Northern Macedonia

"We do not know about any oligarchs, or about their existence."

We fact check six false or misleading claims by made by the Russian Foreign Ministry in its annual review of the Kremlin’s policy initiatives.

While ‘brain dead’ @NATO annual #military budget exeeds [sic] $1 trillion, #Russia spends on defence 23 times less (only $46 bln). Neretheless, [sic] #fake Russian threat is used to justify even more waste of taxpayers’ $. Good for business strategy, dangerous for intl. peace & security”

“The persecution of the SPC [Serbian Orthodox Church] in North Macedonia, as well as the latest heightened tensions and pressure on the SPC diocese in Montenegro can be interpreted as part of the wider strategy of the West to counter Orthodoxy.”

"Can NATO bring anyone closer? History does not know any such examples. What I can see is that NATO is adding new members, who are now being pulled in by various methods.”

“When Montenegro and Macedonia were out of the blue dragged into NATO, the situation with Macedonia’s name was used in a brazen manner. They held a referendum organized in gross violation of the constitution, which in Macedonia requires a referendum to put forward only one question, but they put forward three: do you want to be a member of the European Union, a member of NATO, and are you ready to change the name of the country for that. In general, a fraudulent question, of course.”

“The Autonomous Province of Kosovo was forcibly separated from the rest of the country under the propagandistic pretext of thwarting the allegedly unfolding ‘humanitarian disaster.' In reality NATO became a trigger for a real human tragedy, a smokescreen hiding the anti-Serb ethnic cleansing that caused over 200,000 non-Albanians to leave their homes.”

“It’s a provocation, specifically to coerce the Russian delegation to slam the door and pull out of PACE.”

“We love and are proud of President Vladimir Putin, because he is a friend of Palestine and not only Palestine, but all the people who are seeking freedom. President Putin succeeded in restoring Russia’s authority in the international arena and forced all to respect Russia.”

"Eight votes that were necessary to secure a qualified majority were ensured by …means of blackmailing, threats and bribing opposition parliament members. Three of them, purely by chance, were released from arrest on that same day. Two others, who had open cases investigated by special prosecutors, were promised freedom. Others received corrupt financial offers in exchange for 'the right vote.’ Parliament members were locked in their rooms, their cell phones were seized - this is very much in line with the spirit of European democratic practice. It is noteworthy that the U.S. ambassador was in the parliament until the end of the meeting, which leaves no doubt as to who led this process."

“The way the referendum is formulated is scam in itself… There is a strong opposition in Macedonia now; the President has said he’s against the referendum, so it will change a lot… What a lot of the Balkan countries are expecting is that by entering the European Union, they will get subsidies… I think most of them couldn’t care less about NATO, as it doesn’t have a good image over there.”

Twenty eight political movements and organizations, including the largest opposition party, VMRO-DPMNE, signed a memorandum on cooperation and creating a campaign headquarters for boycotting the referendum.