Pero Antic agrees to terms at Atlanta Hawks

Antic agrees to terms

Macedonian basketball captain Pero Antic has agreed to terms with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks.

Antic will be paid 1.2 million dollars per season at the Hawks, the lowest among his teammates. If Antic continues his stay at the club, his salary will rise another 250,000 dollars.

Pero Antic became the first Macedonian player in the NBA after announcing the news last wee.

Greek extremists occupy Macedonian border

Greek extremists occupy border

Greek ultra nationalist group "Golden Dawn" gathered at Macedonian border check points yesterday in an effort to deter Macedonians from entering Greece.

They occupied both the Medzitlija and Bogorodica border crossing without the removal of authorities.

Macedonian tourists were "welcomed" with offensive chants like "Weclome to Greek Macedonia", Greeks can pass, Skopyani to be stickered", "Macedonia is Greek".

The gatherings have gone unnoticed by both the Greek government and the international community.

This is the latest in  a spate of incidents at the Macedonian-Greek border. The last few weeks have been littered of abuses by Greek border authorities refusing entry to Macedonian activists, citizens and prominent figures amidst a backdrop of rising extremism in Greece.

Macedonian unemployment rate lowest in 20 years

Macedonian unemployment drops

The unemployment rate ending the first quarter of 2013 stood at 29.9%. This is the first time that the unemployment rate has dropped under 30% in 20 years.

The milestone comes after several consecutive years of jobs growth. The unemployment rate peaked in December 2005 where it stood at 37.3%. Since then, the rate has seen an average drop of 1% a year.

The last time Macedonia's unemployment rate was below 30 was way back in 1993 where the rate stood at 27.7%.

Although still a very large and unacceptable figure, the data over the last few years show a positive and consistent trend.

The fall in Macedonia's unemployed is more remarkable when you consider the fact that Europe (Macedonia's major trading partner) has been in recession and seen unemployment rates shoot up within their own countries, and all of this in the backdrop of a global financial crisis.

Macedonia did not leave completely unscathed, the economic crises in the region did in fact slow its economic growth and the drop in unemployed, but could not manage to stop it.

Macedonia's official unemployment rate now reads at 29.9%, although it is widely accepted that Macedonia has a large grey economy, which could put the real unemployment figure around 15%.

FK Vardar win Macedonian Super Cup

Vardar win Super Cup

FK Vardar have won this years Macedonian Super Cup beating FK Teteks from Tetovo 1-0 last night.

The Super Cup is played between the winners of the Macedonian First League (Vardar) and the winners of the Macedonian Cup (Teteks).

The Super Cup was played in front of an empty stadium last night as a crowd of less than 100 spectators watched the game. More police and security were recorded than patrons.

The shockingly small crowd has been blamed on a boycott of Vardar's support group the "Komiti" who refused to attend the match after their group was locked out of Vardar's Champions League qualifier against Steaua Bucharest last week leading to violent clashes against police and security officials.

The low crowd has also been blamed on high ticket prices and the low quality of Macedonian football.

The Komiti have accused the Vardar committee of discrimination against their group as well as by police who they see as provoking incidents and abusing their powers.

Classical quartet Bond girls to play in Ohrid

Bond girls to play in Ohrid

World famous quartet "Bond" will be playing at this years Ohrid Summer manifestation.

This is the first time that this quartet has played in front of a Macedonian audience, and it will come on the 10th anniversary of the groups formation.

Bond has a piece titled "Alexander the Great" which got its inspiration from Macedonian folklore. The girls say that they have a friend who is married to a Macedonian and that they know much about to country through them.

Interest for their concert in Ohrid has been high as organizers have had to arrange extra seating for their show.

Kisela Voda begins handout of vouchers for newborns

Efforts to boost low birthrate

The Municipality of Kisela Voda has begun handing out the first vouchers for newborns of the city. Mayor Biljana Belichanec Aleksic presented the first 19 vouchers to families today.

They vouchers are worth up to a total of 6000 denars and are intended to help boost the birth rate in the municipality.

Aleksic was quoted as saying "today we live in a time where we have to think about the survival of our nation, to think about how we will overcome the low birthrate".

Macedonia's birthrate has continually fallen over the last 20 years. Efforts to combat the low birthrate are being initiated in a number of areas affected the most.

Macedonian property vandalised in Greece

Vandalized Macedonian property

Macedonian tourists visiting Greece for the summer have had their vehicles damaged by Greek nationalists in the port town of Thessaloniki.

For a number of consecutive years, Macedonian tourists have suffered damage to their property while on vacation in Greece. Reports of damage and graffiti to vehicles continue to rise.

On previous occasions, Macedonian truck drivers have been abused by Greek border authorities on their route to the port town, incidents of being forced to sweep border checkpoints before they can cross have been reported.

The latest incidents come as nationalism in Greece continues to grow with the popularity of extremist political part "Golden Dawn" on the rise.

Macedonian political leader Temelko denied entry into Greece

Greek abuses at Macedonia border

Leader of the Macedonian party in Albania, Edmond Temelko, has been denied entry into Greece.

Edmond Temelko, who recently finished an election campaign in the Albanian elections with his part Macedonian Alliance for European Integration, was denied entry into Greece at the border yesterday.

This is the latest in a worrying trend of abuses carried out against Macedonians by the Greek border guards.

This behavior has been occurring for years but has seen a spike this year among the refusal of entry to prominent Macedonian figures such as politicans, heads of organizations and journalists.

Greek violations on the border with Macedonia have been occurring for decades with previous motives behind them being the refusal of ethnic Macedonian refugees from Greece returning to their family and properties.

The EU, UN, Reporters Without Borders or any international political or journalistic organization are yet to condemn these latest incidents.

Gruevski's rating continues to grow

Gruevski well ahead in polls

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski's rating continues to surge the latest poll finds.

On the question of who is your preferred prime minister out of Gruevski and Zaev, results were 48% for Nikola Gruevski and 28% for head of opposition Zoran Zaev, 12% none, 9% don't know, 3% no opinion.

On the question of who is your preferred prime minister out of Gruevski and Zaev asked only to ethnic Macedonians, results were 67% for Nikola Gruevski and 27% for head of opposition Zoran Zaev, 6% none, 7% don't know, 3% no opinion.

On the question of who is your preferred prime minister out of Gruevski and Zaev asked only to ethnic Albanians, results were 16% for Nikola Gruevski and 36% for head of opposition Zoran Zaev, 35% none, 11% don't know, 2% no opinion.




Analysts say that Gruevski's success comes from his party's commitment to its policies well beyond the election periods. They further add that the public perceives him as a guardian of Macedonia's national interests, particularly in regards to the name issue.

FK Teteks to stay in Tetovo

Teteks stay in Tetovo

Representatives of Macedonian football club FK Teteks have come out today denying speculations that they are moving the club to Skopje.

Previous information had the club going to Skopje and changing its name after one season which drew fury from its supporters and disappointment from the Macedonian public.

Representatives have come out saying that FK Teteks are in no danger of folding the club and moving to Skopje. They insist that the club will remain in Tetovo and will only play the first few rounds of the upcoming season in Gjorce Petrov, Skopje due to problems at the city stadium in Tetovo.

The club representatives also came out saying that there is no need to speculate about the closure of the club and that they plan on getting promotion back into the Macedonian first division which will come as a relief to supporters and football fans no doubt.

Macedonian export growing faster than import

Macedonia's largest exporter - Johnson Matthey

Latest figures from the state statistical office show that Macedonian export has grown faster than imports in January this year.

Total exports for January totaled to 305.64 million dollars which is a 12 percent increase or 32.5 million dollars more than for the same period last year.

In comparison, Macedonia imports grew by just 4 percent or 21.5 million dollars. The growth in exports was recorded in all sectors of the economy.

Macedonia's largest export partner is Germany which accounted for 110.4 million dollars or 20 percent of total exports while German imports totaled 41.8 million dollars, a trade surplus of close to 70 million dollars for Macedonia. Macedonia's next largest export partners were Bulgaria, Kosovo and Serbia.

Macedonia's largest import partners were Great Britain (due to the needs of manufacturing giant Johnson Matthey, who is Macedonia's largest exporter totaling 700 million dollars worth of exports in 2011), Russia (energy) and Germany.

Johan Tarculovski leads the march to Krushevo

Johan in training for the march

The annual march to Krushevo for Ilinden kicked off today with 25 horseman departing from Aerodrom in Skopje and headed by Macedonian hero Johan Tarculovski.

The march to Krushevo takes place every year to commemorate those who lost their lives fighting for a free Macedonia and celebrate the Ilinden Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.

This is the 35th march to Krushevo to take place and the riders will arrive at Mechkin Kamen, the scene of the Macedonian last stand against the Ottomans, on August 2.

At the same time, Krushevo will kick off its "Ethnic City" manifestation. This annual manifestation involves much of the city dressing in the styles of the Ilinden Uprising period, giving the chance to get a taste of early 20th century Macedonia under Ottoman occupation.

Macedonian policeman caught masturbating in city center

Policeman in custody

A policeman from the the Macedonian town of Shtip was arrested yesterday after his colleagues caught him masturbating in the patrol car.

The incident took place in the city center in the policeman's patrol car, with the arrested officer now under investigation by the Internal Affairs Ministry.

The policeman in question is not himself a resident of Shtip

Macedonian global investment summit to begin in October

Investment Summit in October

US based Macedonia 2025 will organize their second global investment summit to take place in Ohrid, Macedonia.

The global investment summit is aimed at promoting Macedonia as an investment destination for companies world wide. This years summit aims at beating last years record of 350 businessman from the world over and will being in October.

The summit is set to attract hundreds of the worlds leading investors including businessman from Macedonia, the diaspora and others interested in investing in Macedonia.

The Summit will be headed by Macedonia 2025 chief Mike Zafirovski, a well known and successful businessman from the United States. The group also plans to open an office in Skopje in the near future.


Macedonia 2025 is one of the leading Macedonian organizations outside of Macedonia with a large array of  highly succesful Diaspora Macedonians among its ranks.

Teteks to fold and move to Skopje

Macedonian Cup winners FK Teteks from Tetovo have announced that they will be moving to Skopje as of the next season.

Teteks announced this shock adding that they will player under the Teteks name for one year and then change names after that. The club is most likely to play at the Alumina stadium in Skopje.

The fans "Vojvodi" have reacted in a negative way saying that they will not travel to Skopje and support the new team.

FK Teteks has a history of 60 years and the announcement is truly a shame and blow to Macedonian football.

Turnovo out of Europa League

Turnovo end dream run

Macedonian underdogs Horizont Turnovo bowed out of the Europa League qualifiers last night with a 1-1 draw against Croatian giants Hajduk Split.

The Macedonian surprise packets Turnovo ended their dream run 3-2 on aggregate making their opponents work hard for their win. Turnovo, which comes from  a village of 1000 on the outskirts of Strumica, surprised the nation by making it to the second round of qualifiers and just missing out on progressing to the third against their highly rates opponents.

In a display of friendship, the Hajduk Split players stood behind a banner which payed respect to the victims of the devastating 1963 earthquake that destroyed most of Skopje.

Turnovo now looks to the national league season ahead.

Macedonia marks 50th anniversary of Skopje earthquake

Old train station clock frozen in time

Today, Macedonia marks the 50th anniversary of the devastating earthquake that hit Skopje, destroying much of the city.

The 6.1 magnitude earthquake occurred at 5.17am while the city was asleep at a depth of 6km. The earthquake killed 1,000 people, injured 4,000, left 200,000 people homeless and destroyed 80% of the city.

Relief was provided by the US, Soviet Union and 78 countries in all. Then US President John F. Kennedy ordered the Defense Department to provide relief as did leader of the Soviet Union at the time, Nikita Khrushchev, who personally visited Skopje after the disaster.

Japanese architect Kenzo Tange won part of the bid to redesign Skopje, and much of his work can still be seen in Skopje today.

Following the earthquake, the city was adorned with donations from the world over. They including a museum from Poland, Apartments from Russia, a polyclinic medical centre from Romania and Swedish and Finnish prefabs. Pable Picasso also donated one of his works "Head of a Woman".

Due to all the international support; Skopje's motto has become "The City of International Solidarity".

Skopje today continues to rebuild as the city center is being transformed in the margins of the project "Skopje 2014".

McDonald's set to reopen in Macedonia

A popular Macedonian businessman is set to reopen the McDonald's restaurant chain in Macedonia after expressing interest in buying the right to operate franchises in the country.

All of the McDonald's restaurants shut down in Macedonia earlier this year after the company's European headquarters terminated the agreement with SJ Company, the former owners.

Macedonia's first restaurant opened 16 years ago and franchise operates 7 stores, most of which are located in the capital, Skopje.

51 illegal immigrants deported back to Albania

A large police operation took place early this morning targeting illegal immigrants in the Tetovo and Gostivar areas. 51 illegal immigrants were caught in the large scale action and are on their way to deportation.

32 illegal immigrants were found in Tetovo and 19 were found in Gostivar. The immigrants are of Albanian nationality and will be deported back to Albania today.

The illegal immigrants are largely being employed in physical positions such as construction. The lat4est police action comes only a day after 4 citizens from Kosovo were found in Tetovo and another Albanians found in Gostivar and deported.

In the last 6 months the Tetovo police have caught 98 illegal immigrants which have since been deported.

Horizont Turnovo take on Hajduk Split in Europa League

Horizont Turnovo will hope to continue its good run in their Europa League campaign tonight as they take on Croatian giants Hajduk Split.

Turnovo is the only Macedonian team left with a chance to progress to the third round. They suffered a 2-1 defeeat to Hajduk in the first leg in an otherwise close game. Now on home soil, they'll look to go one better and make history for their club.

Turnovo is based on the outskirts of Eastern Macedonian city Strumica in a village of just 1000 people.

No matter where they come from, they have a good chance at progressing tonight and continue their giant killing run.

Macedonia secures funds for first wind farm

Macedonia, today, signed the third phase of the renewable energy agreement with the Federal Republic of Germany in which funds of 35 million Euro were secured.

15 million Euro will go towards the the first wind farm in Macedonia, Bogdanci, which has already started construction and the rest of the funds will go to the construction of Shpilje hydro power plant.

Siemens Wind from Denmark and Siemens AS from Greece have been chosen to construct the wind farm.

The cost of the project is 55 million Euro and the installed total capacity of the 16 wind turbines will be 36.8 MW or 100GWh annually. The wind farm will provide energy to 15.000 households or 60.000 citizens.

Installed capacity of each turbine is 2.3 MW, the beams are 84 meters high with 93-meter diameter blades.

United Macedonian Diaspora kicks off Global Conference

The United Macedonian Diaspora kicked off its annual Global Conference this time in the capital of Macedonia, Skopje. This is the first time that the event has been held outside of North America.

The conference will get together more than 40 experts from 12 countries and will discuss, among other things, the 100th anniversary of the Treat of Bucharest, 100 years since the division of Macedonia.

The global summits are intended boosting relations and exposure of Macedonia as well as networking opportunities.

This is the 4th UMD conference to take place.

Macedonia commemorates Metodija Andonov Chento anniversary

Today, Macedonia commemorates the 56th anniversary of the death of Metodija Andonov Chento.

Political parties, representatives of the Prilep Municipality and the Union of Veterans all payed respects to the statesman in his hometown of Prilep today.

Metodija Andonov Chento was president of the national liberation movement in World War II, ASNOM. Chento was a devout believer and active promoter of the reunification of the Macedonian people and their territories. Many initiatives were quashed by the ruling communist Yugoslav authorities and Chento was eventually betrayed by fellow Macedonians who were staunch supporters of the ruling communist regime, sentencing him to prison.

Chento was another victim of communism but he will forever be remembered as one of the greatest Macedonian patriots in history.

Pero Antic signs for Atlanta Hawks

Antic in action

Macedonian big man, Pero Antic, has signed for the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, says his manager Mishko Raznatovic.

The Macedonian national team captain is coming across from Greek giants Olympiacos.

Pero began his career at Macedonian side Rabotnicki. His CV includes the likes of AEK, Red Star,  Lukoil Akademik, Locomotiv Kuban and Spartak St Petersburg.

Antic led the Macedonian team to their historic 4th place in the European Championships in 2011 and will again lead the team in this years Championshsips in Slovenia.


Pero Antic will be the first Macedonian to play in the NBA.

Macedonia to subsidise locally produced films

Film industry given boost

Macedonia is changing its law on film funding. The change foresees an increase in subsidising locally made films. From now on, films will be subsidised 1 million Euro, up from the previous 500,00 Euro on offer for films of national importance.

The change aims to attract foreign film companies to enter the Macedonian market and help boost the local film industry. The law also foresees the return of 20% of the invested funds if the film is filmed on the territory of Macedonia.

The change will see the film fund turn into a film agency, working to improve the current film industry in the country.

Macedonia has a small but capable film industry, headed by Milcho Manchevski's Oscar nominated Before the Rain and Darko Mitrevski's World War II football drama The Third Half.

Incidents outside of Vardar Champions League qualifier

Macedonians cite police discrimination

Dramatic scenes occurred last night at FK Vardar's Champions League qualifier against Steaua Bucharest. Unfortunately, the drama occurred off the pitch as Vardar's support group "Komiti" engaged in clashes with the police.

The incident occurred after the Komiti were refused entry into the game, leaving them shut out of the stadium. This in turn enraged the group who proceeded to kick in gates, resulting in the arrival of police and specials operations forces unit "EBR".

The reason for the refusal of the fans is still unknown, although it is thought that the recent change in security companies that run the stadium had a part to play.

This incident is the latest in a series of police-supporter clashes in Macedonia. Recent major incidents involving police have occurred throughout Macedonia with "Kumani" Kumanovo supporters and "Ckembari" Pelister supporters just to name a couple.

The supporters have cited police heavy handedness and discrimination against ethnic Macedonian support groups as the main motive behind these incidents.

Vardar bows out of Champions League

Vardar loses campaign

Macedonian champions FK Vardar have bowed out of the Champions League qualifiers with a 1-2 loss at home against Romanian giants Steaua Bucharest last night at Filip II Arena, Skopje.

The Macedonians end their campaign with a 5-1 aggregate loss to their Romanian opponents. The goal for Vardar coming from Kostovski just before half time.

Steaua move onto the third round of qualifications against Dinamo Tbilisi.

There was no luck for the Vardar supporters either, as the Komiti were banned from entering which resulted in clashes with police outside of the stadium. There has been a spike in incidents involving police and Macedonian support groups over recent times, with supporters accusing the police of heavy handedness and discrimination.

Macedonia joins South Stream

Macedonia joins South Stream

A Macedonian Government delegation led by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski signed the agreement on Macedonia’s participation in major European gas line – South Stream.

The agreement was signed by Vice Premier and Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski and Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Valentinovich Novak in the presence of Gazprom and Stroytransgaz representatives.

“This is a key project for us as South Stream guarantees the energy stability of the Republic of Macedonia, new amounts of gas will be secured, which will give greater vision to the internal gas transportation infrastructure,” said Prime Minister Gruevski.

The agreement envisages a branch of the major energy project to connect to Macedonia, although the origin of the branch whether it be from Bulgaria or Serbia is still unknown.

The signing of the agreement came as a result of increased bilateral relations with Russia, states Gruevski. He also believes that an agreement will be signed with Stroytransgaz by October this year, paving the way for the construction of the national gas network in Macedonia.

This network will be partly funded by the Soviet Union clearing debt to Macedonia.

The gasification of Macedonia is considered strategic and in the national interest, as it will offer cheap energy alternatives to homes and businesses alike.

Greek discrimination on Macedonian border continues to go unnoticed

Macedonian - Greek Border

The Greek authorities continue to discriminate against Macedonian citizens along the border with the Republic of Macedonia.

Among the latest citizens refused entry into Greece was president of the Association of Macedonians of Aegean Macedonia (Makedon), Tashko Jovanov along with Aleksandar Georgiev who was also refused entry on a previous occasion.

This latest incident comes a week after two Macedonian buses were held at the border for five hours on suspicion that Tashko Jovanov was among the travelers, which he was not.

In the past, this state-sponsored discriminative behavior has seen its motivation stem from denying ethnic Macedonian refugees a return back to their ancestral homes and the attempted censorship of the largest annual ethnic Macedonian gathering in Greece - the Ovcharani Carnival.

The refusal of entry to Macedonian citizens is not a rare occurrence on the border with Greece. The unprofessional behavior is mainly targeted towards ethnic Macedonian refugees driven out of Greece in the past, wanting to return back to their homes/families but also Macedonian journalists, which makes the ignorance of this issue by the international community that much more appalling.

Macedonians to march in Melbourne to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Bucharest

Macedonian borders before division

The Macedonians of Melbourne will march in Melbourne to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Bucharest, the division of Macedonia.

The march will take place on the exact date that the destructive treaty was signed, dividing Macedonia between Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia. The march will begin at Carlton Gardens and make its way to Parliament.

The commemoration is being organised by MACO, the Macedonian Australian Community Organisation. The intent of the march is to commemorate the anniversary of the signing of the treaty and to shine the light on one of the darkest days in Macedonian history, which has largely gone unnoticed in the modern world.

The division of Macedonia could be regarded as the single most destructive event in the history of Macedonia, losing well over half of its territory, dividing relatives, a nation and signalling the beginning of 100 years of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Macedonian people, who are still struggling for their basic human rights in Aegean (Greek), Pirin (Bulgarian) and Mala Prespa/Golo Brdo (Albanian) parts of Macedonia.

FK Vardar in last roll of dice against Steaua Buchurest

Vardar vs Steaua

Macedonian champions FK Vardar take on Romanian giants Steaua Bucharest in tonight’s second leg UEFA Champions League qualifier to be played at the Filip II National Arena in Skopje, Macedonia.

Vardar have a difficult task in progressing through to the next stage after their 3-0 defeat to Steaua in the first leg played in Romania.

It is not looking good for the Macedonian clubs progressing through to next stages in their European qualifiers with the exception of FK Turnovo who still have a good chance of making the next stage of the Europa League if they can beat Croatian giants Hajduk Split in their second leg on home soil after their initial 2-1 loss. The match will also be played at Filip II National Arena in Skopje.

Macedonian Delegation flies to Moscow to sign South Stream agreement

South Stream Pipeline

A Macedonian Government delegation led by Prime Minister
Nikola Gruevski, under the invitation of the Russian Government, has left for Moscow today to sign the agreement on Macedonia’s participation in major European gas line – South Stream.

“This is a key project for us as South Stream guarantees the energy stability of the Republic of Macedonia, new amounts of gas will be secured, which will give greater vision to the internal gas transportation infrastructure,” said Prime Minister Gruevski.

Gruevski also stated that plans have been drawn for the
realization of the internal national gas infrastructure. The Prime Minister
believes that with the signing of this agreement, it will give the country an
impetus to build and bring closer to reality the development of the national
gas infrastructure network.

The direction of the South Stream gas connection to Macedonia, whether it be from Bulgaria or Serbia,
is still unknown and in the hands of Russia’s Gazprom.

South Stream began construction last year and is planned to
be finished by 2015.