Macedonia: Opposition leader withdraws from talks on resolving political crisis

Macedonia's main opposition leader has withdrawn from talks to resolve a deep political crisis stemming from a wiretap scandal that has roiled the country for months.

Social Democrat head Zoran Zaev said Friday he would not participate in the next round of talks with Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski in Brussels. He said he considered European Union enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn, who has brokered the talks, as biased for describing last year's general elections as "positive." Zaev disputes the result of the elections.

Macedonia's feuding political leaders agreed earlier this week to hold early elections by the end of April 2016 in a bid to resolve the crisis. Hahn had said the final agreement was to be worked out at next week's meeting.