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(INTERVIEW) Maliukevičius: The Russian influence is trying to weaken us and make us look away from Ukraine

Initially, I thought that the goal of the Russian influence operations was to create a kind of sympathy for the Russian regime and Russian ideology. But their main target now is simply to create more chaos inside the neighboring countries in order to kind of make us look the other way into our internal problems and stop supporting Ukraine...

Bojana Zorić: Media literacy is crucial in addressing the problem of foreign interference, the youth is a critical voice in addressing the security challenges

The security problems in the Western Balkans are now also related to disinformation and fake news which try to destabilize the region and may hinder realization of the most important strategic objectives in the Western Balkans. On this topic and others, Portalb.mk conducted an interview with Bojana Zorić, an expert on security issues in the Western Balkans. She emphasizes...

Interview: Eurovision sensation Joker Out discuss their creative process, touring and more

Slovenian band Joker out, reached a sudden rise to fame after their performance on this year's Eurovision Song Contest and have followed up their success by heading on a big European tour. Although they started off with the classic high-school-band story, today they are considered to be one of the most successful performers in the Slovenian music scene while...

Cristina Tardáguila: Journalism is the best profession in the world and fact-checkers are more than needed

Cristina Tardáguila, an inspirational and energetic journalist from Brazil is the founder of Agência Lupa, the first fact-checking initiative in her country. She is the former International Fact-Checking Network’s Associate Director. As a reporter and/or an editor, Tardáguila has worked in some of the most important media outlets in Brazil and has o published two books. Her interest in...

Ulrik Haagerup: This is why constructive journalists are people’s “best friend”

Ulrik Haagerup, the founder and CEO of the Constructive Institute, experienced a profound realization during his tenure as Editor in Chief at a prominent Danish media outlet: he recognized that the majority of the news he was delivering to his audience was overwhelmingly negative and fear-inducing. So he decided to leave in order to create the rules for a...

Petra Balažič: Youth should be able to recognize disinformation with malign intent

Meta.mk spoke with Petra Balažič from the Slovenian Center for European Perspective, which works in the Western Balkans region in dealing with disinformation. Answering our questions, she pointed out that spreading of disinformation is a matter of security and stability of the countries of the Western Balkans, but also that different age groups in societies should be approached differently...

Swedish Ambassador: This country risks to lose the current strong momentum for enlargement if EU negotiations do not start on time

The ambassador of Sweden in North Macedonia, Ami Larsson Jain, in an interview to Portalb.mk, talks about the latest developments in the country, about the constitutional changes on the country's European integration path, reforms in justice and the representation of women in politics. The ambassador says that it is encouraging to see that the dialogue between the government and...

Interview with Tamila Velkovska: Pro-Russian propaganda skillfully abuses the weak spots of the Macedonian citizens

It is a fact that the Russian propaganda network is well developed in this country, including representatives of official Russian institutions, diaspora and paid political parties. Another fact is that they have been active in this region for quite some time now, therefore an operational network has been installed in the last few decades which, inter alia, is also...

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 in Romania within the regional context. Disinformation is a worldwide threat to democratic societies. North Macedonia...

First Balkan female analog astronaut: Conducting science experiments cut off from the world in an analog space mission

Martina Dimoska is the first female analog astronaut from the Balkans. As a graduate student at International Space University, she's working towards becoming the first from North Macedonia to obtain a master's degree in Space Studies. She is the NASA Space Apps Challenge Local Lead for 2022, hosted in two prestigious historic locations: Mountain View in Silicon Valley, California, and Cleveland. This is an annual...

President Stevo Pendarovski accuses Moscow for the third time for meddling in North Macedonia’s internal affairs

For the third time this month, in an interview, Macedonian President Stevo Pendarovski spoke about the Russian meddling in North Macedonia's internal affairs. In the latest issue of Fokus weekly magazine, Pendarovski reveals there is a lot of information by authorities about people arriving to cause provocations at the recent civil protests, but also for financing "certain political subjects." "All...

Interview with the UK’s ambassador Galloway: 200 countries agreed that coal is a major problem for global warming

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP-26) prompted Meta News Agency to conduct an interview with the ambassador of the United Kingdom in North Macedonia, Rachel Galloway. We talked with her Excellency about the key achievements of COP-26, the commitments made by the countries, the challenges from the climate change that North Macedonia is facing, but also how the...

Profesor Davitkovski: We are all aware that the advertisements for public administration jobs are for the “party soldiers”

The long practice of employing people in the public administration by party lists continues in North Macedonia. This is done without any criteria and appropriate selection and everybody knows that the job advertisements are rigged for the party soldiers, says university professor Borche Davitkovski in the interview with Portalb.mk about the public administration reforms that had been promised so...

Justyna Mleczak: Tourism has an unbelievable power both to build and destroy

Justyna Mleczak
Justyna Mleczak is a tourist influencer from Poland, whose blog Do Macedonii offers a rare opportunity for Polish audiences to learn more about North Macedonia in their native language. She recently made another visit to the country in cooperation with European Union-supported Smart Toursim Enhancement Project (STEP). In this interview with Meta.mk she shares her experiences in organizing travel...

Vanhoutte: The media reforms are disappointingly scarce

Peter Vanhoutte, the main mediator in the political parties talks during the so-called Przhino Process, which led to the Przhino Agreement, visited Skopje again. In this interview he speaks about one segment of the Przhino Process, namely the media reforms, and gives his appraisal. Are you familiar with the course of the media reforms over the past 3 years and...

Zaev: I would exchange two Nobel Peace Prizes for a date on negotiations from the Council of Europe

I would exchange two Nobel Prizes for a decision from the European Council on a date for negotiations, replied Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, as to whether he believes he could really receive the Nobel Peace Prize together with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, in an interview with the Belgian newspaper "Le Soir". "If I get the Nobel Peace Prize, I...

Vuk Velebit: Serbian press more biased than Russian “Sputnik”

In Serbia, manipulation and misinformation on the part of pro-regime TV stations is part of everyday life. A major problem is the lack of information and the Government's intention to manipulate public opinion through its TV stations and discredit political opponents. Vuk Velebit is an author and researcher who explores Russian propaganda in Serbia's daily press. He has been examining...

Peterle: Judiciary, freedom of media and corruption remain concerns on the road to the EU

In an interview with European Western Balkans, Slovenian MEP praised the Governments courage in resolving the decades-long dispute with Greece over the name of the country but recalls that the road to the EU for Northern Macedonia involves many reforms. He said he was concerned with slow reforms in the judiciary, as well as the state of media freedom...

Joveski: SPO has set new standards but it is important who will supervise it

The State Public Prosecutor Ljubomir Joveski has said in an interview he gave for the MIA agency that it is essential to be decided who will be supervising the work of the Special Prosecutor's Office. -With the government's Strategy for reforms in the judiciary, it is planned that SPO to become a part of the prosecution system. I personally...

Palmer: I expect that Russia will work against the Prespa agreement

The Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of the United States of America, Matthew Palmer stated in an interview for the portal "European Western Balkans“ that he expects Russia will work against the Prespa agreement. He also said that USA and Russia have very different ambitions in the Balkans and that the USA supports the " integration of the region...