Landfill fires, a budget revision that cuts investment, Sofia without guarantees, vetting with conditions

October, and the fires won't stop

By evening the Crisis Management Centre had counted 30 open-air fires, twelve of them still active. A beech forest is burning near Jabolčište in Čaška and a pine forest near Strima in Lipkovo, but the detail that says the most is another one: five of the fires weren't in forests at all, but on landfills and rubbish, from the "Krasta" landfill near Kumanovo to rubbish on Goce Delčev Boulevard in Skopje. An illegal dump full of tyres doesn't appear overnight. Who answers for it once the flames are out?

Budget revision: cheaper fuel, postponed investment

The government is rewriting the budget for the second time this year. Lower excise duties and VAT on diesel, cut from 18 to 10 percent, shrink revenue by around 86 million euros, while the deficit stays at 753 million. What gives way is capital spending, cut by more than 92 million euros, with the energy and environment ministries hit hardest. Asked whether there are reserves if energy prices keep rising, Finance Minister Gordana Dimitrieska-Kočoska said there are no such "buffers".

Sofia: no guarantees

Foreign Minister Timčo Mucunski came back from his meeting with Bulgarian counterpart Velislava Petrova-Čamova with an unusually candid admission: the positions are "still very far apart". Skopje wants a guarantee that no new demand will follow the constitutional changes; Sofia replies that no member state can give guarantees, only the "political readiness" to stick to the 2022 framework. When one side offers readiness and the other has no trust, what exactly will the next meeting be about?

Vetting, but for everyone else

In its new platform, the opposition SDSM promises to check the assets of every office-holder since 1991, with foreign experts running the process. Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski says that's no problem, with a polygraph if need be, so that every politician can say how much they stole, "those from the opposition, of course". Both sides want vetting. Each is convinced the other will be the one to fall.

The president's office and the forests: weaknesses from within

Prosecutors have closed the case over the President's Office: forensic experts found no trace of a break-in, but they did find security and administrative weaknesses in the system. At the state forestry company "National Forests" it goes further: the official hammer used to stamp timber ended up with people who had no papers, four rangers have been reported for negligence, and the deputy director suspects the 400-cubic-metre scheme couldn't have worked without insiders.

Skopje waits for its new trucks to move

A month after the ceremonial launch, the new vehicles of the city sanitation company still aren't running, because they are waiting on "legal procedures". Mayor Gjorgjievski announces 3,300 containers and blames his predecessors, while the bins on the street are still overflowing. In Karpoš, the "Vlajko" pedestrian overpass in Vlae is closed after yet another act of vandalism, and nobody says what the repair will cost. In Centar, the municipality renovated a 350-square-metre gym at the "Kole Nedelkovski" school and listed every air conditioner and LED bulb, but not the price.

Motorways, railways and borders

On the Prilep - Bitola motorway, 12 of 40 kilometres are promised for next year, while for the 25 kilometres between Fariš and Prilep the state still hasn't decided what it will build. Transport Minister Nikoloski also announces a 50-minute train from Skopje to Pristina by the end of 2027, provided Kosovo finishes the last tunnel on time. For hauliers tormented by Schengen rules, the fix is different for every country: a deal with Croatia, permits instead of visas with Romania, talks still ongoing with Bulgaria and Greece.

Your ID card on your phone

From 28 October, according to Digital Transformation Minister Stefan Andonovski, ID cards and driving licences can be carried in the "m.Uslugi" app. It's free and optional. The most important question went unanswered: will a traffic officer at a checkpoint accept it, or a bank counter, or the post office?

Honey from the hive and a plan that sat waiting

Beekeepers are calling 2026 one of the worst years: one kilogram of honey per hive instead of ten, after cold, drought, fires in Mariovo and pastures overgrown with thorns. The state pays 600 denars per bee colony, while beekeepers say they invest five to six times more. In Bitola, the body meant to oversee the environmental plan adopted in 2024 met for the first time only in October, without a single figure on waste, illegal dumps or air quality.

Kramatorsk

A Russian guided bomb hit the bus station in Kramatorsk: 33 dead and 18 wounded. The governor of the Donetsk region says it was no accident but a strike on a place full of passengers, where the most people die. Zelensky, meanwhile, accused America of a "lack of will", as it leaked that Kushner and Dmitriev had discussed "Nord Stream".

Sport

Dane Gidsel scored 17 from 19 shots and equalled the Champions League record, while Vardar are still waiting for their first point after three rounds and coach Čupić took the blame himself. In football, an independent commission found Manchester City guilty on all charges, and Čeferin is going for a fourth term at UEFA.

The heavier part of the day comes down to this: a lot gets announced, very little gets answered. The fires on the landfills, the postponed investment, the trucks standing still and the app with no list of where it works: everywhere the question is who will see it through to the end.