Christian Democratic Union

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced her opposition to continuing accession negotiations with Turkey.

Merkel stated this during a meeting with deputies from the Christian Democratic Union in the Bundestag.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will become a candidate for a fourth mandate, reported the German media, citing sources close to Merkel.

It is expected that Merkel will make the official announcement at 19:00 hrs.

Merkel will be nominated for both chancellor and chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union at the congress of the party which will be held in December.

The head of communications for Macedonia's ruling VMRO DPMNE's party, Ivo Kotevski, has declined to confirm whether the party owns some 60 million euro of real estate, as an investigation by SCOOP-Macedonia published last week claims.

"I suppose that it [the media report] is commissioned [and based on a] lump assessments," Kotevski said.

A senior figure in one of Germany's governing parties is calling for an "Islam law" that would prevent foreign financing of mosques in the country.
     
Andreas Scheuer, the Christian Social Union's general secretary, argued in an interview with the daily Die Welt published on April 13 that "political Islam" undermines efforts to integrate people in Germany.
     

Support for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative alliance has slumped to its lowest since July 2002 as opposition over her liberal refugee policy grows, a survey showed on Jan. 31, while a right-wing populist party polled a record high.

After winning 19 seats in the parliamentary elections and becoming the country's new political powerbroker, MOST said that if either of Croatia's main blocs wants its support to form a government, it must first agree to adopt a list of reforms.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Monday during a private conversation with three people who wished not to be identified that Greece would stay in the euro for the time being even if Greek voters rejected austerity in a referendum on July 5.

Mustafa is due to meet Merkel in Berlin at the end of this month - the first official meeting at this level between the two.

By Birgit Jennen, Rainer Buergin & Brian Parkin

A split between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is widening over Greece as the funding standoff goes down to the wire, said people familiar with the matter.

Novinite is publishing an analysis by Simeon Nikolov, Director of the Center for Strategic Research in the field of Security and Internal Relations, a Bulgaria-based think-tank.