Starting from September 1, MPs from the interior of the country who do not own an apartment or house in Skopje, will have to choose whether they will be travelling every day to work with their own vehicle, for which they will be receiving compensation for fuel in the amount of 20 percent and also for pay tolls, or will rent an apartment for which the Parliament will allocate funds up to 400 euros, whereas their costs for fuel and pay tolls will be covered only for weekends and holidays.

These decisions, which were adopted yesterday at the Parliamentary Committee on Election and Appointment Issues, mean a completely new way of covering the costs of MPs because the previous one cost taxpayers thousands of euros. According to estimations of the Parliament and the claims of the MPs, this will drastically reduce the funds for travel costs of MPs. The Parliament embarked in changing and reducing the way travel costs of MPs were covered following several articles and reactions on the social networks about the amounts MPs received, both from the previous parliamentary composition and from the current one.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikola Dimitrov, today and tomorrow will be having a working visit to Brussels.

Today he will meet with NATO Deputy Secretary General, Rose Gothemoeller. At the meeting, the two interlocutors are expected to exchange information on the current cooperation between Republic of Macedonia and NATO, as well as on the preparations that Republic of Macedonia is making within the framework of the accession process for the country’s membership in the Alliance, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

SDSM so far does not have a projection on how much money it will spend on the campaign for the referendum, but all the money that will be spent from the budget for that purpose will be only and exclusively for the renting of media space, stated Prime Minister Zoran Zaev today in Kriva Palanka, where he attended the celebration of the holiday “Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God” in the Monastery “St. Joakim Osogovski”.

“And here I would like to clarify a thing – this is not money that will be given to MPs. How these funds will be allocated is in accordance with who is “for” and who is ‘against” the referendum, according to what the MPs themselves will express”, said Zaev.

Lowering of the retirement age of miner workers, stated today the Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Mila Carovska. She announced from Makedonska Kamenica that starting from 2019 the changes for the mine workers anticipate women to retire with 35 years of employment, while men with 40 years of employment.

“We really are glad to be here to jointly share the joy with the mine workers from this region about the future measures for retirement in the mine sector. As we promised at the very beginning of the mandate and before the mandate we passed a law with which the beneficial working experience gets its role for the mine workers. It anticipates women to be able to retire with 35 years of employment, while men with 40 years of employment”, said Carovska.

CIVIL – Center for Freedom is organizing a public working meeting under the slogan “What kind of Macedonia do I want?” in Bitola, Municipal Hall, on Thursday, August 30, starting at 13.00h. The event is part of the project “Action – Integration” dedicated to the support of the democratic reforms, citizen participation, green initiatives and European values in Republic of Macedonia.

At the workshop, CIVIL’s project that is being implemented in partnership with the Heinrich Bὅll Foundation from Germany will be presented. In the working part of this event, a discussion will be opened on the topics “Citizen participation in social processes for support of the democratic reforms, green alternatives and anti-nationalism”.

Another seminar for citizen journalists will be held on Friday, August 31, in Struga. All interested citizens from the Municipalities of Struga, Ohrid, Resen, Debarca, Debar and Centar Zupa have the right to take part. Those interested in CIVIL’s upcoming seminar have a unique chance to acquire necessary skills for monitoring of the forthcoming referendum, through a program that is enhanced with new and unique elements.