18:00/December 16/2021 Skopje – Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has said he is surprised by President Stevo Pendarovski’s position regarding the Open Balkan initiative. Skopje – President Stevo Pendarovski’s position regarding the Open Balkan initiative has been consistent from the start and the President has conveyed his stance personally to Prime Minister Zoran Zaev after the inaugural meeting in Novi Sad, says a statement from the President’s office commenting on PM Zaev’s remarks earlier in the day. Skopje – President Stevo Pendarovski will address MPs next Wednesday (Dec. 22) at noon, during Parliament’s 56th session, the institution posted on its website on Thursday. Skopje – North Macedonia currently doesn’t need to hold early parliamentary elections because citizens are tired of voting almost every year, Interior Minister Oliver Spasovski told reporters on Thursday, in response to the opposition’s demands for snap elections after North Macedonia failed to get a date to start EU accession negotiations. Skopje – Economy Minister Kreshnik Bekteshi on Thursday called on all members of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) to focus on increasing trade as way to make step toward full integration into EU’s internal market. Minister Bekteshi at a news conference presented the achievements of North Macedonia while holding CEFTA’s chairmanship throughout 2021 Skopje – The three sectors in the country that citizens trust the most are the Army, the President and the religious institutions, whereas people’s trust in courts is the lowest. The latest opinion poll conducted by Eurothink – Center for European Strategies on November 23 – 30 shows that 47 percent of the citizens trust the Army, followed by 31 percent who trust the President, and 30 percent who trust religious institutions. On the other hand, the poll shows that only 8 percent of people trust the judiciary and the Prosecutor’s Office. Skopje - North Macedonia registered 298 new COVID-19 infections after 2,831 tests were conducted in labs across the country in the past 24 hours. In the same period, six deaths and 335 recoveries were reported, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday. Johannesburg – The second outbreak of the Ebola disease this year in the Democratic Republic of Congo has officially been declared over, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Brussels – New travel restrictions this winter were not ruled out by a European Council summit on Thursday as EU leaders grappled with rising infections and a new Covid-19 variant.