Strasbourg

Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu met European Court of Human Rights President Dean Spielmann on Thursday in Strasbourg; among other topics, they discussed the long-term reform of the ECHR.

Photo credit: (c) Alex TUDOR / AGERPRES ARCHIVE

Zoran Zaev, leader of Macedonia's opposition Social Democrats, expects the political crisis in the country to be resolved by the end of June.

Romania's Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu will be paying a working visit to the Council of Europe's (CoE) headquarters in Strasbourg, May 27-28.

Photo credit: (c) ALEX MICSIK / AGERPRES STREAM

A third meeting of Macedonian political leaders has failed to produce any tangible results, local media outlets say.

Heads of four parties held another round of talks in the country's capital Skopje amid a political crisis, with socialist opposition leader Zoran Zaev demanding the government's resignation in a wiretapping scandal.

 Greek woman wins case after her land was registered as belonging to Turkey

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor Tuesday of a Greek woman who made a claim for property she inherited from her father on the island of Imvros, which has been part of Turkey since 1923, but which Turkish authorities said belonged to the country?s treasury.

Macedonian leaders meet in Skopje on Tuesday for talks on the country's crisis facilitated by the US ambassador, Jess Baily, and the EU ambassador, Aivo Orav.

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker teased Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban over his strongman reputation Friday, jokingly greeting him as "dictator" as he arrived at an EU summit in Riga.
 

The Macedonian government plane carrying Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski to Skopje from Strasbourg has made an emergency landing in Zurich over an unspecified malfunction, MIA news agency reported on Thursday.

The prime minister and the other passengers on board are safe, MIA quoted government spokesman Aleksandar Gjorgiev as saying.

The European Parliament's rapporteur for Turkey, Kati Piri, has expressed concerns over the "independence of the judiciary, freedom of expression and the freedom of press" in Turkey, adding "shutting Turkey's door to the European Union is not what the parliament wants."

Russia on Wednesday blamed the political crisis in Macedonia on 'outside' forces trying to exert influence on Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski over his refusal to back Western sanctions against Moscow.