Politics by country

It is not possible for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to withdraw its paid military service bill, the party's group deputy chair Bülent Turan said on June 12.

Crowds of people gathered in central Pristina on Wednesday to celebrate the anniversary of the end of the war 20 years ago and applaud former US President Bill Clinton and his Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who were key advocates of NATO's military intervention.

Once again we are witnessing pledges of a host of social benefits, and area in which Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is by far the champion.

Undaunted after the benefits he handed out on the eve of European and local elections on 26 May failed to woo voters, he is still making promises in an effort to halt his party's downward spiral.

Romania urgently needs a government with a pro-European vision, with a maximum of 15 ministries, not 27, oriented to the country's development priorities: education, healthcare, public investment and attracting European funds, shows the text of the censure motion, tabled on Wednesday in Parliament.

Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva, together with the ministers of 12 other EU member states, urged acceleration of the European integration of the Western Balkans, the press center of the MFA announced.
 

Polling stations opened on Sunday in the presidential election run-off in North Macedonia, amid fears that if the turnout is as low as it was in the first round, two weeks ago, the election process is in danger.

A total of 3,480 polling stations opened at 7am for an election in which some 1.8 million people have the right to vote.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted a dinner on May 3 for foreign officials following the inauguration of Turkey's largest mosque.       

Turkey condemned the participation of a Greek Cypriot representative to NATO's change of command ceremony on May 3.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called on the armed forces on April 2 to oppose "any coup plotter" after a military uprising in support of opposition leader Juan Guaido fizzled out, and subsequent street clashes left four protesters dead.

Only a few days after Greece became the 17th member of the Chinese initiative for Central and Eastern Europe - now called 17+1 - Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras traveled to Beijing to attend the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. It was his third visit to the Chinese capital, after July 2016 and May 2017.