies from fans, has already written several assists, and managed to win the Man of the Match award in the match against Sunderland on Saturday. In an interview with Republika, Alioski spoke about why he chose Leeds, about the…
Under the title 'The Ancient History Concealed in Europe’s Oldest Lake' the BBC Travel published a video story about the Ohrid Lake. 'This is the oldest lake in Europe. The area around is old too. Even the town of Ohrid already was a town at the time when the father of Alexander the Great, Philip, was king in the 4 century BC,' the story's author says. That ancient history, she says, is one of the main reasons why visitor love to come here. 'Many tourists wish to experience the ancient things, to get …
This past Friday, the Brooklyn federal court has charged Macedonian citizen Dzevair Ametovski as guilty for fraud and selling personal data from stolen credit cards through a web site named “codeshop”, US prosecutors said. The 30-year-old Ametovski is facing up with 17 years imprisonment and his attorneys, state American media, don’t comment the verdict. Ametovski, who prosecutors say was known online as “codeshop,” “sindrom” and “sindromx,” was arrested in Slovenia in 2014 and extradited to New York last year. The charges aga…
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, during his visit to Skopje on Thursday, in addition to his meeting with the Macedonian Foreign Minister, Nikola Dimitrov, he will meet with President Gjorge Ivanov, as well as with Deputy Prime Minister for EU Integration, Bujar Osmani, “Meta” has learned. Kotzias will arrive in Skopje by car will immediately before the planned meetings. The reason for this way of traveling is to avoid landing in Skopje’s airport “Alexander the Great”. As Meta reported earlier, the name dispute will not be the…
With Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kodzias scheduled to visit Macedonia on August 31, Serbian political analyst Dusan Prorokovic told Sputnik that the visit was part of a plan to fast-track the former Yugoslav republic’s membership into NATO. “The Balkan states’ neutral status is seen by NATO as a hindrance to its plans of using the peninsula as a major jumping-off ground both on the Middle Eastern and Russian tracks,” Dusan Prorokovic told Sputnik Serbia. The formal reason for Mr. Kodzias’ trip is to try and settle the longstandin…
The documentary '21 x New York' - work of art of Polish director Piotr Stasik, is this year winner of the 'Onion Award' - Best Film in the International Competition Program of the Creative Documentary Film Festival 'MakeDox'. The 'Young Onion Award' – for Best Film by young director - went to 'When the Earth Seems to be Light', signed by Salome Machaidze, Tamuna Karumidze and David Meskhi. 'Delicate Balance' - Guillermo GarcÃa López - scooped a special recognition, while Zofia Kowalewska…
Macedonian champion FC Vardar will continue their UEFA journey in Group L of the Europa League against the Russian Zenit, Spain’s Real Sociedad and Norway’s Rosenborg. Spain’s prestigious sports daily Mundo Deportivo as already warned Real Sociedad with the headline “Vardar is a wolf in ship’s clothing”. GERMAN
The Criminal Court in Skopje has found E.A guilty for insulting the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan on Facebook, reported the Turkish news agency “Anadolu”. The court sentenced E.A, who has Macedonian and Turkish citizenship, to a fine of 24,600 denars (400 euros) in the proceedings that were opened after criminal charges were filed by the Turkish Ambassador to the country, Tulin Erkal Kara, late last year . The court ruled that the defendant, in November, 2016, on his Facebook profile, “published ironical statements and i…
Macedonian film-makers Ljubo Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska presented wont the Turkish National Television award at the Sarajevo Film Festival with their documentary film Honeyland. The film, that has been shot since 2015 as part of an environmental program supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, presents the relationship between men and nature and the balance in the use of natural resources. The film is still in the post-production stage and the authors are also applying for support from the Film Agency. Ljubo St…
The Center for pre-historic studies will present a course on scientific diving in lake Ohrid, which would train archaeologists from a number of European countries in underwater excavations. German instructors will perform the training, which will end with testing of the participants, as well as an exploration of the underwater settlement found in the Bay of Bones in Ohrid. The course will be supported by the Ohrid Museum, the Ohrid harbor-master’s office and the Amphora diving club.
Fantastic and historical achievement for Vardar tonigfht in Istanbul! They even beat Fenerbahçe in the return leg and reached the group stage of the Europa League, something that no Macedonian club has ever done! FINALLY! EVENTUALLY! A Macedonian club will play European football in autumn! Vardar has written history after they managed to eliminate Turkish giant Fenerbahçe, beating them in both legs. After the lucky 2:0 win in Skopje last Thursday, Vardar today faced huge presure right from the kick-off in Istanbul. But Fenerbahçe…
An Israeli Air Force (IAF) Hercules C-130 aircraft recently flew to Macedonia with a Police Aerial Firefighting Unit to help fight fires that had spread across the country. The unit landed in the country two weeks ago, and have recently returned to recount the mission. Twenty-one servicemen and their equipment landed in the Macedonian international airport after being dispatched to assist with the firefighting efforts. “To plan the mission successfully, we had to fully understand the extent of the mission, the expected weight lo…
The operator of Macedonia's two international airports, TAV, anticipates expanding Skopje's capacity within the next five to ten years to cater for its growing passengers numbers, which it says could reach up to two million travellers this year. The co-founder and CEO of Turkey’s TAV Airports Holding, Sani Sener, said in an interview to the "Kanal 5" network, "I am sure that the passenger increase will continue in the coming five to ten years and I'm sure we will need an expansion at Skopje Airport. Macedonian a…
I was born with a physical disability in Skopje. The doctors suggested that I should be taken to a hospital in Belgrade, because the building was not made after the earthquake. My hands were operated at the age of seven, and I could not draw, and it was the Mother’s Day. All the children drew greeting cards, and I could not even make a move. With my desire and persistence, and succeeded to do something, I put the pencil in my mouth and I drew a flower with my mouth. That was my first drawing. Everyone was amazed. In this way I discovered my…
Greek President Prokopis Pavolopoulos called on Macedonia to stop spreading irredentism, which, he said, undermines Macedonian's European path. Pavlopoulos made the remarks during a meeting with the Greek U-17 women's handball team which withdrew from a game against Macedonia, refusing to play because the Macedonian players had the word "Macedonia" on their shirts. “True sportsmanship is not compatible with such crude forgery of history, which in fact carries irredentist aspirations, and which is in violation of inte…
The Gynecology Clinic informed on Wednesday that a triplet of babies have tragically died after a C-section delivery on Monday. The mother was admitted to the hospital with sharp abdominal pains and a burst amniotic sac. Doctors opted for C-section delivery, even though the mother was in the 27th week of pregnancy, in order to prevent the cut of oxygen supply to the babies. Re-animation was attempted to all three babies, who were admitted for intensive neonatal care, but have passed away on the following day. Health Ministry informe…
The European Commission has called upon the authorities in Skopje and Belgrade to exercise restraint and to solve the issue with the withdrawal of the personnel of the Serbian Embassy in Skopje in a calm manner. The spokesperson of the European Commission said that the diplomatic incident is a bilateral issue for both countries that the European Union is observing with great attention. -We look to both sides to exercise restraint and deal with the issue calmly, in the spirit of good neighbourly relations – the EU Commission’s spok…
Macedonia’s women’s U-16 basketball team suffered another defeat in the European Championship that is played in Skopje. Playing on Tuesday evening, Belgium beat Macedonia 94:57 in the Group B match. This was the last leg of the qualifiers. Belgium leads the group with five wins out of five games, followed by Ukraine, Slovenia and Ireland. Macedonia is fourth, with one win out of five games, ahead only of Moldova who lost all five games. Our team will now play for a ranking between the 17th and 22nd place. In the other two games on…
The official opening of Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE) Festival will kick off Wednesday evening in Struga by planting a tree and poetry reading in honour to the winner of the Golden Wreath award – Charles Simic. The 56th edition of the festival will open in the courtyard of the House of Poetry in Struga with international poetry reading “Poetic Meridians.” The festival’s five-day programme will include symposium “Lost/Found in translation,” poetry portrait of the winner of the Golden Wreath of SPE for 2017, Charles Simic, poetry portra…
Greek diplomats were monitoring developments in the Balkans with concern on Monday after Serbia withdrew the entire staff of its embassy in Skopje after accusing the Republic of Macedonia of “offensive activity” in apparent anger at its neighbour’s improving relations with Kosovo, a former Serbian province, Greek daily Kathimerini reads. Daily reads that the dispute comes as Skopje is seeking to revive its bid for accession to the European Union and NATO following a period of political upheaval. Prime Minister Zoran Zaev formed a …
Aleksandar Vucic says Monday that Serbia’s authorities have evidence that ‘offensive activities’ have been orchestrated against the country, which, in turn, has prompted Serbia to recall the entire staff of its Skopje embassy. “Our relevant bodies have found and have provided us with evidence and information about a very aggressive activity against the bodies and institutions of Serbia,” the country’s President told reporters in Belgrade, RTS reports. “It’s up to us to help our people prepare. Our personnel will undergo some chang…
Documentary film “Blueberry Hill” by Jordan Dukov produced by Telma Television will premiere Tuesday evening at MakeDox Creative Documentary Film Festival in Kurshumli An. MakeDox workshop “1 Picture, 1000 Words” which kicked off late Monday in Daut Pashin Amam focuses on visual narration and camera work. The 5-day workshop has been designed and will be led by Kristina Pervilä Andersson and Tue Steen Müller, who have been swimming in the waters of documentary most of their lives. Born in 1960 in Finland, Kristina has been working …
The Serbian Government has withdrawn its entire personnel from their diplomatic offices in Macedonia, leaving their Embassy empty. Macedonia’s MOFA received an official note from Belgrade, without getting an official reason behind this scandalous move. Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov has stated he will reach out to his colleagues in Belgrade to find out what the reason for this move is. S According to the Vienna convention, Macedonia now must take care of the Serbian diplomatic offices while they are absent. Q…
A woman died and 27 passengers were injured when a bus filled with tourists crashed on a highway near the Macedonian town of Veles on Sunday night. Health Minister Arben Taravari, through his Facebook profile, informed that a total of 27 injured passengers from the bus were admitted to the hospitals in Skopje and Veles. A total of 17 patients have been taken to the Mother Teresa clinical center, of whom four in the Clinic of anesthesia, reanimation and intensive treatment (KARIL) - one patient with abdominal bleeding, one with a t…
Passenger transportation in Macedonia grew by 9,9 percent in the second quarter of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016. In urban city transportation, the increase amounted to 7,7 percent, metro area transportation grew by 12,5 percent, and the number of passengers in inter-city lines is up by 13,2 percent. International road transportation saw an increase of 17,5 percent. Compared to the first quarter of 2017, the increase is at 6,1 percent. The State Statistics Bureau informed that, measured in kilometers traveled, the growt…
German marathon swimmer Alexander Studzinski won the 31st Ohrid Swimming Marathon on Saturday. Studzinski swam the 30 kilometer Klime Savin track in 5 hours, 15 minutes and 14 seconds, beating out six other swimmers who were neck and neck in the final stretch. Macedonian swimmer Evgenij Pop Acev was less than a second behind Studzinski, and third placed, Guillermo Bertola from Argentina was two seconds behind. Italian swimmers dominated the women's competition, wtih Barbara Pozzobon setting an exceptionally good result with 5 …
A national from Macedonia has remained wounded during the attacks in Barcelona, where 13 people died and around 100 others remained injured when a van drove through a crowd of people in the tourist area of Las Ramblas. “At the moment when the attack has happened, the Macedonian national was at the scene, broke his foot and sustained other physical damages. He’s not in a life threatening condition and is receiving medical care from Spanish medical teams”, the Foreign Ministry in Skopje announced. Firstly, on the same day MOFA said…
Today, the citizens of Tetovo will gather at 13:00 pm in the city square to protest for clean air, because after the burning of the landfill, residents are complaining that in the city there is an unbearable stench. On the Faceebook event page “Landfill Tetovo”, it says people will start the protest from the city square, and will head towards the Municipality of Tetovo building. According to the photos published on social networks, some revolted citizens threw garbage in front of the municipality building this morning. The lan…
The Leeds United new boy suggests he can have quite the debut season at Elland Road. Ezgjan Alioski has told The Yorkshire Evening Post that he can see himself scoring 16 goals for Leeds United in what he believes could be a fine debut season at Elland Road. The 25-year-old joined Leeds from Lugano this summer and has so far looked like quite a decent addition. The Macedonia international joined the Whites on the back of an excellent final season with the Swiss side, having scored 16 times and set up another 14 goals last term…
A Macedonian national was injured in the terrorist attacks that took place in Barcelona yesterday. This morning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Macedonian citizen is in a hospital in Barcelona and is not in a critical condition. “According to the Macedonian Embassy in Spain, the Macedonian citizen is currently being treated in a hospital in Barcelona. During the attack, the person was in the immediate vicinity and has a broken ankle. The individual in question is not in a critical condition and is being treated by …
A total of 68 films will compete in the 8th edition of Makedox Creative Documentary Film Festival running from 19 to 25 August 2017. The Macedonian production Avec l`amour / So ljubov directed by Ilija Cvetkovski will open the open-air festival held in KurshumliAn, the caravanserai located in the Old Town of Skopje. The films are divided into five sections: Main Programme, Newcomers, Short Dox, Student Dox and Focus Georgia (with six Georgian films). The films will compete for the Onion Award for best film in the main competition, Young…
Connect with us