Tirana and Belgrade callings
Census in Albania devastating for the Macedonian minority. Only 2,281 Macedonians and almost 8,000 Bulgarians, although Bulgarians in Albania have never been enumerated before. How was that manipulation of the census process carried out and what can be done now, we ask the ex-member of the Albanian Parliament, Vasil Sterjovski. Reactions and complaints have already been sent to international institutions, and there are also reactions from the Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
A terrorist attack in Serbia shook the Balkans. An attacker with a crossbow shot a policeman in front of the Israeli embassy in Belgrade. From Belgrade, we include the professor from the Faculty of Diplomacy and Security, Marija Gjorić, with whom we discuss the specific person who carried out the attack, but also analyze whether there is a danger of new terrorist attacks in the Balkans.
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Democracy should rely on active and organized citizens – says Ambassador Hulman
Interview with the Ambassador of Switzerland, Veronique Hulmann
Macedonian-Swiss friendship has lasted for more than 30 years, says the Ambassador of Switzerland, Veronique Hulmann, in a guest appearance at Labyrinth. We discussed the new cooperation program launched by the Embassy of Switzerland, as well as the experience with Macedonian institutions so far. We discussed the three areas in which Switzerland helps North Macedonia, democracy, economic development and the environment, and we asked the Ambassador what her favorite place for hiking in the country is.
Watch the full interview.
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Syria freed from dictator, but terrorism is still a threat
Interview with war reporter Bud Wichers
After 13 years of civil war, the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria has fallen almost without a fight. The rebel HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) has taken power and is trying to make a peaceful transition. In the meantime, the US, Israel and Turkey are bombing places that are strongholds of ISIS, the Kurdish party or places that are suspected of having remnants of chemical weapons used by Assad. In this episode, we talk to war reporter Bud Wichers from the Netherlands who has been reporting from Syria since the very beginning of the uprising in 2011. Wichers has extensive experience reporting from the Middle East, and in Syria he reported from the biggest hot spots and was in contact with almost all the factions fighting in Syria. He says it is good that the regime has finally fallen, but he is still suspicious of possible terrorist hot spots, that is, he suspects that HTS has severed all ties with its previous “umbrella” Al Nusra Front, which was practically the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda.
огранок на Ал Каеда. -
Macedonia got a new President - Eastern European countries are fighting for democracy
Analysis of Macedonian diplomacy, Callings from Georgia and Ukraine on the situation with the protests and the war.
The first guest in this edition of Labyrinth is the former Ambassador of Macedonia to Sweden and Romania, Tihomir Ilievski. We talked about the oath taken by the new President and the reactions it caused among our neighbors. Despite the reactions and difficulties in bilateral relations, the diplomat is still optimistic about the European integration of Macedonia, as well as about the normalization of relations in the entire Balkans.
In Georgia, massive civil protests are taking place over the law on "foreign agents" which moves the country away from the European path, but also seriously threatens the livelihood and freedom of Georgian citizens. From Tbilisi, we were joined by Ekaterine Basilaia - director of the Center for Media and Social Research of Georgia, who explained in more detail what this law is and why so many people took to the streets. We discussed the use of excessive force by the police in arresting peaceful protesters and the legal fight to protect those detained.
In Labyrinth, we also included the volunteer in the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces, Volodymyr Sapekhin. Volodymyr has been going to the fronts and back for more than two years. We talked about the current situation on the fronts, about the progress of Russian forces in the Kharkiv region, but also about his personal feelings about the two realities he lives in.
