Tag Archives: Country: Macedonia

LifeSiteNews: “European abortion activists are annoyed with the tiny Balkan state of Macedonia for telling women that abortion is something that carries risks, and that they can do without.”

Winnipeg Free Press: “Macedonia’s religious leaders are urging the government to prevent same-sex weddings by changing the constitutional definition of marriage.”

Balkan Insight: “Slavco Dimitrov, from the Coalition of NGOs For the Protection and Promotion of Health and Sexual Rights of Marginalized Groups, said they were sending a petition signed by 28 local NGOs and university professors to the Culture Ministry seeking changes in the wording of school textbooks.”

EU Observer: “Macedonia has delayed judicial, administrative and economic reforms over the past twelve months, the European Commission is set to conclude in its annual progress report to be published in November . . . The long criticised and hotly debated Macedonian anti-discrimination law also figures in the list of shortcomings for not listing sexual orientation as a ground for protection.”

Associated Press: “Moderate Muslims in Macedonia are urging the government and the international community to crack down on radical Wahhabi groups on the rise in the country.”

WAZ / EU Observer: “Western diplomats and religious experts have voiced concerns about the spread of radical Islam among Muslim communities in the Balkans, after it transpired that alleged Wahabist radicals are operating and increasing their influence in Macedonia. The foreign-inspired religious group is active in the area around Skopje, Macedonia’s capital. It has tried to perform a putsch in the Islamic religious community (IRC) after an incident in the Isa-Bey Mosque in Skopje last week.”

Focus Information Agency: “The Islamic religious community in Macedonia (IVZM) accused the government of dividing people on religious basis, Macedonian Utrinski Vesnik reports on Wednesday.”

Balkan Insight: “EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele has confirmed that he sent a letter to Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski with his concerns regarding the content of the country’s new anti-discrimination law. Speaking to journalists in Brussels late on Wednesday, Fuele said he still thinks that protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation should have been included in the law.”

Eurasia Review: “Macedonia has failed to adopt an anti-discrimination law that is completely harmonised with European norms and standards, with explicit protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation a crucial missing element, local human rights experts commented after the country’s parliament adopted its first law on the subject.”

Taiwan News: “Macedonia has approved a new rights law but ignored appeals from the EU and rights groups to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.”