Makedonien|Mazedonien News

Die Zahl der orthodoxen Christen in Albanien scheint zu einem Politikum zu werden: In dem südosteuropäischen Land leben laut einer Volkszählung von 2011 knapp 250.000 albanisch-orthodoxe Christen, was 6,75 Prozent der Gesamtbevölkerung entspricht. Der Weltkirchenrat zieht diese Zahl in Zweifel. In einem offenen Brief an Heiner Bielefeldt, den UN-Sonderberichterstatter für Religions- und Glaubensfreiheit, beruft sich der Generalsekretär des Weltkirchenrates, Olav Fykse Tveit, auf eine Erhebung, welche die Orthodoxe Kirche von Albanien im Dezember 2012 selbst vorgenommen hatte.  Sie verteilte an zwei Adventssonntagen Fragebögen zum Ablauf der Volkszählung an Gottesdienstbesucher in verschiedenen albanischen Städten. Den Angaben zufolge füllten 7.118 Personen die Bögen vollständig aus. Die Auswertung ergab, dass rund zwei Drittel der Befragten von den Volkszählern nicht nach ihrer Religionszugehörigkeit befragt wurden oder gar nicht erst besucht worden waren.  Die Orthodoxe ...

 The State commission for corruption prevention today issued a piblic warning to SDSM MP Ana Pavlova Danevska because of conflict of interests, namely she is an MP in Parliament and at the same time works as a professor at Law School "Justinijan I" in Skopje. According to the laws and acts for preventing conflicts of interest, the Commission had sent a letter to Ana Pavlova Danevska in period of 15 days to volontarily give up its post in Parliament or her professor post at the University. Pavlova Danevska, according to the Commission chose not to follow the directives thus the Commission went to step two according to Act 23-2 which is public warning issued through the media.

The increase in industrial production for three months in a row suggests that Macedonia's economy is recovering indicating that the government's projections could be realised, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski told reporters on Thursday. "It is a positive trend signaling that the Macedonian economy is recovering and I hope it will continue even though it largely depends on developments in the EU and the eurozone. The measures and activities aimed at attracting new investors who open new factories are already generating certain results and Macedonia is recovering more quickly than the EU. It is a good signal and demonstrates that we are moving into the right direction. There is a great possibility that our expectations with respect to growth will be fulfilled," PM Gruevski stated. According to the State Statistical Office, April's industrial production rose 4 percent. 

Swiss Ambassador Stefano Lazzarotto promoted Thursday his country's 2013-2016 Cooperation Strategy for Macedonia. The new Cooperation Strategy 2013-2016 is rooted in the spirit of the agreements of cooperation between the governments of Switzerland and Macedonia and was developed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in close consultation with Macedonian government offices and partners such as the civil society. It represents a strong commitment to continue supporting the economic, social and political transition processes in Macedonia, building on Switzerland's long-term presence in Macedonia and earlier achievements. Over the years, Swiss-Macedonian cooperation has grown. Today Switzerland is the sixth largest development partner of Macedonia. The new Strategy focuses on three thematic domains: Economy, Water, Governance & Decentralisation. Switzerland has relevant expertise in all...

Macedonian state and church officials, led by Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanoski, which pays a visit to Rome on event "Macedonia Honors St. Cyril" Friday was received by the Pope Francis. Earlier, the Metropolitan of Prespa and Pelagonija Petar held religious service in honour to St. Cyril in the "San Clemente" basilica and Macedonian delegation and many citizens bowed on the tomb of St. Cyril, MIA reports. Parliament Speaker Veljanoski after tęte-ŕ-tęte meeting said that the Pope Francis underlined that Macedonia has given a lot for the Christianity. Veljanoski invited Pope Francis to visit Macedonia and entire region. His visit will give additional stimulus to all developments in the region, Veljanoski said who informed the Pope on World Conference on Dialogue Among Religions and Civilizations, which has been recently held in Skopje. Conducting dialogue means a lot to him as well because as he said the problems that exist in Europe and in the...

Macedonia's Ministry of Health will regulate the dress and behavior of medical personnel in public health institutions in the country to settle unsettled perception of the work. It provides a protocol for how to perform the health care in health facilities of organizational aspect - hospital culture that was promoted. The protocol, which is binding for all employees of PHI, lays down the overall relationship of health workers and health functioning within the institution, and its purpose is to raise the level of responsiveness and improve the treatment of patients with emphasis on the physician-patient relationship among physicians in the institution, and defining the attitude of patient-doctor. Macedonia will address an unobtrusive dress code for health professionals. White coat can be worn only a doctor, nurse will be wearing a light blue coat, nurse in light gray, and technical staff in a red or maroon outfit. Source; Government

Cornerstone laying ceremony marked Saturday the start of the construction of "Bogdanci" wind park. This is the first wind park in Macedonia which will provide pure energy from renewable source using the wind energy. The project is expected to become operational in several months. The first phase includes 16 wind turbines; total capacity of the wind park will reach 36.8 MW and annual energy production of 100 GWh. It will provide energy to 15.000 households or a total of 60.000 citizens. By this project we begin new chapter in energy strategy and portfolio in the Republic of Macedonia. Such tendency is unavoidably necessary if high oil prices, limited natural resources and partially used hydro potential of the country are taken into account, PM Nikola Gruevski said at the cornerstone laying ceremony. He also mentioned that development of energy sector is one of the fundamental driving force of economic development of every country. Macedonian Power Plants (...

Economy Minister Valon Saraqini and French Ambassador to Macedonia Laurence Auer concluded Wednesday that Skopje and Paris should work together to bolster the cooperation between the governments and private sector of both countries. They agreed a realization of a project for employees of the Ministry of Economy to learn the French language, Saraqini's Cabinet said in a press release. Referring to the Macedonian Government economic policies, Saraqini told Auer that the attention should be focused on the energy and road infrastructure sectors, which should result in attracting foreign capital and tourists, considering the country's location, investment potential and natural resources. He also mentioned the project that would enable young people to learn how an idea could turn into a successful business. Auer reaffirmed the French support of Macedonia's EU integration and commended the country's reform progress, also acknowledged recently by the Europ...

A new round of drilling, by Genesis Resources, brought encouragement for a new gold zone at the rapidly growing Plavica Prospect in Macedonia. In 2012, saw the JORC resource at Plavica increased as it included copper and silver as credits that lifted the total resource base to 3.66 million ounces of gold at 0.75 grams per tonne gold at a cut off grade of 0.5g/t gold. The new round of RC drilling focused on a east-west trending zone on the nothern part of Plavica Maedonia and returned some large gold widths and good grades. 

World-renowned brand "Hilton" puts Macedonia on its map through the signing of a franchise agreement over the opening of "Double Tree by Hilton" in Skopje. The hotel, built along the river Vardar in Aerodrom municipality, is to open in 2016. According to announcements, the hotel will include 172 elite rooms, as well as facilities for diverse events, a business center, wellness and spa centers. "Double Tree by Hilton in Macedonia will be an excellent addition to our portfolio, since the country has a profile of a rapidly-growing tourism destination", said Patrick Fitzgibbon, Hilton Worldwide Senior Vice President Development, Europe & Africa. Hilton is a leading global hospitality company, which brands encompass about 3,900 hotels in 91 countries. 

The Government is reintroducing the logo "Let's Buy Macedonian Products", "For Our Own Good", "Made in Macedonia" and the sun on fiscal receipts as of 1 January 2014. They will also include the total turnover of Macedonian goods. The objective is to support the local economy and to raise public awareness on the importance of buying Macedonian products. The move, announced Wednesday by Deputy PM and Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski at a press conference, is part of the latest amendments to the Law on Registration of Cash Payments, adopted recently by the Government. "These changes aim at improving the Macedonian economy, supporting the use of Macedonian products, because the production of Macedonian goods depends on whether they are being purchased and used by consumers. Considering the general conditions in the European and Macedonian economy, we think it is necessary to support Macedonian products and encourage consumers to buy and us...

Convinced in the need of providing contribution towards encouraging the cultural and religious dialogue and cooperation, the Republic of Macedonia for the third time organizes the World Conference on Dialogue Among Religions and Civilizations on the topic 'Freedom and Dignity-Fundamental Values in Inter-Human, Inter-Religious and Inter-Cultural Relations', which will be held on May 10-12 in Skopje. Third World Conference is a continuation of the first and second ones,  successfully realized in 2007 and 2010 in Ohrid. As the previous two, the Conference shall be organized by the Ministry of Culture in cooperation with the Commission for Relations with Religious Communities and Groups and will be implemented within the UN and UNESCO Global Agenda for Dialogue among Civilizations, financially supported by the Macedonian Government and UNESCO. The Conference programme includes discussion on  the topics: Pluralistic Societies and Religious Tolerance; Living Together by Re...

Preparing of strategic marketing plans for export of Macedonian fresh fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and vegetables on markets worldwide is the goal of the project "Sector Export Marketing Plans (SEMP) for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables and Processed Vegetables Value Chains", which was officially promoted on Monday. The project prepared by USAID's AgBiz programme, the Agency for Foreign Investments and Export Promotion, and CBI, a Dutch agency that promotes imports from developing countries, in cooperation with Makedonija Eksport company have identified several potential export markets, where Macedonian product would have a competitive value. The markets in Serbia, Russia, Slovenia, Germany and Canada have been selected for export of fresh fruit and vegetables, whereas the markets in Serbia, the Czech Republic, Russia, Bulgaria and BiH have been chosen for promotion of processed fruit and vegetables. The ministries of agriculture and economy were also inv...