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An Athens court on Tuesday turned down a fresh request for the extradition of one of nine men arrested in November on suspicion of belonging to a Turkish far-left militant group.

Figures close to former prime minister Costas Karamanlis have distanced themselves from recent controversial comments by ex-government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros, nipping in the bud any speculation about internal disputes within New Democracy.

A growing rift inside the BESA party in Macedonia has resulted this week in two rival party congresses being set for February 24 - with each side insisting it has the right to lead the party.

Turkey has for years been embroiled in turmoil, which has only intensified after the failed coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July 2016.

Antagonism between the country's Kemalists and Islamists has escalated into an all-out confrontation. Meanwhile, the ultranationalist party can be seen swinging between the two camps.

At the protest, far-right leaders, Greek diaspora groups and clerics called against any UN-sponsored compromise name for their northern neighbor that would include the term "Macedonia".

Turkey's deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag has reiterated Ankara's request that Athens extradite eight servicemen who fled their country after the failed coup of 2016.

Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting on Monday, Bozdag said that Turkey expected their extradition "as soon as possible," according to a report by the state-run Anadolu agency.

BELGRADE - If early parliamentary elections were to be held now, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which leads Serbia's ruling coalition, would win 53 pct of votes, shows an indicative survey conducted by the Politika daily and the Faktor plus opinion poll agency.

EU-backed weapons inspectors have discovered that arms from Central and Eastern Europe make up a third of ISIS's arsenal, says a new report released on Thursday.

 Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister, Enver Hoxhaj, said during Government's meeting on Friday that during this month or January 2018 at latest, Kosovo will submit its application for membership into the Council of Europe, Gazeta Express reported.

The name itself, Movement for Change, is a tacit reference to the past but also appears to aim at the future. From a public relations perspective the name gives the impression that it could serve as an umbrella for different forces - but only time will tell if it will.