North Macedonia / Europe & Central Asia

  

Masked men attack freelance journalist Zoran Bozinovski in North Macedonia

Berlin, October 31, 2022—North Macedonia’s authorities must conduct a swift and thorough investigation into the recent attack on journalist Zoran Bozinovski, determine whether it was related to his work, bring the perpetrators to justice, and ensure the reporter’s safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. Around 8.30 p.m. on October 25, two assailants wearing…

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North Macedonia journalist Tanja Milevska receives death and rape threats

Over several days following July 11, 2020, Brussels-based journalist Tanja Milevska, a reporter for the North Macedonia state news agency MIA, received numerous threats and threatening messages on social media, according to a report by her employer and the journalist, who communicated with CPJ via email. Milevska told CPJ that the messages began after she…

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People walk under political billboards in Skopje, North Macedonia, on May 4, 2019. A North Macedonian government official recently threatened two journalists. (AFP/Robert Atanasovski)

North Macedonia journalists threatened by government official

Berlin, February 4, 2020 — North Macedonia authorities should conduct a swift and transparent investigation into the threats made against journalists Meri Jordanovska and Iskra Korovesovska and ensure their safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Members of the media are seen in Skopje on June 9, 2011. Two Macedonian journalists were recently harassed by local government staffers in Aračinovo. (Reuters/Ognen Teofilovski)

Journalists threatened by government staffers in North Macedonia town

On April 17, 2019, a reporter and a camera operator working for TV21, a private cable station in North Macedonia, were threatened by local government staffers in Aračinovo, a town east of the capital, Skopje, according to a report from TV21 and a statement by the Association of Journalists of North Macedonia, a local press…

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Participants in a religious event pull a cross out of the river Vardar in Skopje during Epiphany on January 19. A journalist covering the event says a security guard attacked her when she tried to interview one of the people taking part. (AFP/Robert Atanasovski)

In Macedonia, journalist attacked covering religious event

Mirjana Mircevska-Jovanović, a reporter for Kanal 5, a privately owned television station, was attacked in the capital, Skopje, on January 19, 2019 while covering an event celebrating the Orthodox Christian holiday of Epiphany, according to local news site Telma.

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Macedonian Social Democratic Party leader Zoran Zaev, who was among those injured when protesters stormed the parliament on April 27, 2017, reacts at a news conference in Skopje the following day. (Reuters/Ognen Teofilovski)

At least two journalists injured as protesters storm Macedonian parliament

Brussels, April 28, 2017–Macedonian police and prosecutors should swiftly bring to justice those responsible for injuring at least two journalists and assaulting at least four others in last night’s storming of the parliament building, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Nationalist demonstrators, many of them wearing masks and hoods, last night stormed the building…

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Election posters for Nikola Gruevski, of Macedonia's VMRO-DPMNE party, in Skopje in December. Gruevski, who is struggling to form a coalition government, accuses critical media of being foreign mercenaries. (AP/Boris Grdanoski)

In Macedonia, anti-press rhetoric leaves journalists feeling vulnerable

As the political crisis in Macedonia, triggered by allegations of mass surveillance by intelligence agencies, deepens the environment is increasingly unsafe for journalists who report critically on the ruling Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) and its leader, Nikola Gruevski.

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Balancing Act

Joining the club: accession and press freedom Accession to the EU is often described as one of the most effective democracy promotion projects in the world. Countries vying for membership must prove themselves on a range of political and legal criteria that include provisions on standards for human rights, freedom of expression, and press freedom.…

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Transcripts of alleged wiretap recordings are handed out in Skopje on February 27. Claims that journalists as well as ministers were under surveillance have highlighted press freedom conditions in Macedonia. (Reuters/Ognen Teofilovski)

Press apathy over Macedonia wiretaps is symptom of failing democracy

Journalists and professional press organizations were given just one day’s warning on February 25 that Zoran Zaev, leader of Macedonia’s opposition party the Social Democrats, would be revealing what he described as a “bomb”–conversations of journalists allegedly wiretapped by the government–at his weekly press conference.

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Appeals court orders imprisonment of Macedonian reporter

The Skopje Court of Appeals in the capital, Skopje, on January 15, 2015, reduced Tomislav Kezarovski’s prison term from four and a half years to two years, but ordered the journalist to serve the remaining time–four and a half months–in jail, according to regional and international press. Kezarovski had been serving the term under house…

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