Full Coverage: Macedonia (FYROM)

30.09.2004 Macedonia is only partly free country, which has some upward trends with the small advancements in the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement, including the legalization of the Tetovo University and the disbanding of an extremist paramilitary group. Such is the conclusion of Freedom House's report.

28.09.2004 The regional cooperation is the basis for the European approach to problems, said Clauss Schumman, Director General for Political Affairs of the Council of Europe, at the “Citizens for Peace and Development” Conference, held last weekend in Kumanovo. The Conference is a part of the activities created to promote the cross-border cooperation between northern Macedonia, Kosovo and Southern Serbia.

24.09.2004 Many children in Macedonia go to bed hungry, and 42 percent live in poor families. Over 80% of all girls have suffered some form of post-traumatic stress, while the estimates are that 10% of the boys and 16% of the girls have suffer from deteriorated health.

23.09.2004 The Budva Declaration was adopted at the regional Seminar on the Freedom of Information (Budva, Montenegro, September 9-10). Representatives of the Governments of Balkan countries, together with foreign and NGOs from the region participated in the Seminar.

22.09.2004 It is almost inconceivable for persons with disabilities to study in Macedonia. Apart from the access ramps at two Faculties of the Skopje University, which may serve as a reminder that these persons exist, little else is done to assist them. On the other hand, the best possible chance for a disabled person to get involved in the social life is to get proper education, says Zvonko Stavrevski, President of Polio Plus Ngo.

16.09.2004 The Association of Clubs of Treated Alcoholics of the Republic of Macedonia (the original acronym is ZKLAM) held a press conference to present its “Support for Women Victims of Alcoholism” Project. The Project is implemented in cooperation with the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) and USAID.

15.09.2004 According to the new Law on Elementary Education, which was adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonian yesterday, the primary education will take nine school years, with the first year being preparatory. This system will be implemented starting in 2007.

15.09.2004 The Macedonian Helsinki Committee believes the agreement between the Government of Macedonia and “Stopanska Banka” Ldt., according to which the buyers of 1,400 state owned apartments will sign agreements with the Bank is very suspect. The Committee, in its last report, demands from the Government to come out in public with details on the tender that led to the selection of Stopanska Banka as authorized creditor.

14.09.2004 At the press conference held today, Transparency Macedonia informed the public about the results of the Project “Information and Legal Advice Centre” in Skopje, financed by the German Foreign ministry and “Information and Legal Advice Centre” in Shtip, Tetovo and Kavadarci, financed by the European Commission.

13.09.2004 In the interview for Radio Free Europe in Macedonian, Xhevdet Hajredini from the "Macedonia Free of Corruption" NGO talks about the anti-corruption commission, the devaluation of the Denar exchange rate, the forthcoming referendum...

10.09.2004 The Civic Association Most plans to accredit bout 3,500 observers for the referendum against the new territorial organization of municipalities in Macedonia.

08.09.2004 The Association of Russian Citizens in the Republic of Macedonia, MR-MOST, would like to inform the public that it followed the hostage drama in Beslan, Northern Osetia, Russia, with great concern.

07.09.2004 The Working Group for Minority Issues that operates under the auspices of the ECMP NGO network for improvement of interethnic relations in Macedonia, presented the latest Alternative Report on the Status of National Minorities in the Republic of Macedonia. The presentation was held in the auspices of the NGO InfoCentre in Skopje. According to ESMP, the Report reflects the real situation with the national minorities in the country.

02.09.2004 The reply by Macedonian Telecommunications Ltd does not correspond to the request presented by the citizens. That is the position held by the coordination body of the Civic campaign “Resist-Say No!” on the response by the company to the requests of the citizens that participated in the campaign to receive detailed listings of the phone calls charged on their bills.

02.09.2004 Ljube Boskoski, the former Macedonian Minister of the Interior, was arrested and taken for questioning by the Investigative Judge in Pula. He was expected to give his first statement in the investigation about the murders of the “Rastanski Lozja case”.

01.09.2004 The referendum is one of the most democratic forms for expression of citizens will. From that aspect, I stand firmly behind it. It may be good that the citizens are given a chance to give their opinion on such an important issue, said President Branko Crvenkovski in his interview for Radio Free Europe.

01.09.2004 Microsoft probably offered you a substantial discount for the software your government, and even your school system uses. This is a well known practice of software vendors. However, this is only a portion of the costs that the Macedonian people will bear. Other suppliers to the government will typically use the same software that the government uses, for compatibility and ease of document exchange... John 'Maddog' Hall, the President of Linux International sent an open letter to the citizens of Macedonia why it would be a bad decision to choose Microsoft as the official supplier of software solutions to the Government of Macedonia.