MIC - Macedonian Information Centre -

Flash News

Thu, 17 May 2012 09:43:11 +0200

- A Macedonian delegation composed of President Gjorge Ivanov and Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs Fatmir Besimi and Nikola Poposki on Monday are to meet NATO General Secretary Anders Fogh Rasmussen and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton following the NATO Summit in Chicago. Unofficially, Ivanov will be able to present the arguments why Macedonia deserves to become a NATO member.

CHARGES AGAINST 14 PEOPLE TO BE PRESSED FOR STONING GOVERNMENT

Tue, 15 May 2012 14:12:36 +0200

Fourteen people that participated in the stoning of the Government and the BDI Headquarters in Cair on Friday have been identified. The police continue to check the footage of the protests to determine who else took part in the violent protests culminating with attacks against a few journalists, cameramen and police officers that were injured. Criminal charges will be pressed against the violent participants in the protests that took place after the Friday prayer at the mosques in a few cities across the country.

“Based on the videos, 14 persons from Skopje aged 18-39 have been identified. In a consultation with the Basic Public Prosecution, they will be charged with participation in a crowd that committed a criminal offence,” said Ivo Kotevski, Assistant Interior Minister for Information.

Flash News

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:32:20 +0200

- Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki, from 14 to 16 May, is to pay an official visit to the Republic of Turkey and an agreement on traveling conditions for nationals from both countries will be signed within the frames of the visit.

AGREEMENT FOR PROMOTING ECONOMIC COOPERATION WITH CHINA SIGNED

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:25:41 +0200

Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and the government delegation met with Wan Jifei, Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in Beijing on Monday. The good political relations between the two countries and the commitment to intensifying the economic relations were stressed at the meeting. Prime Minister Gruevski presented the incentives and conditions that Macedonia offers for starting and doing business. He addressed also the government support for the companies deciding to invest or having already invested in Macedonia.

Mr. Jifei positively assessed the measures and activities of the Macedonian Government for promotion of the economic interests and expressed serious interest in promoting cooperation further and in conducting additional and advanced commercial and technical analyses of certain projects.

With the aim of promoting processes, Visar Fida, Director of the Macedonian Agency for Foreign Investments and Export Promotion, and Jufei, Chairman of the Chinese Council for the Promotion of International Trade, signed the Memorandum on Cooperation between the two institutions. The government delegation, paying a 5-day visit to China, is going to visit a number of cities and hold business presentations before Chinese businessmen.

Flash News

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:25:00 +0200

- A Macedonian delegation led by PM Gruevski is paying a 5 day visit to China. Gruevski is set to meet his counterpart Wen Jiabao. Gruevski will also address a number of business forums in Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai and Hong Kong, at which he will present the possibilities for investment in Macedonia.

PROTEST AGAINST “STAGED” PROCESSES AGAINST ALBANIANS – INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON TREATMENT OF ARRESTED REQUIRED

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:35:28 +0200

Around ten thousand Albanians protested in Skopje against, as they said to the media, the staged processes against Albanians that take place in Macedonia. The reason for this is the result of the police investigation on the multiple murders in Smilkovci one month ago when five Macedonians were executed. The police arrested twenty persons and filed criminal charges for murder against six of them, two of whom on the run. The protests are organized due to the published analyses of policemen that the organizers of the execution are radical Islamists.

Protests started Friday afternoon in Tetovo and Kumanovo. 200 persons gathered on Tetovo’s city square and headed toward the court and announced that they would head toward the BDI headquarters in Mala Recica. Protests started in Kumanovo and resumed toward the court, the municipal building and police.

The protests began after Friday’s prayer in the mosques and few thousands citizens in Skopje started walking from the Jaja Pasa mosque to Macedonian courts under strong police security. The protestors gave a press-release to journalists, which will also be sent to the international community. The press-release reads that they “honestly share the pain with the families of the killed Macedonians and demand the murderers to be brought before justice.”

Flash News

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:25:27 +0200

- Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski sent a letter to the leaders of NATO member-states in which he reminds of the contribution of the Republic of Macedonia to the realization of NATO-led international peacekeeping missions. Gruevski is sure that Macedonia’s NATO accession will not only benefit the region's stability, security and prosperity but at the same time stimulate the creation of trust between Macedonia and Greece.

APPEALS FOR PEACEFUL PROTESTS

Thu, 10 May 2012 14:48:37 +0200

To protest is a democratic right but composure, reservation and reason is needed to avoid violence and division. These are the messages that President Gjorgje Ivanov, parties and experts sent on Wednesday as result of the announcements that protests in several cities in the country against police action “Monster” will be held after Friday’s prayer in mosques. According to announcements posted on social networks, the protests against the arrest of the group of followers of radical Islamism who are suspected of being involved in the multiple murders in Smilkovci are planned to be staged in Gostivar, Kumanovo, Tetovo, Kicevo, Debar and Struga. Meanwhile, a counter-protest is announced that should be held Saturday at 13:00 outside the Government. It is announced that this protest will demand spreading of radical Islamism to be prevented and the participants are asked not to cause any incidents. The organizers of both protests are unknown but they caused disturbance in the country. None of the protests have been reported to the police but this does not mean that the Ministry of Interior will not undertake all security measures.

FULE SATISFIED WITH THE PROGRESS

Tue, 08 May 2012 14:27:42 +0200

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule said Monday at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski that he is satisfied with the high-level accession dialogue, which has brought new dynamics to and set the European agenda in the focus of a public debate, in spite of other present challenges. However, he also reminded the Government that it has to implement the roadmap it adopted in April. Fule and Gruevski, following the meeting, underlined that opening accession negotiations remains the common objective. However, in the meantime it is important to maintain the momentum of reforms.

“I am satisfied with the high-level accession dialogue, which has brought new dynamics to and set the European agenda in the focus of a public debate, in spite of other present challenges. If one take into consideration the limited time between the two meetings, significant progress has been achieved. The conclusions agreed at the first meeting in March have been met in all six fields and this is very important. I am satisfied with the roadmap adopted by the Government in April and now it is important to work on its implementation and see the roadmap as a living document,” Fule said.

Flash News

Tue, 08 May 2012 09:03:47 +0200

- PM Nikola Gruevski stated that Macedonia has brought dynamics to the reform activities that the EU requires and the Government will manage to meet the deadlines that have been set with the EU guideline. With such assurance, PM Nikola Gruevski is to receive EU Commissioner Stefan Fule on Monday. Gruevski promised that the Government will try to overcome the name row with Greece because this hampers our Euro-Atlantic integration.

JANKULOSKA: WE WERE BRUTALLY REMINDED WHAT WE SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR

Fri, 04 May 2012 14:37:06 +0200

Terrorists often present themselves as “ordinary” citizens and do not stand out in order to gain trust and spread their network of collaborators. The true question is how to detect this threat more easily in the future in order to prevent hideous murders, such as the one at the Smilkovci lake, from happening again, says Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska in her interview with Dnevnik.

Who could be the mastermind of the monstrous murder of five men at Smilkovci, according to the investigation of the Interior Ministry?
- It is too early to say whether there was one mastermind or it was an idea of many. On Tuesday, we started the last stage of the realization of the operation Monster. By bringing the suspects before an investigative judge, the official court investigation has gone underway as well. The fact that the charges were accepted and court proceedings began means that much of the job has been done well. I don’t know what statement the suspects made in court and whether they said that someone organized them or convinced them to commit the crime, yet I do know that we are not going to stop before all are brought before justice no matter their role.

BDI: NLA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH TERRORISTS

Thu, 03 May 2012 14:32:46 +0200

The NLA cannot be brought in relation to the murder of five men near Smilkovci village because it had been disarmed in 2011 and the motives for its activities back then have nothing to do with radical Islam, BDI says. This political party, which is the direct successor of the National Liberation Army (NLA), has thus acquitted of any guilt its former fellow fighters and called on the relevant authorities to determine whether any of the suspects for the mass murder at Smilkovci were members of the NLA.

In the video footage of the Interior Ministry of the arrest in the operation Monster, photographs and emblems of former UCK fighters including Kosovar Fadil Limani, also known as commander Tigri, who fought in Kosovo and Macedonia and who was killed in Vaksince in 2001, can be seen.

However, it was impossible to extract information from either the police or BDI Wednesday as to whether the detainees include former members of the NLA. The Interior Ministry says that they do not have any information whether any of the suspects are former NLA members. Even if they are, it is not considered a crime.

Flash News

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:12:01 +0200

- Terrorism charges have been submitted against five persons aged 24 to 54. Three of them - one person aged 27 and two brothers - are most probably suspected of killing the five fishermen. The other two are charged for being accessories in committing the crime. The suspects, during the previous day, were questioned by police inspectors in several police stations in Skopje. Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska stated that all of them are connected to the murder of the five people near Smilkovci. According to Jankulovska, a five-member group participated in the massacre, three of them were direct executors and two helped them to flee. The five criminals were at the age of 24 to 54 and two of them are on the run.

POLICE CATCH PERPETRATORS OF MASS MURDER AT SMILKOVCI

Thu, 03 May 2012 09:34:47 +0200

The police arrested twenty persons early Tuesday, followers of radical Islam. 600 policemen participated in the action called “Monstrum” and the indicted are suspected of terrorism. Interior Minister Gordana Jankuloska said that some of the arrested participated in the fights in Afghanistan and Pakistan and bearing in mind that Macedonia is part of the global coalition for peace and by number of citizens fifth according to participation of ARM peacekeepers in mission in Afghanistan, it is a potential target for terrorism. Large quantity of weapons were discovered in the police raid and the investigation will show whether some of the weapons was used in the multiple murders near Smilkovci. Considering the fact that Macedonia is a potential target for terrorism, the murders of five people from Macedonia could be revenge for the participation in the peacekeeping missions.

POPOSKI: AFTER CHICAGO, MACEDONIA HAS NO PLAN B

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:03:31 +0200

It is clear that the NATO summit in Chicago will not be about enlargement, says Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki in his interview with the Voice of America. However, the contribution Macedonia is making to the Alliance adds additional value to Macedonia’s integration. After the summit, Poposki says, there is no plan B.

“We want membership. We deserve it. We have met all criteria. Furthermore, there is a legal argument in our favor following the Judgment of the International Court of Justice,” Minister Poposki emphasized

He informed that at his meetings with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and officials of the US Department of State, it was stressed in no uncertain terms that the bilateral dispute imposed on Macedonia by Greece should not be an impediment to the realization of Macedonia’s strategic goal – NATO membership.