'Vezilka': Macedonia's National AI Factory and Its Ties to Brussels
The 'Vezilka' project, led by FINKI and the Ministry of Digital Transformation, is part of the European EuroHPC network and receives funding through the 'Horizon Europe' programme — but what that concretely means for citizens remains to be seen.
"Vezilka," proclaimed Macedonia's first national artificial intelligence center, has officially launched under the leadership of the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering (FINKI) at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, in partnership with the Ministry of Digital Transformation. The project is part of the European EuroHPC supercomputing infrastructure and receives financial backing through the EU's "Horizon Europe" programme, linked to the Greek "Pharos" project within a broader European network for trustworthy AI.
Prime Minister Christijan Mickoski and the EU's ambassador to Skopje, Michalis Rokas, took part in the official presentation, followed by a panel discussion on AI's role in economic development. Vezilka's goals include developing digital resources and databases in the Macedonian language, accelerating institutional digitalization, improving data-driven decision-making, and fostering cooperation between academia, the public sector and business. The platform's first free introductory webinar on AI drew more than 600 citizens.
The fact that the project is funded through European channels and tied into a European network points to institutional backing from Brussels for the initiative, but that is not the same as an explicit public commendation of concrete results — those are still to come, given that the platform is at an early stage, with concrete Macedonian-language applications so far limited to educational activities and webinars.
MKNews Hub · Macedonia · October 3, 2026
