The Battleground: Getting the Balkans Wrong
The Western Balkans are notoriously difficult to fathom. The evolving regional map of countries, borders, ethnicities and faiths is so complex that it requires more preparation to cover than other parts of Europe, writes Natalie Sarkic-Todd in The Battleground.
Below Meta.mk News Agency republishes the...
Kremlin’s False Narrative: “NATO Is Fighting Russia to the Last Ukrainian” Continues
NATO neither started the military invasion, nor does it have troops in Ukraine. Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022 and Ukraine, as an independent country, has the right to defend itself and use available means of assistance from its friends. NATO is sending military...
The social media as lever for spreading authoritarian propaganda
Russian propaganda uses various forms of social media and channels to spread its propaganda. It is fighting a war in Ukraine, but also waging a hybrid war with many other countries. North Macedonia and the Balkans are the target of this propaganda, writes Truthmeter.mk.
Under...
In a three-day training in Strumica, young people were learning Data Journalism and Data Visualization
Metamorphosis Foundation in cooperation with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) held a three-day workshop “Data Journalism and Visualization” in the period 26 - 28 April in Strumica. Eleven people, primarily students and young journalists from the Vardar and Southeast Region of North Macedonia,...
Meta Fact: Countless deadlines and unfulfilled promises for the Regional Landfill Sveti Nikole
Photo credits: Meta.mk
At the beginning of the month, the Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning of North Macedonia informed that it will take over the competencies of the Municipality of Sveti Nikole and the Mayor Dejan Vladev in the Public Enterprise that should manage...
Putin denies the Ukrainian identity, аnd the accusations of alleged genocide are just an excuse for atttacking Ukraine
Photo: kremlin.ru
The post is a manipulative disinformation claiming that Russia does not deny Ukrainian identity, but is defending the Russian minority suffering genocide by some installed authorities. All of this is wrong and consistent with the Russian interpretation of things with which Putin justified...
The influence of Bulgaria on back azimuth
Unlike the influence of Russia and China in North Macedonia that – to a large extent – is disseminated on the basis of positive identification and desired and/or shared values, we might say that the influence realized by Bulgaria is based on narratives overflowing...
The promise for gradual banning of plastic bags in North Macedonia fulfilled
The Government of the Republic of North Macedonia promised in its Work Programme that in the period 2022-2024 a gradual ban on the use of plastic bags in retail in the country will be introduced. The government fulfilled this promise.
On December 1, 2021, the...
The Russian Embassy in Skopje – Main Diplomatic Internet Spammer in North Macedonia
The Russian Embassy in Skopje is a record-breaker when it comes to the number of Facebook posts. The country is of top regional interest of Kremlin – out of the whole Balkans, only the Russian diplomatic mission in Romania posts more frequently on Facebook....
China as an example: Media promotion of the undemocratic value system
One of the significant negative influences in North Macedonia that most frequently is entirely overlooked, is the influence of China. This influence becomes even greater in conditions of great corruption in the country, decreased trust of the citizens in the institutions and their ability...
Behind the scenes: Chinese influence in North Macedonia
(Main photo: Commercial for the Belt and Road Initiative in one of the Macedonian trains purchased from China reading “Speed up the Belt initiative, Charming Macedonia")
It took North Macedonia only a few years to dramatically change its bilateral relationship with China. In 1999, it...
Without an access ramp to the cafeteria in Stiv Naumov dormitory in Skopje, a student in wheelchair was forced to eat alone in his room
In the cold and rainy periods, I was waiting in the rain in front of the cafeteria building for one of the kitchen staff to get me my meal and come back. If there was an access ramp, I would have gone myself into...
Zero benefits for Albania from China’s Belt and Road Initiative
In 2017, Albania signed a cooperation agreement with China in the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It was conceived as an attempt to enhance bilateral cooperation in the areas of infrastructure, production capacity, tourism, and agriculture. Six years later, very little...
Dragan Pavlovic – Latas and Stefan Lazarov charged for promoting violence against women
The Public Prosecution office in Skopje submitted an indictment against Dragan Pavlovic – Latas and Stefan Lazarov for spreading racist and xenophobic material via an information system.
Without specifying their names, the Public Prosecution informed that two persons were accused of spreading racist and xenophobic...
Romanian anti-disinformation activist reveals: Misinformation campaigns often target refugees from Ukraine
While disinformation campaigns flood Central and Eastern Europe, civil society organizations are at the forefront of initiatives to face this challenge. Meta.mk spoke to Ina Danila, Project Manager at Funky Citizens, a Romanian organization working on fact-checking and disinformation resilience, about the current situation...
Russian spies register identifies 42 individuals arrested for espionage in Europe
A register of Russian spies in Europe, shared on Twitter, identifies 42 individuals acting in their own countries and being paid by the Russian Federation. This register was produced on the basis of the open data and information related to arrests or proceedings of...
Мacedonian and Bulgarian university with a historic Russian connection will “produce” MAs in Sveti Nikole
The result of the public-private partnership between the State Bulgarian University from Veliko Tarnovo “Ss. Ss. Cyril and Methodius” (VTU) and the Macedonian private International Slav University (MSU) is the offer of master studies for Macedonian students taught by Bulgarian professors. Apart from educational...
(In)visible “Russian touch” in the last round of tensions between Sofia and Skopje
Although there are more variations of the topic related to where the Russian influence was greater in the latest escalations of the relations between North Macedonia and Bulgaria, more serious sources agree quite distinctively that it is there. No doubt, many information and disinformation...
Skopje City govt. ignores massive anti-corruption protest: Youth Cultural Center hampered with nontransparent budget cuts and replacements, mobbing
Less than a month after Youth Cultural Centre Skopje - YCC (Mladinski kulturen centar Skopje) marked the half-century anniversary, this cult institution for the youth in the capital of North Macedonia is now facing the most difficult period of its abundant history. During the...
The promised uniforms and tablets for students in Shtip are nowhere to be seen, though there are projectors in some classrooms
Photo: HalGatewood, Unsplash
In his election manifesto titled “We Vouch for Shtip; Create New Future”, the Mayor of the Municipality of Shtip, Ivan Jordanov promised to provide new computers/tablets for every primary school student by the end of 2022. In addition, Jordanov has promised to...
