EU Ministers Voice 'Grave Concern' Over Macedonia Crisis

At Tuesday's session in Luxembourg, the EU Council adopted four conclusions on Macedonia, focusing on the political crisis in the country and on ways to exit it.

The Council urged Macedonian leaders to "rapidly address" concerns by restarting the stalled political dialogue in the country.

All political parties must work towards "a sustainable solution, constructively engage to restart political dialogue and restore trust in institutions with adequate political steps," the Council wrote in its conclusions.

At the same time, "all allegations should be investigated by the relevant authorities, including those allegations of potential wrongdoing  being made public, with full regard for due process, the principle of independence and the presumption of innocence", it said.

The Council welcomed the efforts of Members of the European Parliament to establish a dialogue between the main ruling VMRO DPMNE party of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and the opposition Social Democrats, led by Zoran Zaev, adding that they would revert to the issue of Macedonia in the coming months.

Zaev's Social Democrats started releasing tapes of government conversations in February. They claim the tapes prove Gruevski orchestrated the illegal surveillance of some 20,000 people, saying the material came from sources in the Macedonian secret services.

The tapes point to regular abuse of elections, lucrative deals and corruption involving senior officials including Gruevski himself, control of the judiciary and the media as well as unlawful retaliation against political opponents and government critics.

Gruevski says the tapes were created by unnamed "foreign secret services" in collaboration with the opposition to destabilise the country...