Tag Archive
National Bank Of Greece Ups Stake In Macedonian Unit
National Bank of Greece SA (NBG), the country’s largest lender, said Wednesday it has raised its stake in its Macedonia unit Stopanska Banka AD to 94.6% from 73% for EUR35.1 million. This confirms what sources had told Dow Jones Newswires Tuesday. The acquisition forms a part of a 2001 agreement between NBG, the European Bank of... »
Macedonians prefer name over NATO, EU
A recent poll shows that more than 60 percent of Macedonians have preferred preserving the country’s name to joining the EU and NATO, news from Skopje said Monday. A total of 66.5 percent of 1,110 respondents said the country’ s name is more important than joining EU and NATO, while 26.2 percent said they favored... »
NATO supports Macedonia membership
NATO reaffirmed here Wednesday its support to Macedonia to join alliance as soon as the outstanding name issue with Greece is resolved. The announcement came following the visit to NATO headquarters today of foreign and defence ministers of Macedonia,. Antonio Milososki and Zoran Konjanovski, who met with the North Atlantic Council. Talks focussed on the progress... »
Macedonia cracks down on illicit antiquities trade
Macedonian police say they have arrested 48 people, including local politicians and archaeologists, in a nationwide crackdown on the illegal antiquities trade. Spokesman Ivo Kotevski says the operation started early Thursday in eight towns, and about 100 artifacts dating from prehistoric to Ottoman times have been seized. Kotevski said more than 60 homes were raided, and... »
FYROM cuts ministers’ pay to balance budget
Macedonia will cut the salaries of its government ministers and shelve some of its planned investments to rebalance its budget, news reports from Skopje said Friday. Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski said late Thursday the salaries of the ministers, including the prime minister, deputy-ministers and elected officials would be reduced by 10 percent in 2010 and... »
FYROM files child-porn charge against OSCE official
Macedonian police on Friday filed criminal charges against an official with the local European security mission over suspected child pornography, news from Skopje said. Police said that the suspect is a 38-year-old Norwegian man. He is working at the Macedonian mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). He was suspected of... »
US urges FYROM to solve name issue
A senior U.S. official on Thursday urged Macedonia to make more efforts to solve its name dispute with neighboring Greece, news from Skopje said. “The name issue is a key for unblocking Macedonia’s integration into the EU and NATO,” Philip Gordon, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, said on his visit... »
4 Albanians killed on Macedonia border
A shootout between Macedonian police and an armed group near the country’s border with Kosovo has left four people dead, police said Wednesday, about 10 days after a former ethnic Albanian rebel group claimed responsibility for a similar incident. The four men were killed during a police ambush near Radusa village to intercept weapons smugglers,... »
Skopje protesters seek “Greater Albania”
Despite warnings by the organizers, protesters spontaneously shouted demands for a Greater Albania during a gathering in Macedonia’s capital that was ostensibly organized in order to seek an end to an alleged “discrimination” of the Albanian ethnic minority in this former Yugoslav Republic. Several thousand ethnic Albanian protesters took to the streets in Macedonia’s capital... »
Radical Islam deepens roots in Macedonia
Moderate Islam is being quickly replaced with Radical Muslim forces as mosques in Macedonia shift allegiance to the extremist Islamic teachings. By Alexandar Spasovski , Skopje | Does radical Islam in Macedonia, who finances it and who is behind it? British secret services recently warned the authorities of that banks in London are financing radical Islamist... »
