A 45-euro fine for 154 km/h, MEPSO wants a near-double tariff, frozen accounts in Tetovo, pensions without a ruling

The traffic cop who handed out discounts at 154 km/h

On 2 February 2025 a radar near Tetovo clocked two cars at 154 and 151 km/h on a stretch with a 100 limit. The law sets a 300-euro fine for each driver. Tetovo traffic officer K. S. let one go with a written warning and the other with a 45-euro fine. That is 45 euros in total instead of 600. The Interior Ministry's internal control unit has now filed a criminal complaint against him for abuse of office, and good for them. But the complaint arrives in October 2026, 20 months after an offence recorded on radar and on paper. Why exactly these two drivers were spared, the press release doesn't say. And if a case this well documented needed 20 months, how many discounts like it went through without anyone ever looking?

MEPSO wants a near-double tariff for moving less electricity

State-owned grid operator MEPSO has asked the Energy Regulatory Commission to raise the transmission tariff from 1 January 2027 by 97.68 percent, from 0.3018 to 0.5966 denars per kilowatt-hour. It wants revenue of around 3.39 billion denars instead of 1.88 billion, while planning to transmit 5.68 instead of 6.24 billion kilowatt-hours. More money for less work. That doesn't mean a doubled power bill: according to calculations published after the request, if the whole increase landed on households, bills would rise 4 to 5 percent from this item alone. But MEPSO isn't alone - power utility ESM wants a 52.7 percent higher average tariff, and in Skopje the heating companies are asking for a new price correction too. Citizens and companies can file comments until 29 October. That's when we'll find out whether the regulator is a regulator or a postman.

The Constitutional Court has no answer on pensions

The Constitutional Court did not rule on whether the flat-rate pension increase is constitutional. Not because it found the measure constitutional, nor because it found it unconstitutional, but because the provision had stopped applying in the meantime. Every pensioner got a raise of the same cash amount, regardless of years of service and contributions, and that is exactly what the petitioners called discrimination. In March 2026 the proposal didn't get enough judges' votes; now the obstacle is procedural. The law did its job to the end, and the question simply "expired". The Court did, however, unanimously reject the opposition SDSM's petition against the Resolution on Illegal Migration, calling it a political declaration. The irony lies elsewhere: the government that condemned "manipulation" over migration is now talking about more than 100,000 foreign workers.

Tetovo freezes accounts while sitting with the bailiffs itself

The Municipality of Tetovo froze the bank accounts of residents and companies that hadn't paid property tax and the municipal business fee. They owe more than 300 million denars, about 5 million euros, and half of it has already been handed to bailiffs. "The effect is satisfactory," says the municipality. At the counter, one resident says he has been blocked and doesn't know by whom or why. Taxes have to be paid, nobody disputes that. But the municipality is itself paying off debt through bailiffs: in September mayor Bilal Kasami said that around 3 million would be settled through enforcement agents so the municipality could "finally get out of enforcement". Would it be this strict with itself when it pays late?

A four-year-old millionaire and 9.87 billion euros of debt

The Public Revenue Office published data from the 2025 tax returns, and the youngest citizen with an income above one million denars is four years old - the money arrived as a dividend from a domestic bank. Last year's highest gross annual salary was 139.1 million denars, about 2.2 million euros, paid by a Skopje coal-mining company. A resident of Gevgelija declared total income of almost 4.2 million euros. Meanwhile, citizens and companies owe the banks 9.87 billion euros. Loans are growing 14.1 percent, deposits 9.2. Housing loans jumped 16.1 percent in a year and current-account overdrafts 5.8 percent in a single month, so the National Bank tightens the rules from 1 December. Does money multiply fastest where there's already plenty of it, while the overdraft grows for everyone else?

Local government between landfills, dogs and desk drawers

In Kumanovo, cameras and fences finally reached the Krasta landfill after months of fires and a blockade by local villagers, but there is no deadline or price for the gates that were announced. In Skopje's Aerodrom municipality, mayor Miteski posted a resident as an example of illegal dumping, while she says the bulky-waste pickup had been booked and paid for and is demanding a public apology. In Skopje, the "Lajka" animal shelter can't be expanded because it is an illegal building, even though the money for more capacity is secured. And in Centar, the ruling VMRO-DPMNE claims 3,000 complaints from residents are sitting unresolved. The figure comes from a party, but the municipality's silence doesn't make it any smaller.

Violence among teenagers and a cancer drug on a bus

Five 15-year-olds have been questioned over the beating of a 13-year-old in Skopje's Vlae neighbourhood, and the list isn't closed. In Skopje a 17-year-old was arrested, and a father in Bitola filed a complaint. The institutions arrive after the punch. At the Bogorodica border crossing, customs officers found 29 vials of a cancer drug hidden in a bus's first-aid kit, along with 30 self-adhesive labels. The smuggling was caught, but who the drug was meant for, nobody is saying.

The region: arrests before an election, protests in Tirana

In Serbia, four days before a vote that could seriously threaten Vučić's grip on power, special forces are breaking down doors, and pro-government tabloids already know who is to blame before the prosecutors do - Croatia. Zagreb is advising its citizens to postpone travel. In Tirana, after eight days of stones and Molotov cocktails, Rama says the violence is "orchestrated". The Balkans know this line by heart: when a government is under pressure, the culprit is always found across the border.

Kyiv, NATO and the Gulf

In Kyiv, a Russian drone hit a flat on the 20th floor and killed two people, and prosecutors opened a war-crimes investigation. NATO warned Zelensky to make peace with Trump or risk a humiliating settlement, as Ukraine heads into winter with empty stockpiles. In the Gulf, the US is pulling some diplomats out of Saudi Arabia, while explosions echo across southern Iran with nobody explaining their cause.

Vardar finally wins

To finish, something lighter. Vardar crushed Nantes 33:27 in the handball Champions League, and the "red-and-blacks" got their first win where it was least expected. Zagreb toppled PSG, so the evening in Europe belonged to the Balkans.

The heavier part of the day comes down to institutions that are strict when collecting from others and slow when they have to answer for themselves: the officer handing out discounts, the municipality freezing accounts while dealing with bailiffs of its own, the court ruling only once the law had expired. Who checks on them?