Macedonia celebrates Ilinden

Macedonia celebrates Ilinden

Macedonians all over the world today are celebrating the nations biggest national holiday, Ilinden.

Celebrations are taking place all over the country with the main gathering taking place in the Uprisings last stand on Mechkin Kamen, Krushevo.

This years traditional march of the horses is being lead by Macedonian war hero Johan Tarchulovski.

Other gatherings in Macedonia will take place in Pelince, on the Serbian border half a kilometer from the historic St Prohor Pcinjski Monastery, where the Macedonian national liberation movement held its first assembly in 1944. Events will also be taking place at Trnovo-Magarevo in Bitola, where a large number of Macedonian refugees from Aegean Macedonia gather as well as in Ohrid where the Green Beach Festival will be taking place.

Ilinden is also celebrated in the diaspora with dance groups, soccer clubs and churches organizing functions around the globe. The two major gatherings in Melbourne were organized at the Shrine of Remembrance and the Macedonian Orthodox Church in Epping.

Ilinden will forever be remembered for the day the Macedonian people rose up against the Ottomans to establish a free and independent Macedonian republic, setting the foundations of our state. The struggle was lead by the dukes and freedom fighters (Vojvodi and Komiti) of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation (VMRO). Today does not only celebrate the 110 year anniversary of the Ilinden Uprising, it also celebrates the 69th anniversary of the first assembly of the Macedonian national liberation movement, ASNOM, lead by the great Macedonian patriot Metodija Andonov Chento.

It is because of these two history-defining events on Saint Elijah's Day that August the 2nd will forever be celebrated amongst the Macedonian people.

Tallest high rise in the Balkans tops out in Macedonia

Courtesy of Build.mk

The Cevahir high rise complex in the Skopje municipality of Aerodrom has topped out. The construction of the top and final floor of one of the towers has reached completion with other other tower to follow in the next few days.

The 42 story buildings will be the tallest in the Balkans of their kind with a total height of 136m without the antenna.

The construction of the towers began in 2011 with the construction of the towers being completed much sooner than expected.

The Cevahir complex includes another two equally tall towers which will begin construction immediately after the first two and an entertainment/shopping complex connecting the four towers. The towers will be used for residential purposes.

The investment of Turkish Cevahir is estimated at more than 500m Euro and is set to be completed in 2016 at the latest.

Apartments for the first two towers go on sale as of early August and the settlement of the first two towers is expected to happen in around one year.

Cevahir complex in Skopje

Mavrovo church latest victim in spate of thefts

Church in Mavrovo robbed

Sveti Nikola is the latest victim in a string of church burglaries across western Macedonia.

Earlier this week Sveti Nikola in the village of Belichica was broken into by robbers who stole the church's icons and donations. 17 icons and 400 denars were stolen in the break in.

This is the latest of dozens of similar incidents over the past two years where churches across western Macedonia have been broken into and their property stolen.

The break-ins have been centered around the town of Struga, Debar and Kicevo. On many previous occasions the criminals have found to originate from Albania, coming across the border overnight.

Some churches have taken action and installed metal bars over windows in an attempt to stop the attacks.

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.