Hahn

On his visit to Macedonia, Commissioner Hahn is expected to try to end the political games over the dissolution of parliament in time for elections in December, as well as boost efforts to change the law in order to help the new Special Prosecution investigate high-level crime.

In a clear acknowledgment of the generations-long and multi-layered impact of the presence of millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey, the EU's executive arm has urged Ankara to concentrate its efforts on measures to help better integrate Syrians into Turkish society.

Commissioner Hahn told the media in Macedonia that despite the "bad day" of talks between government and opposition parties, he remained optimistic that a deal on the appointment of new ministers would be done.

Talks between the government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and the opposition were set to resume Tuesday.

Commissioner Hahn arrived on a rescue mission in Skopje on Tuesday after opposition leader Zoran Zaev last Wednesday said crisis talks with the government had failed and the EU- brokered deal on snap elections was dead in the water.

Commissioner Hahn is expected to arrive on a rescue mission in Macedonia early next week, his office announced.

The visit comes after opposition leader Zoran Zaev on Wednesday said that crisis talks with the government had failed and that the brokered snap election deal was dead in the water.

Social Democrat leader Zoran Zaev announced on Friday that, following comments by Commissioner Hahn in Washington about previous elections in Macedonia, the opposition party will not attend talks in Brussels set for June 10.

He especially criticised Hahn's comments about "the generally positive reports of the monitoring mission of OSCE/ODIHR" concerning elections held in Macedonia.

After almost nine hours of talks with Macedonia's warring leaders in Skopje, Commissioner Hahn on Tuesday said he had extracted an agreement on a transition period leading up to snap elections that must take place by next April.

On his second visit to Belgrade since taking over as EU Enlargement Commissioner last autumn, Hahn is meeting President Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic among other officials.

Ahead of his visit, Hahn said Serbia and the EU should start accession talks soon, and he was there to help Belgrade finish the reforms it had started.

PRISTINA - Freedom of movement is one of the EU's objectives, but Kosovo should first meet certain requirements for the visa liberalization regime to be put in place, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn said in Pristina on Wednesday.

Speaking at the European Parliament's debate in Strasbourg on Macedonia's progress in 2014 on Tuesday, Commissioner Hahn said that the allegations contained in the tapes produced by the opposition must be examined.