Zoran Zaev

Speaking on a stage in front of the government headquarters in Skopje, opposition Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev said he expected the crisis over the illegal surveillance scandal in Macedonia to end soon with the aid of international mediation.

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

The covertly-recorded tapes of Macedonian officials' conversations that the opposition says it plans to publish soon could undermine the official story about the six men convicted of the murders at Smilkovci Lake near Skopje in 2012, the head of the opposition Social Democrats, Zoran Zaev, said on Wednesday.

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.

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.

Macedonian opposition SDSM leader Zoran Zaev dismissed the speculation of partitioning or federalisation of the country.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed on Wednesday that there were plans for the partitioning of Macedonia between Bulgaria and Albania.

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.

We are currently in the process of negotiating. The talks, however, have not started yet in the words of opposition leader of the Macedonian social democrats Zoran Zaev.

He made the statement upon arriving in Skopje after the ten-hour negotiations with Macedonian PM Nikola Gruevski in Strassburg.

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.

Macedonian PM Nikola Gruevski and opposition leader Zoran Zaev made on Tuesday and Wednesday another attempt at solving the political crisis into which the country plunged earlier this year.

This time, talks were held in Strasbourg, with the EU's regional policy commissioner Johannes Hahn and MEPs Richard Howitt, Ivo Vaigl and Eduard Kukan acting as brokers.