Tag: Serbia

The Government of North Macedonia will not withdraw from the "Open Balkan Initiative" regardless of Serbia's refusal to impose sanctions on Russia, as the West, but also Albania and North Macedonia did, due to the aggression on Ukraine. According to the Government fo North Macedonia, Serbia's position regarding the situation in Ukraine is its inner affair, writes Portalb.mk. "Notwithstanding what...

One of the simplest ways to influence a wider number of people is to glorify a country. Positive glorification can evoke admiration, a sense of belonging and community, a sense of protection, an ever-present refuge, an alternative available to citizens and the state… This is especially possible in times of stunted development or unfulfilled expectations or dissatisfaction with speed...

Backroom cooperation and ties between Serbia and Russia lead to spying on Russian opposition figures having a meeting in Belgrade. After the spy tapes were delivered to Kremlin an arest of Russian opposition leader takes place. Another story showing how far undemocratic regimes are willing to go to stay in power completely disregarding the rights of their citizens, writes...

The Zoological Garden in Palić, in the north of Serbia, is analyzing the footage from its security cameras near the lion cages, after the journalists from Suboticke.rs read Meta.mk's article about the lion cub Simba and sounded the alarm that the cub perhaps comes from this zoo, Sonja Mandić, the interim director of the zoo, revealed for Meta.mk. In the...

This article by Srdja Pavlovic was first published in The Battleground and is reprinted by Meta.mk with permission. Montenegro’s Democratic Front (DF) recently issued its most significant threat to date to their partners in the ruling coalition. Milan Knezevic, who has been recognised as the party’s most ardent Russophile, called on his coalition partners to respect the electoral results and allow...

As the first important steps of a new and concrete impulse to promote regional co-operation within the framework of the "OpenBalkan" Initiative, North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, the president of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and the Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, yesterday signed the Agreement on Cooperation in Protection and Rescue Operations in Natural Disasters in the Western...

Comics fans from Italy, a large portion of the Balkans and Turkey have been celebrating the 60th anniversary of the publication of Zagor comics series, which for decades has been one of the most popular in the region. The first episode featuring Zagor was published on June 15, 1961 by the Italian publishing company Sergio Bonelli Editore. The comics was...

Nationals of Serbia traveling with private cars will not pay the road tolls in North Macedonia this summer. This decision is a response by the government of North Macedonia to Serbia's humane act to give for free tens of thousands of vaccines against COVID-19 to Macedonia. The Government of North Macedonia ordered the Interior Ministry to allocate electronic road toll...

The Slovenian web site "Necenzurisano.si" published yesterday (15th of April 2021) the unofficial diplomatic document, i.e. non-paper, titled "Western Balkans - the Road Ahead", being the subject of speculations that the Slovenian Prime Minister has sent it to Brussels. The non-paper predicts dissolution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and merging Republika Srpska with Serbia, as well as Kosovo merging with...

During recent weeks, politicians and pro-government media have been conducing a slander campaign against leading civil society organizations and independent media in Serbia. Organizations targeted with high profile slander campaign include CRTA (Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability), which runs the oversight initiative Open Parliament and the fact-checking outlet Istinomer, and investigative reporting outlet KRIK, which runs anti-disinformation site Raskrikavanje. In...

After actress Danijela Štajnfeld's claim announced that she was a victim of sexual harassment by her colleague actor, director, and former minister of culture of Serbia, Branislav Lečić, the journalist Hristina Stoiljković went forward with similar claim. Stoiljković claims that she has met Lečić during the "One minute until 12 o'clock“, and later Branislav began prowling on her. On her...

Serbian actress Danijela Štajnfeld testified at the High Public Prosecution in Belgrade that the actor, politician, former minister and member of the Democratic party Branislav Lećić had raped her. As nova.rs published, the actress had previously revealed in the documentary film "Heal Me" that she had been raped by a powerful man in the film industry. With the article, the...

In his appearance in Kanal 5 TV's show, Venko Filipche, the Health Minister of North Macedonia, disclosed that the advance payment for the Chinese vaccine "Sinofarm", which North Macedonia was supposed to receive 200.000 doses of by the end of February, was withdrawn for "our safety." But he assured that, notwithstanding, the vaccines will soon arrive in the country. "Taking...

Bigger investments in the reconstruction of the railroad tracks in North Macedonia, meeting the deadlines for the reconstruction projects and raising the maximum travel speed to 120 km/h on the railroad track between Tabanovce and Gevgelija. If these goals are not reached by the government of North Macedonia, the railroad of the Corridor 10 cannot be competitive to the...

There are almost no major construction projects abroad that the construction companies from North Macedonia are taking part in, and the situation has been gradually worsening with the years. The statistical data shows modest number of signed and completed contracts in the foreign markets. In 2020, the completed construction operations abroad by the companies from North Macedonia ammounted to only...

The sight of thousands of people waiting to kiss the mortal remains of the Serbian Orthodox Christian bishop Amfilohije Radović in Montenegro caused outrage in the Balkans. Several days later, reported infections of top Serbian religious figures, including Partiarch Irinej, indicate that the lavish funeral could serve as a coronavirus superspreader event. Metropolitan Amfilohije was one the most powerful men...

The European Union has rejected the claims that the building of a wire fence between Serbia and North Macedonia is part of an agreement with Serbia. As was announced by the EU Commission's spokeswoman, Ana Pisonero, Brussels is providing significant financial and technical aid to its Western Balkans partners in managing migration and for that purpose, it has allocated over...

A local strongman notorious for harassment of female employees in a remote Serbian municipality received a three-month prison sentence in a trial billed as the first high-profile #MeToo case in the country, Global Voices reported. The trial of the 58-year-old former mayor of the town of Brus, Milutin Jeličić, nicknamed Jutka, ended on July 10, 2020, N1 TV reported. The lawyer...

A civic initiative, #hiljadekamera , composed of concerned citizens, experts and digital rights organisations, has been vocal about the deterioration of privacy in Serbia resulting form massive introduction of video surveillance system with advanced face recognition in the capital Belgrade. Government of Serbia in cooperation with the Chinese company Huawei has been actively working on the implementation of the Safe...

During yesterday's session, the Government of North Macedonia adopted the Commission for Infectious Diseases' recommendation to introduce PCR tests for citizens of Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Hercegovina as a prerequisite for entering the country. The decision will become effective today and will last until a new decision has been adopted by the Government. The mandatory RT PCR SARS-CoV-2...