A Cloud Data Center was donated by China in 2017 to the campus of the technical faculties of Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia. Photo by Meta.mk, used with permission. This story was originally published by Meta.mk as part of the Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Hub. An edited version is republished here under a content-sharing agreement between Global Voices and Metamorphosis Foundation. Telecommunication companies Makedonski Telekom (Macedonian Telecom) and A1 Makedonija (A1 Macedonia) are currently modernizing their entire mobile telephony infrastructure and working on the implementation of their 5G networks in North Macedonia. Unlike all the previous instances of a technological makeover, North Macedonia as a member of NATO and signatory of the Clean Network Program initiated by the US, decided this time to exclude Chinese technological companies from the development of the national 5G network. On October 23, 2020, then Prime Minister Zoran Zaev and US Under Secretary for Economic Growth and Environment at the State Department Keith Krach signed the Memorandum of Understanding on 5G Security, with which North Macedonia took on the obligation to align national policies about the development of electronic communications with those of the EU and the US. At the signing of the memorandum two years ago in the capital Skopje, North Macedonia and the US stressed the importance of encouraging the participation of relevant and trustworthy network suppliers of hardware and software on the 5G market, bearing in mind the risk assessment and promoting framework for the efficient protection of 5G networks from unauthorized third-party access. “Considering the advantages of the wireless communications of the fifth generation (5G), this memorandum of understanding is of vital importance for the future prosperity of our country from an economic viewpoint, as well as for the national security,” said Zaev. Immediately after the signing of the memorandum, the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Skopje issued an official statement, strongly opposing it, and requesting the US to stop interfering in the “usual cooperation between China and North Macedonia.” “From meddling in other countries’ 5G rollout to openly coercing allies into excluding Huawei, certain US politicians have no scruples resorting to state power as long as it can stop Chinese businesses from getting an edge in 5G,” reads the statement of the Chinese Embassy in Skopje published after the memorandum was signed. In a paper published by the Association ESTIMA and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Ana Krstinovska states that the response to signing the memorandum with the US in 2020 was fierce, considering the fact that Chinese diplomats in North Macedonia had, to a large extent in the past, refrained from confrontational rhetoric. “The embassy published its strongest reaction yet after the signing of the memorandum of understanding between North Macedonia and the US in the initiative for a Clean Network of 5G technology in October 2020. The anger, however, seemed to be directed entirely towards the statement of the US high official,” Krstinovska states. Security issues related to 5G have been largely absent from the public debate in North Macedonia, where telecom companies are among top advertisers. In general, mainstream media promote various technological benefits, rather than reporting on geopolitical risks or privacy concerns. Meanwhile, populist disinformation networks tried to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic to incite panic by recycling and localizing 5G conspiracy theories present worldwide, via fringe online media and social network groups. Returning to the present, the state regulatory body of North Macedonia, the Agency for Electronic Communications (AEK) informed Meta.mk that the signed memorandum with the US was the reason the Law on Electronic Communications (LEC) was amended in April 2021. These amendments gave AEK additional competence in the area of network security. The amendments of the LEC envisage penning regulations for the methodology for assessing the risk profile of the suppliers and manufacturers of network equipment, as well as for the list of critical components and sensitive parts of electronic communication networks. AEK adopted these regulations in autumn 2021, and they went into force immediately. On July 11, 2022, the agency, after the successfully implementing a tender procedure, awarded the licenses for the frequency bands of 700 MHz and 3.6 GHz to the two network operators in the country. The conditions state that, by the end of 2023, one Macedonian city should be covered with 5G signal, and, at the end of 2025, the main transport corridors should have 5G coverage.