Stories about North Macedonia
The Western Balkans will need unity and cooperation across society to overcome press freedom challenges
Independent media in the Western Balkans face disinformation campaigns, hate speech, physical attacks, threats, low income, poor economic status, divisions, self-censorship and job insecurity.
Andrey Zakharov, BBC News Russian: For eight years, propaganda has been preparing people to support the war in Ukraine
In his opinion, Russia has lost the information war abroad, even though many Russian citizens support the regime.
Yugoslav monuments: Forgotten places of resistance and memory
Before the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia broke up, there were countless sites erected to honor the victims of the Second World War. These monuments are largely in disrepair now.
Violence against women has been promoted in the Balkans through pop music for 40 years
An artist stirred controversy with her documentary film “Violence against women in domestic songs” where she examines violence against women portrayed through turbo-folk, pop, rap, and hip-hop songs.
European Court of Human Rights vindicates Macedonian journalists convicted of defamation
In 2014 and 2015, Focus journalists had to pay more than EUR 9,000 as damages to the former director of the Administration for Security and Counterintelligence (ASC) Sašo Mijalkov for defamation and insult.
An underground comic book displays the zeitgeist of Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia
The comic book "Streetdog and Rat" ("Džukela i Pacof" in Macedonian) was published in October 2021. The author Matej Bogdanovski has given Global Voices permission to publish a segment translated into English.
Macedonian court sentences ringleaders of a sexual predators’ Telegram group to four years in prison
Civic organizations expressed deep dissatisfaction with the "Public Room" court case verdict, claiming it revealed that the punitive policies for sexual violence in North Macedonia are insufficient, inappropriate and incomplete.
Russian embassy in Skopje threatens to ‘record’ dissenters from Kremlin official positions, labeled ‘Russophobes’
The Russian embassy in North Macedonia was the only one in the Balkans that reissued a warning by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that incidents of “Russophobia” "are meticulously recorded.”
#StandWithUkraine: Protesters in North Macedonia call for an end to ‘Russian aggression’
Ukrainians residing in the North Macedonian capital of Skopje and local citizens protested against the Russian invasion of Ukraine in front of the Russian embassy on February 25.
Until recently, politicians in North Macedonia usually treaded lightly over Russia
"In some of the information related to the conflict over Ukraine, some Macedonian media very openly take sides with the use of appropriate wording and context ... "
How fascination with Russia’s power is created in the media and on social networks in North Macedonia
In North Macedonia, Russia’s military power is talked about in a way and in a quantity that cannot be found about any other country.
Russian influence in North Macedonia is particularly present around key political events, disinformation researcher says
"What is surprising is that certain structures in society still behave as if North Macedonia is not a member of NATO, although it will be almost two years since its accession to NATO."
Does the state's failure to act enable online sexual violence in North Macedonia?
The absence of a separate crime in the Criminal Code is just an excuse for the authorities not to act effectively in cases of online sexual harassment, activists say.
Private abuse in Telegram’s ‘Public Rooms': Can North Macedonia fight online sexual harassment?
In February 2021, hundreds of feminists and other supporters took to the streets of Skopje in protest of the Macedonian institutions’ inaction and impunity for the perpetrators of online sexual violence.
From Kosovo 1999 to Russia 2021: The ‘cheapfake’ photo trend fuelling dangerous propaganda
"It is important to raise awareness of the widespread use of cheapfake images and to acknowledge that some governments use the practice to influence people's opinions."
Ex-Yugoslav music fans mourn the death of Macedonian-Croatian rock star Aki Rahimovski
The career of the lead singer of the Zagreb-based rock band Parni Valjak spanned almost five decades, starting in 1975.
‘I didn't ask for it!': Four women fighting against gender-based violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The spontaneous decision to host a page where women would anonymously share their experiences of sexual assault and harassment has received a response far beyond anything the activists expected.
North Macedonia's Zoran Zaev, the prime minister who ‘has done the most to serve his country’
Zaev resigned as prime minister on December 22. His goals were to restore democracy and freedom, bring North Macedonia into NATO and the EU, and improve the quality of life.
North Macedonia Prime Minister Zoran Zaev resigns after defeat in local elections
Pro-ЕU Social Democrat Zaev had previously promised that he would resign if his party failed to retain the mayoralty of the capital Skopje.
We need ‘painless’ glucose monitors, says Mia Chichkarikj, a 16-year-old diabetes patient from North Macedonia
“This should be a plea to the authorities at the Ministry of Health, to take our needs for 'painless' glucose monitors seriously and to provide them as soon as possible.”
Animal rights activist in North Macedonia threatened after blowing the whistle on possible lion cub trafficking
While handling lion cubs is forbidden by law in North Macedonia, social media posts by nouveau riche or would-be-influencers revealed them bragging about socializing with a cub nicknamed "Simba."