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Russia ‘hijacking’ frustration with EU accession – North Macedonia FM

Published

2 years ago

January 24, 2024

Russia ‘hijacking’ frustration with EU accession – North Macedonia FM

Frustration over the delay in North Macedonia’s EU accession is creating an opening for Russia to sow discord in the country through an “arsenal” of hybrid warfare, the country’s foreign minister has warned.

Bujar Osmani told Euronews on Tuesday evening that Russia is using targeted disinformation campaigns – including online trolling and fake news – to “fracture the social fabric of society” in the country and the wider Western Balkans and stall their accession to the EU.

“Obviously Russia designed disinformation in order to keep North Macedonia from achieving its strategic goals, which is NATO and EU membership,” Osmani said.

“The frustration that is built up along the way (to EU membership) is being hijacked by malign forces trying to channel this energy of frustration into their windmill,” he added.

North Macedonia became an official candidate to join the European Union almost two decades ago along with Croatia and Slovenia, now fully integrated EU members.

Its accession path has been stalled due to disputes with Greece over the country’s name, and with Bulgaria over the the rights of minorities as enshrined in the constitution.

A further four countries in the region – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia – are also official EU candidates. Formal accession negotiations have opened with all nations except for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kosovo, which is not recognised as an independent state by all EU member states, is a ‘potential candidate’ for accession.

But their bids have been plagued with delays and difficulties. Osmani said that the region is now at a “geopolitical crossroads” where the political arena is becoming increasingly polarised between pro-Europeans and anti-Europeans.

The separatist movement in Bosnia’s Serb-majority Republika Srpska and the delays in normalising relations between Serbia and Kosovo are all examples of tensions that are being exacerbated by Russian-backed actors, Osmani said.

“I believe that behind all those efforts to keep the region stalling, to keep the region in perpetual confrontation and conflicts, is the Russian Federation through its arsenal of means but also proxy state and non-state actors in the region,” he said.

“The only response is to unequivocally continue with our agenda for Euro-Atlantic integration.”

Osmani backs Brussels’ new approach of ‘phased’ integration, including the €6-billion growth plan for 2024-2027 designed to open the bloc’s common market to the Western Balkan candidates and tipped to boost their economies by as much as 10%.

“We have realised that the default concept of EU accession is all in or nothing. The road is long, the journey is difficult, and people and the candidates do not see any benefits from the road itself,” Osmani explained.

“What we want to see is a gradual integration of the region into the single market before membership and integration into the formal formats of the European Union before integration itself,” he added.

This could mean giving Western Balkan nations observer status at EU ministerial meetings such as the Foreign Affairs Council, an idea that his EU counterparts are supportive of, Osmani said.

“One of the most significant threats of our time”

Osmani spoke to Euronews following the launch of the European External Action Service’s (EEAS) second annual disinformation report, which named Russia as the primary culprit of spreading harmful misinformation on digital platforms, and Ukraine the main target.

The EU’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell described disinformation as “one of the most significant threats of our time,” and a “cancer that puts the health of democracy at risk.”

The report, which is based on an investigation of 750 cases of so-called Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI), says other states such as China also use interference to undermine democratic institutions and stoke polarisation abroad, as a means to “achieve their own political and economic goals.”

The most targeted individuals in the cases investigated were Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, Josep Borrell himself as well as celebrities such as Nicolas Cage and Margot Robbie, whose voices and faces were deliberately manipulated to sow misinformation.

Telegram and X emerged as the preferred platforms for FIMI attacks, with attacks also orchestrated on Facebook, TikTok, Youtube and Reddit as well as Russian social networks VKontakte and Odnoklassniki.

While the report notes it is “prudent” to prepare for potential interference ahead of June’s European elections, it also warns against “inflating the threat.”

Speaking during the event, Osmani said the Western Balkans was the “soft underbelly” of the EU when it came to foreign interference and the “fire line” in the disinformation war between East and West.

Related Topics:disinformation EU Enlargement Featured North Macedonia Western Balkans

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World

Investors brace for a bigger backlash from Middle East war

Published

7 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Investors brace for a bigger backlash from Middle East war

From being just a fringe risk, conflict in the Middle East has become a top worry for investors unsettled by the prospect of a power struggle in Iran and a protracted regional war, with ramifications for everything from global trade to inflation.

World

Tel Aviv analyst shelters from 30 missile sirens in 48 hours, says Iran ‘won’t recover’

Published

8 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Tel Aviv analyst shelters from 30 missile sirens in 48 hours, says Iran ‘won’t recover’

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The past 48 hours in Tel Aviv have been unlike anything seen before, a leading security analyst has said, as sirens blared amid missile threats following Operation Epic Fury and U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran.

“We are facing a biblical event — nothing less,” Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, told Fox News Digital, speaking from his shelter in the city.

Like many Israelis, Michael said he had spent hours in reinforced rooms during the ongoing barrage, adding that he was “very experienced in this.”

“But this all requires time and determination, and I do hope that Trump will also have them both,” he said, speaking shortly after the president released a video message stating that the military operation would continue “until all of our objectives are achieved.”

Explosions from projectile interceptions by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system over Tel Aviv. (JACK GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images)

“Trump is the only one who can make the change — and that change will impact the entire region and the international order for years to come,” Michael added.

As of Sunday, Tel Aviv remained under a state of emergency following Iranian missile attacks that caused casualties and widespread damage.

According to The Associated Press, Iranian missile and drone strikes have killed approximately 11 Israeli civilians and wounded dozens more in retaliation for the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran.

Shrapnel from missile impacts damaged at least 40 buildings in Tel Aviv, and authorities reported at least one death in the area from falling debris.

The Philippine Embassy in Israel confirmed the death of a Filipino national after a missile strike hit Tel Aviv on Saturday.

TOMAHAWKS, B-2 STEALTH BOMBERS AND ATTACK DRONES POUND OVER 1,000 IRANIAN TARGETS IN 24-HOUR BLITZ

People take shelter as Iran launched missiles and drones towards Israel following the US-Israeli attacks. ( Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“We enter our shelter once the siren is heard and stay there until the Home Front Command announces that we can leave,” Michael said.

“Usually, it is about 20 to 30 minutes — unless there are further sirens during our stay. Since yesterday morning, it has happened around 30 times.”

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog also visited an impact site in Tel Aviv Sunday, delivering a message of resilience.

“The people of Israel and the people of Iran can live in peace. The region can live in peace. But what undermines peace time and again is terror instigated by this Iranian regime,” Herzog said.

EXILED IRANIAN CROWN PRINCE SAYS US STRIKES MARK ‘BEGINNING OF THE VERY END’ FOR REGIME

Israeli emergency service officer walks past building debris at the scene of a Iranian missile attack. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP via Getty Images)

Following the reported killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and roughly 40 senior Iranian officials, Iran formed a provisional leadership council.

Iran named Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, President Masoud Pezeshkian and Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i to lead roles.

“The Supreme Leader did not complete the necessary groundwork regarding his own succession,” Michael added.

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“Pezeshkian will face very troubling challenges due to their heavy losses, severe disruptions to control and command systems, and the massive bombing and attacks across Iran, including Tehran,” he said.

“Even if this regime doesn’t collapse, it will never be able to reconstitute itself, recover or return to its previous position,” Michael added.

Emma Bussey is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Before joining Fox, she worked at The Telegraph with the U.S. overnight team, across desks including foreign, politics, news, sport and culture.

World

Israel FM says Europe too divided, slams Spanish PM

Published

10 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Israel FM says Europe too divided, slams Spanish PM

Israeli minister Gideon Sa’ar said Europe “does not have unified position” on what role it should play in Iran as European ministers sought to establish a joint approach Sunday.

As Israel and the United States conducted a joint military strike on Iran, leading to the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Europe was kept on the sidelines.

EU member states did not participate in the operation and, in some cases, they were not informed prior as it is customary among strategic allies.

Asked whether Israel sought to keep Europe on the margins, Sa’ar said internal divisions within EU member states had kept them out of critical exchanges of operational details, unlike the United States, which the minister described as his country’s greatest ally.

“In Europe, you have all kinds of approaches,” he told Euronews. “You have countries like the Czech Republic which is strongly supporting this operation and then you have Spain, which is standing with all the tyrants of the world.”

On Saturday, Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez was among the most critical voices in Europe, suggesting the US-Israeli strikes on Iran risk plunging the region into total war.

“We reject the unilateral military action of the United States and Israel, which represents an escalation and contributes to a more uncertain and hostile international order,” Sánchez said Saturday. The Spanish PM reiterated that message on Sunday.

“We urge for de-escalation and call to respect international law in all conflicts,” Sánchez added. “You can be against a heinous regime, like the Iranian regime, while also rejecting a military intervention that is unjustified, dangerous and outside of international law.”

Sa’aar said Israel considers the operation “fully justified” citing the right to self-defense from a regime that “has called for the destruction of Israel” and lashed at the Spanish prime minister for sending an “anti-Israeli, anti-American message.”

“Read the statement, they are standing with Iran!” he added.

When asked if any of his European counterparts had manifested an interest in joining the military operation or provide support on the ground, Sa’ar said he held multiple exchanges with European ministers over the weekend and suggested that “if others want to join, they will know have to convey the message.”

On Sunday, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen appeared to back regime change in Iran in line with Israel and the US, saying that the “risk of further escalation is real. This is why a credible transition in Iran is urgently needed” in comments on Sunday.

Sa’ar told Euronews said the strategic strikes and the elimination of Khamenei alongside top regime commanders could “create the conditions to weaken the regime enough to allow the Iranians to take their future into their own hands”.

“The future leadership of Iran should be determined by the Iranian people through free elections. Our only requirement is that whoever comes to power in Iran must not pursue the destruction of Israel,” he said.

Watch the full interview on Euronews from 8pm CET