Eurasia

Anti-government rallies organised by the opposition in Tirana and three other cities ended on Friday (February 4th) without incident. According to the organisers, the demonstrations were attended by 100,000 people

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov has called a political leaders’ meeting for Monday (February 7th), to discuss the current situation in the parliament following a boycott staged by the opposition. Opposition parties led by SDSM walked out of parliament last week to protest the freezing of the private A1 television channel’s …

The Netherlands and France have asked for a monitoring mechanism for the visa-free regime for BiH and Albania. In a letter sent to the European Commission (EC), the two countries said the time has come to introduce such a mechanism and sanctions should be imposed in case of abuses. Citizens …

Egypt’s government held talks with the country’s opposition groups today in Cairo. The Muslim Brotherhood was given a place at the table for the first time in decades. Many had refused

The Egyptian vice president has called for the protests to end. Speaking on state television he said all the protestors’ demands are being addressed. Asked if opposition parties like the Muslim brotherhood had been invited to negotiations, Suleiman said that they had, as part of a national dialogue. But he …

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has claimed his resignation would see his country descend into chaos. Mubarak said that he wanted to step down now but feared for Egypt’s stability if he he resigns. He denied his government instigated clashes over the past few days, blaming the banned Islamist group, the …

Hundreds of thousands of anti-government supporters have gathered in central Cairo for what the organisers are calling a Friday of Departure. It is the eleventh day of demonstrations and those calling for the immediate departure of President Hosni Mubarak are hoping

Greek President Karolos Papoulias and his Cyprus counterpart Demetris Christofias on Thursday expressed hope that calm will prevail in Egypt and Cairo’s stand over issues of national interest to Athens and Nicosia will not change.

Albania’s Socialist opposition is expected to hold simultaneous rallies in four Albanian cities on Friday, in an effort to put pressure on the government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha and force early elections.

The EU risks being “overtaken by a racist mentality” against Turks, Turkey’s chief EU negotiator Egemen Bagis said on Wednesday (February 2nd) in an e-mailed statement of remarks in Poland. He was there on Tuesday to attend a commemoration for Holocaust victims at the former Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz.