“Agreement divides Kosovo into Albanian and Serbian part”

SOURCE: TANJUG
NEW YORK -- The Brussels agreement divides Kosovo into an “Albanian heartland with a Serbian appendage”, the New York Times has reported.


  

The text’s author Columbia University Professor David Phillips assessed that Serbia did not recognize Kosovo’s independence and that the agreement accepted Serbia’s continued role in protecting the interests of Serbs in northern Kosovo.

“In effect, it divides Kosovo into an Albanian heartland with a Serbian appendage,” Phillips said and added that “the deal validates the violent nationalistic agenda of a greater Serbia advanced by Slobodan Milošević“.

However, he saod tat tje Brussels agreement “also encourages aspirations for a greater Albania among ethnic Albanians in Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and Montenegro”.

Phillips believes that “the deal will not reconcile the two Balkan nations or help them gain admission to the European Union”.

According to him, “the West needs a fresh approach for the Balkans, an arrangement somewhere between partition into monoethnic mini-states and a continentwide superstate”.

“This middle way — call it “interest solidarity” — would preserve national sovereignty and borders, while enabling members of ethnic and other groups to cooperate with their counterparts in the region, in fields like trade, transport, education, media and the arts,” he added.

Phillips noted that “the lure of EU membership was supposed to overcome those enmities” but that the attempt was not successful.

“As Turkey has learned well, some European nations just don’t want a majority-Muslim country in their club. Some also disparage the Balkans as bastions of fiscal instability and as havens for drug traffickers and criminal gangs,” he pointed out.

“Building ties of common interest beyond its borders has helped stabilize Northern Ireland since 1998. It could improve relations between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in the Middle East, and offer new outlets for the dreams of ‘stateless’ Kurds in Turkey, Iraq and Iran,” he stressed.

“This will work only under governments that promote minority rights, and among parties with leaders ready for peace,” Phillips concluded.

 Plot To Assassinate Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos!



By Hellas Frappe on 10.5.13

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News reports in Turkey on Friday claimed that an assassination plot was planned against His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and what is worse that it would be carried out on the anniversary of the Fall of Constantinople!

Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos is the spiritual head of the world's 300+ million Orthodox Christians.

According to press reports in Greece, the plot was apparently going to be executed by a group of fanatics and it looks like it is linked to the 'Sledgehammer' plot against Greece. For all of those who are unfamiliar with this plot, HellasFrappe suggests that you read a story we posted several months ago about this very issue.
    "Ergenokon, or Operation Sledgehammer", is an alleged plan by a gang of ultra nationalist Turkish secularists, who are accused of plotting to trigger a military coup to topple the ruling Islamic-slanted Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey by fomenting chaos in society with assassinations and bombings. It is also thought to be part of the “Deep State,” an alleged unofficial organization of bureaucracy and military operating behind the scenes of the official state structure." Read more by clicking here - http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2013/01/jailing-journalists-in-plot-mad-turkey.html
The same reports in Turkey also claim that authorities have arrested one man who is connected to the alleged assassination plot, while two more suspects are pending arrest.

The plot was uncovered through a letter that was sent from the central Anatolian province of Kayseri, and which claimed that the head of the world's Orthodox Church would be the target of a murder attempt on May 29, or the 560th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire.

A Turkish broadcaster said on Thursday that a prosecutor in Ankara has already launched an investigation into the allegations and the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News said that another letter was sent to prosecutors in 2008 claiming that the detained man was planning to murder Vartholomeos.

"NATO infrastructure is moving towards Russia"

SOURCE: TANJUG
WARSAW -- NATO’s military infrastructure is moving towards Russia’s borders, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.


 

R-L: Lavrov, Sikorski, Westerwelle (Beta/AP)
“When the military infrastructure is moving towards borders, this always evokes questions. Russia and Belarus protect their borders," Itar-Tass quoted him as saying.

“The alliance’s military infrastructure is really moving eastwards, to the borders of Russia,” Lavrov said adding that NATO violates previous obligations.

He made the statement after the meeting on Friday in Warsaw with his German and Polish counterparts Guido Westerwelle and Radoslaw Sikorski, called to discuss relations between the Russian Federation and NATO.

"Today I discussed very complicated issues with my colleagues. We agree that Russia and NATO are not enemies and that this has been made official in documents adopted at a high level. We also agree that diplomats should do everything they can to help build trust," Lavrov stated.

100th anniversary of Albanian Justice



09/05/2013

The former Ministers of Justice joined in a celebration organized by the Justice Ministry for the 100th anniversary of the Albanian judiciary system.

But although among the guests there were the descendants of Ministers during the government of Ismail Qemali, two ministers after the year 2000 were absent: Fatmir Xhafa and Ilir Rusmali.

The incumbent Minister declared that every Minister, regardless his political affiliation, has only wanted the improvement of the justice system in Albania.

“All justice ministers in different governments have faced their challenges with good will and courage, with the only goal to constantly improve the justice system”, declared the Minister of Justice, Eduard Halimi.

Spartak Ngjela, the former Justice Minister in the Government of National Reconciliation, of 1997, was skeptic and declared that Albania still doesn’t have independent judges.

“It’s 100 years of injustice. Probably not all of it is like that, but for the period that I have known it is 45 years of violation and offense made by the Albanian justice to its people, and the justice of the last 20 years has only played with its people”, Ngjela declared.

The Ministry opened the doors for the citizens during this celebration, and the culmination will be on May 10th.

The Prosecutor General took advantage from this occasion to say that the mission of everyone is to place his own brick of contribution in the justice building.

“There are problems for as long that there are elemtents prone to challenge the public opinion and the citizens safety. For this reason I wanted to give a message to the new generation, and tell them to be critical against the current system”, declared the Prosecutor General, Adriatik Llalla.

Serbs from Kosovo hold protest rally in Belgrade

SOURCE: BETA, TANJUG
BELGRADE -- Serbs from northern Kosovo held a protest rally in Belgrade on Friday, dubbed "We are staying in Serbia", against the implementation of the Brussels agreement.


  

The banner reads, Kosovo is Serbia (B92)
The protest started at 12:44 CET, as a symbolic reference to UN Security Council Resolution 1244, and ended at 15:00 CET.

Around 3,000 people attended the rally in downtown Belgrade.

The northern Kosovo Serbs believe that the implementation of the agreement would integrate them in Priština’s system.

The protesters, who gathered at Republic Square in downtown Belgrade, were chanting “Treason” and slogans against Prime Minister Ivica Dačić, other state officials and the government.

Some were carrying posters of Dačić, First Deputy PM Aleksandar Vučić and President Tomislav Nikolić wearing traditional Albanian hats and banners “They betrayed Kosovo”.

The citizens also carried banners saying “Serbia comes before everything else”, “We will liberate Kosovo”, “Kosovo is Serbia”.

They called on the government to reject the Brussels agreement and called for elections.

The protesters were also carrying Serbian flags and flags of the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) and Naši movement.

Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral Amfilohije, mayors of northern Kosovo towns, famous rock musician Bora Đorđević, former member of the national basketball team and Basketball Federation of Serbia Deputy President Dejan Tomašević and law professor Kosta Čavoški were up on the stage.
DSS leader Vojislav Koštunica, DSS MPs, Serb Radical Party (SRS) officials and activists of Naši and Dveri movements also attended the protest.

Amfilohije served a "liturgy for the repose" of Serbia's government and parliament.

Zubin Potok Mayor Slaviša Ristić said that northern Kosovo Serbs did not hold Serbia hostage and were not preventing it from reaching the European future.

“We are just one of you, ordinary Serbs who have been forced by world powers, and recently by our own authorities, to fight and defend lives of our children, our homes and holy places,” he stressed.

According to Ristić, the Brussels agreement is a betrayal of Serbia and the loss of Kosovo. He also added that the government was intent on “selling Kosovo and the Serbian people”.

“Today, while we are preventing them from committing treason, we still have our Serbian institutions in Kosovo and Metohija and there is no division between the north and the south and those who want to commit treason are dividing us,” he noted.

Ristić said that the signatories of the Brussels agreement had agreed to shut down Serbia’s institutions in Kosovo and sell Serbs to “the quasi state of Kosovo and Hashim Thaci’s terrorist creation”.

“Our president is wondering and saying that he does not understand how the state leadership can reach an agreement with Thaci but not with northern Kosovo Serbs. President Nikolić, you can only reach an agreement on defense with Kosovo Serbs, not on the handover and betrayal of Kosovo and Metohija,” he stressed.

DSS MP and one of the leaders of northern Kosovo Serbs Marko Jakšić called on all patriots to be united and to come to a rally on St. Vitus Day (June 28) in Belgrade, noting that Kosovo had been attacked in Belgrade.

“A small part of us from Kosovo is today here among you and asking for your help. A greater part of the Serbian people could not or must not come and they are standing eternal watch to defend the Serb door in Kosovo and Metohija. For 14 years we have been holding and defending the door so the wicked would not close them,” Ristić stressed.

Retired Bishop Atanasije said, commenting on the top state officials that “these three men who are in power are traitors who believe in NATO’s guarantees”.

“(Prime Minister Ivica) Dačić says he is in favor of earthly politics, that he is not interested in heavenly one, (assassinated PM Zoran) Đinđić used to say the same and God will be the judge of how he ended up,” Atanasije added.

He stressed that the government did not believe in God but in the “EU’s disastrous policy”.

Nikolić: Priština interprets agreement as it likes

Source: Tanjug

BELGRADE -- Serbia could lose an opportunity to get an EU talks date because Priština and some countries of the EU interpret the Brussels agreement as it suits them.

Tomislav Nikolić (Beta/AP, file)

This is according to Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić.
He told Radio and Television of Serbia on Wednesday the country had done everything to get a start date for the accession talks, but that the opportunity could be lost because of the Kosovo Albanians' insistence on interpreting the agreement between Belgrade and Priština their way.

“It is time for the people leading the EU to say what they want,” he noted.

“If Serbia has sent its top officials to the negotiations, it is also time for the EU to stop hiding behind its low ranking officials and say what it wants,” Nikolić pointed out, adding that Serbia had done everything having complete faith and desire to succeed.

The president stated the government and himself had to erase bad stereotypes about Serbia in the past year, but still managed to open doors no one had knocked on before.

“Serbia faces new challenges now, a new concept,” he said, adding he would support the government in implementing that concept.

“The focus in the past year was on Kosovo and the battle against corruption,” he said, stressing that the government should now turn to the economy.

“The government has not drained the people's patience yet,” the president said regarding economic issues.

Nikolić believes the announced investments in agriculture and energy will bring results but that the government should achieve more in the social field.

He called for harmony among Serbs and all the people of Serbia, emphasizing that it was the most important thing in the country and that he was certain Serbia would cope with the current difficult situation.

"I hope the EU will not stop us (in that) simply because the Albanians want a country. If it comes to that, we will have a lot of trouble, otherwise everything will be much easier," Nikolić concluded.

Nikolić stated that Serbs had to agree on the implementation of the agreement reached by Belgrade and Priština, adding that the process leading to Serbs from northern Kosovo becoming the citizens of a non-existent state (of Kosovo) had been stopped.

"We Serbs have to reach an agreement. I cannot imagine us making an agreement with Albanians and not making it with the Serbs in northern Kosovo, who have not been left in the lurch," Nikolić stressed.

The president explained that by accepting the Brussels deal the constant threat of intrusion and imposition of powers by (Albanian) Kosovo authorities in the Serb-majority north of the province had ceased to exist.

“All the institutions that the Serbs today have in northern Kosovo and that Albanians and the EU label as parallel, will become formally official once the Brussels agreement is implemented, and no one will ever again be able to touch them,” Nikolić pointed out.

He added that police in northern Kosovo, claimed to be illegal, would become official as well, stressing that the ethnic composition of the police would match the one of the population.

Nikolić also said that the intention had been to continue the talks on energy, telecommunications, and freedom of movement "until the Serbs become citizens of Kosovo and of a non-existent state."

"We stopped this and we now have an agreement which some Serbs, especially in northern Kosovo-Metohija, say is not good, but Albanians are not satisfied with it either," the president said, adding that this was why no agreement on the implementation of the deal was reached in Brussels on Wednesday.

"The talks were interrupted, because the Albanian plan to completely forget about the Brussels agreement was not accomplished," he pointed out, and explained that the Albanian party had asked for abolition of the so-called parallel institutions and creations of interim ones, without Serbs participating, all before the forming of a community of Serb municipalities in keeping with the agreement.

Commenting on the claims by critics of the agreement that the negotiations should have been postponed, Nikolić said Serbia could not wait and that the time for an agreement was right.

"Serbia was deceived, or the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (after the NATO bombing of 1999), because it believed the conflict was frozen, that the situation remained as it had been in terms of international relations," he stated.

Nikolić explained he would be willing to wait for an opportunity for a better solution if the UN and EU followed Resolution 1244 and guaranteed to Serbia that the conflict would remain frozen.

“However, since the first high representative left, everything has been done for Kosovo to become independent and a member of international institutions,” he pointed out.

"We could not wait for the situation to change, because the Albanians would have attempted in the meantime to expand to northern Kosovo and no one would have been able to stop them," he said.

“The Belgrade team for the talks in Brussels suffered problems and blackmail, but they held out through all that and protected the national interest, but someone then shows up in Serbia and says they worked for the Albanians,” Nikolić remarked.

He stressed he would never recognize Kosovo, nor allow someone to recognize it, and that everything that was agreed during the talks with Priština was in line with the Constitution and could be part of a substantial autonomy for Kosovo.

According to the president, after the agreement on the normalization of relations with Pristina was initialed in Brussels on April 19, he wrote to all the countries that have not recognized Kosovo to explain what it was that Serbia accepted.

When asked if he would follow the decision by the Constitutional Court if it said the agreement was in violation of the Constitution, Nikolić stated he would. He explained he had asked the court and the parliament speaker to wait for an agreement with Priština that would result in a law on a substantial autonomy for Kosovo and then decide on whether the law was according to the Constitution.

Commenting on the calls for the people to vote on the agreement, Nikolić said he was not avoiding a referendum, but that it would be unpleasant to create a conflict between the Serbs in northern Kosovo and the other Serbs, because things would probably be interpreted as Serbia being unable to move forward unless they accepted what the government proposed.

THE NEW TOURISTIC SEASON FOR 2013, TO BE OPEN TO MAY 11, IN HIMARA MUNICIPALITY

Turkey extends its Balkan soft power tactics

May 8, 2013



By Ioannis Michaletos |The Turkish foreign policy aims steadily over the past decade to extend its political, diplomatic reach into the Balkans following “soft power” tactics, especially in the education sector.

In mid-2012 the Turkish Premier boldly declared that Bosnia-Herzegovina is an Ottoman heritage and he added that “‘Bosnia is entrusted [emanet] to you [Turkey]. Don’t leave this region”, as supposedly the late Alija Izetbegovic told him in confidence in 2003. In sort Turkey claims a sort of a De Facto status of guarantee power in Bosnia-Herzegovina, one that has not been subject to any international or regional treaty but based on interpersonal relations and subjective interpretation of local history.

The soft power approach bases great value in the academic and educational sector as a prerequisite for the education of younger generations that will be in the future the “Bridge” between Turkish and Bosnian societies. According to Southeastern European Times and reporter Drazen Remikovic “Bosna Sema, a Turkish educational organization, has opened 14 schools in four cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1996… With over 3,500 pupils and over 500 employees”. Furthermore, two Turkish higher educational establishments already operate in the country and are in direct support by the governing Turkish political party AKP with an estimated 5,000 students. One of them the international University of Sarajevo has attracted over 1,000 Turkish citizens that prefer to reside in Bosnia while studying there and has been up to date a more than 110 million Euros investment. The International Burch University founder is the Istanbul-based Foundation of Journalists and Writers, established among others by Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen.

In particular the Fethullah Gulen movement seems to be more active and having larger educational funds to invest than Turkish state itself, with the presence of it quite extensive in Balkan countries. Only in the higher educational level the following institutions operate:

Albania
Beder University www.beder.edu.al
Epoka University www.epoka.edu.al

Bosnia
International Burch University www.ibu.edu.ba

Cyprus (Occupied North)
Eastern Mediterranean University www.emu.edu.tr

FYROM
International Balkan University www.ibu.edu.mk

Montenegro
Mediterranean University www.unimediteran.net

Romania
University of Southeast Europe / Lumina University www.lumina.org

Turkey
Antalya International University www.antalya.edu.tr
Gediz University www.gediz.edu.tr
Fatih University www.fatih.edu.tr
Meliksah University www.meliksah.edu.tr
Mevlana University www.mevlana.edu.tr
Zirve University www.zirve.edu.tr

According to an insider from Albania, “Epoka University disguises itself as secular. For this purpose, it hires a few – unaware – Western, and/or Western-educated, faculty members, to whom it offers high salaries. Religious subjects are not openly taught. However, most faculty members are Turkish Gulen followers. Most Albanian faculty and most students are alumni of local Gulen high schools. Most female teachers wear long skirts and long sleeves, and those who don’t are ostracized. Male and female faculty does not mix – i.e. they even dine in separate sections of the cafeteria. Male employees often refuse to shake hands or make eye contact with, and take orders from, female employees. There are no female department heads and no women in upper management.

Both universities are closely affiliated with, and promote themselves in, two Islamic newspapers, also owned and operated by Gulenists – Gazeta Start: www.gazetastart.com and Gazeta Jone: www.gazetajone.com ”

The Turkish press agency Anadolu has its main Balkan offices in Sarajevo and closely cooperates with state and non-state Turkish actors. It is of interest to note that Amir Zukic, the bureau chief of the Turkish Anadolu news agency’s Sarajevo office, recently stated in Washington Post that ““Turkish leaders are working at a new Ottoman empire, a gentle one…Turkey, a former regional power, is trying to come back in a big way.” One would wonder what would be the reaction in the region if an Austrian journalist expressed similar views upon a potential return of Austrian-Hungarian Empire being established in Bosnia, or a German, and a Russian one. Clearly the soft power tactic exercised by Turkey is gradually shifting from a pragmatic foreign policy tool and expanding into the realm of historical romance, a point which tends to re-affirm the notion to many neutral observers in the region that Turkey has over-extended itself and will sooner rather than latter have its Neo-Ottoman tactic backfiring, especially in the regional societal context, even amongst the Sunni Muslim part.

Sample of educational establishments in selected countries:

FYROM: Gornja Banjica village in Gostivar municipality; Donors: TIKA, the Union of Turkish World Municipalities and Gostivar municipality; 1,400 pupils.
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Bosna Sema with 14 schools since 1996, 3,500 pupils, plus the Sarajevo College 9Secondary education)
Romania: 10 schools in Bucharest, Constanta, Timisoara, Iasi and Cluj-Napoca; first school named “Megidia Kemal Ataturk National College” was founded in 1995
Serbia: One school in Novi Pazr with 1,000 pupils; 1.7 million Euros investment, donor: TIKA

Data originally compiled by Ivana Jovanovic, Paul Ciocoiu and Menekse Tokyay. The above schools do not include the Gullen movement ones, and include only those that were specifically established by institutions directly related to the Turkish state such as TIKA.

Tags: Ioannis Michaletos

Serbs in Kosovo send letter to Russian officials

SOURCE: TANJUG
ZVEČAN -- Officials of the four Serb municipalities in northern Kosovo on Wednesday sent an open letter to the Russian state leaders.


 

(Beta, file)
In it, they pleaded with Russia to help the Serbian government bring the talks on Kosovo's status back under the auspices of the UN Security Council.

The letter further said that the international community needs to approve legitimate solutions for Kosovo at the level of the Security Council, i.e. with a new resolution which Serbia would ratify in line with its Constitution.

"We turn to you with a plea that you help us and the government in Belgrade to protect the Serbian Constitution from unilateral moves from Washington, Brussels and Priština, which are trying to impose a solution that benefits them," reads the letter.

It was sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Speaker of the State Duma Sergei Narishkin, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Serbs from Kosovo will fight for their constitutional and human rights, for the honor and national dignity of Serbia, against a military and political, economic, and spiritual enslavement of the Serbian people, the local officials stated in the letter.

Serbian Tourists Pick Greek Holidays



By Maria Arkouli on May 8, 2013 Greek Reporter

With Greece hoping for a record year for tourism and aiming at big markets such as Germany, the UK, the United States and China, a lot of neighbors are planning to come as well, including 70 percent of Serbia’s travelers, according to a poll from the National Association of Travel Agencies of Serbia (YUTA).

As reported by the website Vesti Online, according to the Director of YUTA, Aleksandar Senicic, the majority of Serbian tourists prefer Greece, followed by Turkey, Spain, Egypt, Tunisia, Montenegro and Croatia.

The Serbian newspaper Danas also reported that the purchase of tour packages in Serbia for this summer has shown a jump of 20% so far. At many travel agencies, the cheap tour packages for Greece during the months of low demand (May and June) are sold out, while in other agencies there are only few tour packages left, for Greek destinations  for the months of July and August.

Letter of concern at the Albania Census 2011 

 

Lutheran priest, World Church leader and papal knight, Olav Fykse Tveit.

 

The World Council of Churches would like to express its concern on the methodology followed and on the reliability of the results of the 2011 Census in Albania, regarding the optional question of religious affiliation. The latest official report of INSTAT, regarding the religious identity of the population, from the 2011 Census declares that Orthodox Christians in Albania are 6.75% and that the overall number of Christians has been drastically reduced from 31% to 17%.

 

Mr Heiner Bielefeldt

Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief
United Nations Human Rights Council
Your Excellency,
Kindly accept my cordial greetings!

The World Council of Churches would like to express its concern on the methodology followed and on the reliability of the results of the 2011 Census in Albania, regarding the optional question of religious affiliation. The latest official report of INSTAT, regarding the religious identity of the population, from the 2011 Census declares that Orthodox Christians in Albania are 6.75% and that the overall number of Christians has been drastically reduced from 31% to 17%.

The restoration of religious life in all the traditional religious communities and especially the flourishing of the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, in the years since the coming of democracy in 1991, after the long antireligious persecution, are quite evident throughout the country. The Orthodox Church possesses evidence (baptismal registers, from both before and after the persecution, and the registers of 460 Orthodox parishes throughout the country) that the number of Orthodox Christians in Albania exceeds 24% of the population.

Following the results of the Census, the Orthodox Church of Albania distributed a questionnaire regarding the Census to Orthodox participants at liturgies held on two Sundays, December 9 and 16, 2012 in Tirana, Durrës, Berat, Korçë, Vlorë, and other cities. The results were disturbing: 7,118 persons completed the questionnaire which included their first and last names and their address. Of these only 2,469 persons or 34.68% declared that they were visited and questioned regarding their religious affiliation during the Census; 4,643 persons or 65.23% were not visited or when visited were not asked about their religious affiliation by registrars of the Census; 56 persons declared that the registrars wrote information in pencil or not in the official form and an additional eleven persons testified that the registrars refused to record religious affiliation or did so only under significant pressure. Moreover they received testimonies that in a large number of cases citizens were not asked to sign the Census form and that information was written in a notebook rather than on the official form as procedure required. The results of this questionnaire show that in 65% of the cases there were irregularities in the Census taken with regard to religious affiliation.

It is worth mentioning that according to the Council of Europe (“Third Opinion of the Council of Europe on Albania adopted 23.11.2011,”) the population census “cannot be considered to be reliable and accurate, raises issues of compatibility with the principles enshrined in Article 3 of the Framework Convention for the protection of national minorities…’.

The Constitution of Albania guarantees freedom of religion or belief. Article 3 charges the state with ensuring religious coexistence. Article 20 restates protection for minority religious rights and freedoms. Furthermore, Albania is a signatory to international human rights instruments guarantying freedom of religion or belief.
Having full confidence in your work for the respect, protection and promotion of freedom of religion or belief around the world, we urge you, Prof. Dr Bielefeld, to use your good offices to ensure that freedom of religion or belief for all citizens of Albania, is fully respected.
Sincerely yours,

Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit
WCC general secretary

Similar letters were sent to the WCC president Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana and Durres, Orthodox primate of Albania and Filloreta Kodra, Albanian ambassador to the United Nations.

Councilors reiterate stance against Brussels agreement

Source: Tanjug

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA -- The Brussels agreement is unacceptable to Kosovo Serbs, councilors of four northern Kosovo municipalities reiterated at a joint session in Zvečan on Wednesday.

(Tanjug, file)

They added that it should not be implemented until the Constitutional Court gives its opinion.
The councilors of the four northern Kosovo municipalities conferred in Zvečan on Wednesday to discuss the implementation of the Brussels agreement.

Their representatives earlier discussed the issue in Belgrade.

In a conclusion, the councilors noted once again that the agreement was unacceptable because it meant withdrawal of Serbian state institutions from Kosovo and introduction of the legal order of the self-proclaimed state of Kosovo.

They believed it is a “political, forced agreement that is not based on Serbia’s constitutional and legal order and that it is as such non-binding and detrimental to Serbia and should not be implemented, especially not until the Constitutional Court gives its opinion on it”.

“Anyone who decides to implement the Brussels agreement at all costs in such a short period of time takes full responsibility for harmful consequences for the Serbian people in the province, the country’s constitutional order, national interests of Serbia and its history and culture,” reads the conclusion of the councilors of the northern Kosovo municipalities.

They pointed out that there was no conflict between the northern Kosovo municipalities, its representatives and the state and that they did not campaign against the current government, individuals or parties because of their differences regarding the Brussels agreement.

The councilors also supported the initiative to organize a rally dubbed “We are staying in Serbia” on May 10 in Belgrade.

At the joint session, that started a little after 12:00 CET, Kosovska Mitrovica District Head Radenko Nedeljković first informed 92 councilors about yesterday’s talks between heads of five Kosovo districts and Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačič and First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić.

Nedeljković said that he had informed Belgrade that the Brussels agreement was unacceptable to Kosovo Serbs because it “implies abolition of institutions of the Republic of Serbia in the province”. He stressed that the top state officials did not think so and that they claimed that the agreement guaranteed citizens’ prosperity in the future.

Nedeljković reiterated his opinion that the agreement was harmful for Kosovo Serbs, that it did not even guarantee minimal preconditions for the survival of the Serbian people in the province and that it was not based on the Serbian Constitution, which was why the Constitutional Court of Serbia needed to give its opinion on all agreements.

He called on the councilors to remain dignified during Vučić’s visit to Kosovo on Sunday and noted that it was an opportunity for councilors to request explanation for disputable issues.

“I believe that we should be civilized and keep the dignity of the municipal assemblies on that occasion and we must not destroy the reputation of our municipalities,” Nedeljković added.

He said that Kosovo Serbs did not have a “spare” state and the government but pointed out that the state of Serbia needed to know that it did not have “spare” Serbs in Kosovo either.

“We are in favor of compromise solutions but we cannot accept the agreement which detrimental to the people and aimed at closing Serbia’s institutions in Kosovo and Metohija that guarantee Serbs’ survival here,” he explained.

Representatives of Serb municipalities from other parts of Kosovo and representatives of the Serbian government’s Office for Kosovo also attended the session.

Albania Warned not to Slide Into Balkan 'Ghetto'

 

A report by the European Stability Initiative, ESI, warns that poor standards in Albania’s June 23 elections could cause a new political crisis - while sending a signal that the country is falling into a so-called Balkan 'ghetto' of failing states.

Besar Likmeta

BIRN

Tirana
 

“These elections will not only test Albania's democracy but also its rule of law,” the report says. “They will show whether Albanian institutions can respect the rule of law enough to ensure the prevalence of democratic principles in the country,” it adds.
Albania obtained a conditional recommendation from the European Commission for its EU candidate status bid in October last year, which required the approval of two draft laws and of parliamentary rules of procedure.
However, approval for the three bills, which requires a qualified majority in parliament, has remained hostage to a row between the Socialist-led opposition and the ruling majority dating back to the 2011 local elections.
Two decades after it emerged from most repressive Communist regime in Eastern Europe, Tirana has yet to hold elections that meet international standards.
The ESI report says Albania risks becoming part of a so-called Balkan ghetto, comprising Kosovo, Bosnia and Macedonia, countries that are all falling behind their neighbors in the EU integration process.
“This regional division risks becoming self-reinforcing: against the backdrop of a deepening social and economic crisis, the poorer parts of the Balkans are losing faith in the EU integration process just as the EU risks giving up on them,” the report says.
“The result is likely to be a new Balkan ghetto, encompassing most of the region’s Albanian population,” it concludes.

Albania changing national defense strategy

 

Added to the number of soldiers, concepts of ethnic clashes, in very center of strategic and formatting changes to boundaries

Although it is premature for the Albanian public and international, in the eve of parliamentary elections, Albania is changing the fundamental concepts of the national strategy.

Albanian media sources, for SManalysis say that due to substantial changes, have been ethnic clashes in the Balkans, for which the Albanian army should be ready to defend territories where Albanians live, but at the same time as a NATO member country

  Just during this election campaign problematic, simultaneously Albanian government is organizing press coverage, a spot of modernization of the Albanian army, from patrol boats to the Marine transport helicopters.

Regarding this fact, as part of law enforcement, the Albanian parliament, in broad concencus together with the opposition, voted the new Criminal Code, which shake the very freedoms and universal human rights, as well as that of said Parliament, on the one hand violates universal rights and freedoms, but protects the danger of a wider political instability in Albania.

US to arm Syrian rebels: Putin’s rebuke, Chinese “peace plan” mar Netanyahu’s Chinese trip

DEBKAfile Special Report May 7, 2013, 2:19 PM (GMT+02:00)

Negative diplomatic ricochets are pursuing Israel in the aftermath of its air force attacks on Syria. In the first place, they are seen to have had no effect on Hizballah’s successful military intervention on the side of the Assad regime or the Syrian war at large. In the second, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, while in Shanghai, was given a sharp dressing-down by President Vladimir Putin Monday, May 6, a warning that Russia would not tolerate further Israeli attacks on Damascus and would respond.
Putin did not say how, but he did announce he had ordered the acceleration of highly advanced Russian weapons supplies to Syria.
debkafile’s military sources disclose that the Russian leader was referring to S-300 anti-air systems and the nuclear-capable 9K720 Iskander (NATO named SS-26 Stone) surface missiles, which are precise enough to hit a target within a 5-7 meter radius at a distance of 280 kilometers.
In his phone call to Netanyahu, the Russian leader made no bones about his determination not to permit the US, Israel or any other regional force (e.g. Turkey and Qatar) overthrow President Bashar Assad. He advised the prime minister to make sure to keep this in mind.
Our sources add: Since Syrian air defense teams have already trained in Russia on the handling of the S-300 interceptor batteries, they can go into service as soon as they are landed by one of Russia’s daily airlifts to Syria. Russian air defense officials will supervise their deployment and prepare them for operation.
Moscow is retaliating not just for Israel’s air operations against Syria but in anticipation of the Obama administration’s impending decision to send the first US arms shipments to the Syrian rebels.

Intelligence agencies in Moscow and the Middle East take it for granted that by the time Washington goes public on this decision, some of the Syrian rebel factions will already be armed with American weapons.

That the measure was in the works was signified by the introduction Monday by Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of legislation allowing the US to provide arms and military training to the Syrian rebels,

US military instructors have been working with Syrian rebels at training camps in Jordan and Turkey for some months. So putting the arms in their hands only awaited a decision in Washington.

Putin’s message to Netanyahu was intended to reach a wider audience than Jerusalem, such as Barack Obama in Washington and President Xi Jinping in Beijing ahead of Netanyahu’s talks there Tuesday.
Therefore, when US Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Moscow that day, in an attempt “bridge the divide” between their governments on the Syria conflict, he was preceded by a barrage of Russian condemnation of the Israeli air strikes in Damascus “as a threat to regional stability,” a stiff warning from the Russian foreign ministry to the “West” to stop “politicizing the issue of chemical weapons in Syria,” and Moscow’s “concern that world public opinion was being prepared for possible foreign military intervention.”

In other words, the Russian leader rejected in advance and with both hands any attempt by the US to use the Israeli air strikes as leverage for a deal with Moscow for ending the Syrian war. US weapons supplies to the rebels would furthermore be matched by stepped-up arms supplies to the Assad regime, which Putin is totally committed to preserving.
Kerry planned back-to-back meetings Tuesday with Russian officials focusing mainly on Syria but also covering the Russian angle on the Boston bombings, and hoped-for cooperation on the Iranian and North Korean nuclear issues.
The Chinese government’s cold shoulder to Israel was exhibited less directly that Moscow’s but no less firmly.  Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas was invited to visit Beijing and meet President Xi two days before the prime arrived in the Chinese capital Tuesday to begin the official part of his visit. The Chinese president unveiled his peace plan before meeting the Israeli prime minister.

This plan emphasizes, as the key to a settlement, the Palestinian right to a state on the basis of 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital. It also adopts Abbas’s preconditions for talks, including a stop to settlement activities, an end of the Gaza blockade and “proper handling” of the Palestinian prisoners issue.
Clearly, Prime Minister Netanyahu would have been wiser to postpone his Chinese visit instead of taking off while Israeli air force blasts will still reverberating in Damascus. By staying at home, he would have displayed a firmer and steadier hand at the helm.
And after taking off, he would have done well not to linger for two days in Shanghai first. This gave the Russian leader the chance to catch him wrong-footed and administer a strong, publicized rebuke, so bearing down on the agenda of Netanyahu’s forthcoming talks with Chinese leaders.

The journalist Mustafa Nano calls lists of MPs 'bordello'




'Bordello" with these lists. All candidates resemble more like whores, whores and striking among those who changed partner - Mustafa Nano wrote in a Twitter post from the online site ResPublica.

Shortly before the well-known publicist had posted another note with the text: "There are many people curious about lists. And I am. I want to know if it will be in SP lists surname 'Kokëdhima'.

Businessman Koco Kokëdhima by official lists is the list of Vlora, where Rama himself. ResPublica calls Vlora list, "a list of evil".

Belgrade wants talks on issues not in agreement

BRUSSELS - Belgrade's negotiating team on Tuesday relayed to representatives of the European Commission a request to start a dialogue on issues not covered by the Brussels agreement.

"Our side has requested from representatives of the European Commission that we start a high-level political dialogue on issues not covered by the agreement, but of vital importance to both sides," Tanjug heard from sources close to the team.

The issues in question are property, the position of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and the conditions for Serb participation in central institutions in Pristina.
"So far we have talked bilaterally with representatives of the EU. The talks are open and complex" said the source.

This is the second meeting between implementation teams from Belgrade and Pristina since Serbia's Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Kosovo's Prime Minister Hasim Taci initialed an agreement on April 19.

Belgrade's team is again headed by advisor to the Serbian president Marko Djuric and Pristina's by Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuci.

Screenshot video Tanjug, cameraman Davorin Pavlović

Samaras To Visit China In A Bid To Stir Up Investment Interest

Samaras To Visit China In A Bid To Stir Up Investment Interest

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By Hellas Frappe on 7.5.13

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Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras is going to visit China later on in May in a bid to stir up investment interest. The Greek premier is to visit China between May 15 to 19 and hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang. A number of businessmen and representatives of Greece’s privatization agency, TAIPED, are also going to accompany Samaras on his trip in the hope of laying the groundwork for future investments in Greece.

NATO chief says alliance did not "occupy" Kosovo

Source: Tanjug

BRUSSELS -- NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has strongly rejected accusations heard in the European Parliament that the alliance had occupied Kosovo.

(Beta, file)

"Look, the KFOR mission functions based on the mandate it was given by the United Nations, with the agreement of the sides in the conflict," the western military alliance's secretary general stressed.
He was responding to a question of a Greek MEP who wished to know "for how long NATO would occupy Kosovo."

Rasmussen also noted that the EP in several of its resolutions supported KFOR as a guarantee of security in Kosovo.

"That could hardly be called occupation," said Rasmussen.

The NATO chief was on Monday grilled by MEPs for three hours, much of it dedicated to the alliance's role in Afghanistan, and in Syria.

Rasmussen hopes for implementation

Also on Monday, Rasmussen said he hoped the Brussels agreement between Belgrade and Priština will be implemented as soon as possible and improve the situation in the field.

NATO has promised to support the implementation of the agreement and will do all in its power to help, he told a news conference in Brussels.

He commended the top officials of Belgrade and Priština on their determination to find a political solution and stressed in particular the role of EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, who facilitated the talks that ended on April 19 when the agreement on bringing the relations back to normal was initialled.

Rasmussen said he was pleased that both sides trusted NATO and KFOR and saw them as an impartial agency that ensures the implementation of the agreement, and he added that NATO would continue to work within the UN mandate to create a safe environment for all who live in Kosovo.

Malaj, kandidoj i pavarur Tema TV. 6 maj 2013

Former SP militant Arben Malaj, will be independent candidate

Nano: "I left the fight against Rama"

May 6th, 2013

 

"I and Malaj are more socialist than Kokëdhima and Rama. Now I`m forced to terminate the ceasefire and the protection votes in favor of the left, " Nano said.
 

(The deputy of SP Arben Malaj said he will go independent in the June 23 elections, by stating forcefully against the SP leader Edi Rama.

Malaj said for Edi Rama, he is a neo dictator, that can not be beat of Berisha, after he behaves like.
Speaking very excited and tense, Malaj said: "Emerging as an independent candidate, this will be the end of neodictator in politics. I would like to thank all the political representatives of Vlora region. I have no personal problem with Rama, but SP is failing repeatedly to defeat Berisha " .

He said he has asked the SP not to make constitutional changes, not to block the parliament and has launched a reform process.
"I do not disappeared one by politics," Malaj said, alluding to was that he wanted to disappear from politics.
In connection with the Malaj decision, has reacted Fatos Nano, former chairman of the SP. He said the SP has not done its duty opposition.

"I and Malaj are more socialist than Kokëdhima and Rama. Now I am forced to terminate the ceasefire and the protection votes in favor of the left, " Nano said.

He promised to be with Malaj at a joint press conference on Tuesday.
Nano said it would be at the top of the campaign Malaj. / P

U.S.: We are concerned about the CEC. If touched votes, we will not stand indiferente


 
May 6th, 2013 

Comission for Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, held a hearing on Albania.

Originally forward two congressmen, Robert Aderholt and Eliot Engel spoke Philip Reeker, Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs.

He said the U.S. is concerned about the independence of the Central Election Commission.

"CEC members not to administer elections fairly," said Riker.

He said that politicians in Albania must fulfill vacancies in the CEC.

"Politicians have a duty to select new members to replace those countries. We seek to fulfill these obligations and bring names, "said Riker.

"Institutions in Albania are new and have not always been able to organize elections that meet expectations," said the U.S. official.

He said that the CEC has the capacity to make choices free and fair.

"Parties shall ensure elections free and fair. Must make choices that reflect the standards of a NATO country, "said Riker.

He said several times that they do not support any party, but are on the side of the Albanian people, who wants elections free and fair.

Reeker said that if elections have manipulations, the U.S. will not sit idly.

"People will be very disappointed if this manipulation. If this happens, we do not stand "

"Failure of Brussels deal is in Serbia's interest"
SOURCE: BETA
BELGRADE -- The opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) on Monday marked its patron saint day, Đurđevdan (feast of St. George).

"Failure of Brussels deal is in Serbia's interest"

Tanjug)
Party leader and former Serbian PM Vojislav Koštunica hosted a reception in Belgrade, and commented on the recently initialed agreement between Belgrade and Priština by saying that it was in Serbia's interest for the deal to fall through.

"Precisely during these great (holiday) days our government has moved to wholeheartedly hand over Kosovo and Metohija to the fake and self-proclaimed state of Kosovo, and in doing that drag Serbia into a crisis the results of which are impossible to predict," he told reporters.

The current government, Koštunica further charged, was dismantling institutions of its own state in Kosovo and Metohija. For this reason, he called on the citizens to engage in peaceful resistance.

"It is in our interest for the Brussels agreement to fail," Koštunica stressed, and added that the DSS warned against the initialing and signing of the deal, while the current phase was its implementation - "and it is in our interest that it is not implemented."

The DSS leader then said that Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija also agreed on this point, and that his party would help them out. He noted that a protest rally was scheduled in Belgrade for May 10 at 12:44 CET - a symbolic reference to UN Security Resolution 1244.

Asked whether his party "did all it could to solve the Kosovo problem" while he served as prime minister, Koštunica said that negotiations lasted two years at the time, but that the Democrats (DS), along with other parties, had a majority in that government - "and were in favor of the EU."

'Worst is over' claims Greece ahead of IMF health check

Greece's crisis-hit economy is finally beginning to heal, according to the country's finance minister ahead of a crucial report by the International Monetary Fund which is likely to be more positive than in the past.

Mr Stournaras's upbeat tone comes ahead of the IMF's health check on the Greek economy, which is expected to indicate that the country is turning the corner.
By James Hurley6:32PM BST 04 May 2013224 Comments
Yannis Stournaras said "the worst is over" and the country had "reached the [bottom of the] trough".
Mr Stournaras's upbeat tone comes ahead of the IMF's health check on the Greek economy, which is expected to indicate that the country is turning the corner. The IMF is expected to deliver its annual Article IV Consultation on the country tomorrow, which will give its verdict on whether the economic outlook is improving after six years of deep recession.
The IMF has praised improvements to Greece's much- maligned tax collection procedures, according to reports in the Greek media this weekend.
Mr Stournaras said attempts to fix the country's parlous public finances are starting to bear fruit, and could allow it to return to financial markets as early as next year.
Athens is on course to deliver a primary budget surplus – which does not take into account debt payments – a year ahead of schedule. He added that the country has already pushed through two- thirds of the reform measures needed to address the huge holes in the nation's budget. Interest costs on Greece's massive debt pile have been sharply reduced by the debt restructuring the government has made.

Bad road quality
04/05/2013




The car oils collected by dozens of firms in Albania are also used for building roads.

Construction experts say that these oils could be mixed with tar when paving the roads.

A good road quality also depends on the materials that are placed to its layers. If it has many used oils in it, it might have a very low quality.

“Collecting used oil reduces the production cost. They don’t use petrol, because its cost is very high. They used burned oil for economic reasons. This is why companies collect used car oik. The damage is very huge, because it increases the pollution. That’s why the task force has taken care so that all companies can take permits and have their technological process reviewed”, declared the Environment Minister, Polikron Horeshka.

A large part of the companies that collect used car oils should also make the recycling process, but so far, none of these companies has recycled this oil that can be very dangerous for the people’s help.

Suspected narco boss arrested in Kosovo

Source: Beta, Tanjug

PRIŠTINA, SARAJEVO -- Naser Kelmendi was arrested in Kosovo on Sunday evening, the Kosovo police (KPS) confirmed on Monday.

Naser Kelmendi (image made from YouTube video)

KPS spokesman Baki Kelami told Beta news agency, "Yes, it's true. The Kosovo police arrested Kelmendi."
The minister of Security of Bosnia-Herzegovina said previously that his ministry unofficially received word of the arrest last night.

"The confirmation should be given by UNMIK and I hope we will have the confirmation today," Fahrudin Radončić told the public broadcaster of the Federation entity.

Radončić expects Kelmendi to be extradited to Bosnia, which issued an indictment against the ethnic Albanian as part of an operation aimed at breaking up crime gangs.

Kelmendi is also suspected of organizing the murder of Ramiz Delalić, aka Ćela, in Sarajevo in 2007.

Meanwhile, Podgorica's TV Vijesti is reporting that Kelmendi's name is on a U.S. State Department list, "as one of the most dangerous narco bosses in the Balkans", and that he has an Interpol arrest warrant out against him.

The information available to law enforcement services shows that Kelmendi is the main financier and organizer of the trafficking of heroin arriving in buses from Turkey and Albania to Peć in Kosovo. From there, he is suspected of moving the narcotics to western Europe, via Rožaje and Novi Pazar.

Albanomania politic elections


Doubled names at the electors' list



The Interior Ministry presented the updated data of the electors’ list, based on which the citizens will address to the voting centers on the June 23rd elections.

As for cleaning the double names, which is a real concern for the lists, the Deputy Interior Minister, Ferdinand Poni, declared that from 7674 this number has gone down to 1454.

“On December 12th 2012 we sent 7674 names which were found doubled in the lists. On May 3rd this number has went down to 1454”, declared the Deputy Interior Minister, Ferdinand Poni.

The list of May 3rd has 3.271.956 electors in total, 14.216 of whom are not ready to be published yet.

"14 216 electors’ names are not ready to be published yet”, Poni declared.

Mr.Poni added that after the end of the legal deadline, 40 days before the elections, the list will take the right shape in full accordance with the law.

“We want agreement with representatives of Kosovo Serbs”

SOURCE: B92, TANJUG

ZUCE, BELGRADE -- Serbia wants to implement the Brussels agreement in agreement with legitimate representatives of Kosovo Serbs, First Deputy PM Aleksandar Vučić says.


 

Aleksandar Vučić is seen during the visit to the 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade (Tanjug)
According to him, Serbia has numerous mechanisms for the implementation of the agreement but wants to do it in the agreement with legitimate representatives of Serbs in the southern province.

“The state does not want to demonstrate either force or power, not because it is not strong, on the contrary, because it is strong and because those running the country are much more powerful than those who stand up to them. That is why we are extending our hand and want to talk instead of forcing anyone and saying difficult, ugly words like some do,” Vučić said after a visit to the 250th Air Defense Missile Brigade in the village of Zuce near Belgrade.
He noted that all those who claimed they could solve the Kosovo issue in a better way would accept much worse agreements.

“We will talk to Serbs south of the Ibar River as well,” the first deputy PM said and explained that there was an issue of legality and legitimacy because there were even three or four different leaderships in some municipalities.

“My intention is primarily to visit northern Kosovo and Metohija but also many places south of the Ibar River. I want to talk to our people, I am going down there because of our people, proud of the way we have fought for our country and interests of our people,” Vučić concluded.

Vučić stated that he would most likely visit Kosovo on May 12, after meeting for the third time with representatives of northern Kosovo Serbs in Belgrade on May 7.

According to him, Serbia needs to show it is ready to move forward by June 28, so these meetings will be aimed at reaching an agreement.

He told Belgrade-based Pink TV that he would address the people in northern Kosovo and those south of the Ibar River.

"We cannot manage without them, nor they without us. Our wish is to talk and reach a deal on the implementation of the agreement (reached with Priština in Brussels),” said Vučić.

The deputy PM confirmed Serbia would not get a date for starting accession talks with the EU if it did not begin implementation of the Brussels agreement by June 28.

He said he understood the opposition from Kosovo Serbs, but not their attempt to change the political map of Serbia without showing understanding for the larger portion of the country and its problems.

Vučić sees their refusal to come to an agreement as buying time until someone from the West says: “Since nothing has been implemented, you will not get the date.”

He says implementation will be difficult, particularly because some in Brussels and Priština want to add to the agreement everything that was not agreed upon.

Berisha: Gratitude for helping Albanians for Janullatos



Premier has congratulated Orthodox believers today for the Easter holiday. After a visit to the Albanian Orthodox Church, in a statement to the media, Berisha praised the figure of Archbishop Janullatos. "Holy Day of Orthodox Christian believers. Believers who admire the honor eternity, hope, trust the future. It is a special occasion for me to express once again his grace, Anastas Jannoulatos deep gratitude and deepest respect for the hard work that has made the revival of the Albanian Orthodox Church, and not only that, but also greater commitment to helping Albanians in this period in all aspects.

Once enjoyed. I want to stress that I experienced a unique moment when Grace Apostolic Nuncio gave his personal message Janullatos holy father, Pope Francis I, as a major act of appreciation for the excellent work he has done did his grace on top of the Albanian Orthodox Church . Albanians wherever they are, happy Easter. "