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- ATHENS, Greece (AP) " The Latest on the mass migration into Europe (all times local):
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A boy walks down a muddy slope on a foggy morning at the northern Greek border station of Idomeni, Friday, March 11, 2016. After nearly three days of rain, conditions in the refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian where about 14,000 people are stranded have deteriorated significantly, with many of its residents struggling to re-pitch their small camping tents in slightly drier patches.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
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By The Associated Press
Posted Mar. 11, 2016 at 11:53 AM
Updated at 4:40 PM
ATHENS, Greece (AP) " The Latest on the mass migration into Europe (all times local):
6:40 p.m.
Albanian police have increased their presence near the border with Greece fearing Syrian refugees could use the country as a new transit-point after the route through Macedonia and Serbia was blocked.
An Interior Ministry official said Friday that the border with Greece is monitored non-stop while other police forces check surrounding streets in the districts bordering Greece. The official was not authorized to talk on the issue and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Next week Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano will come to Tirana to discuss "technicalities" surrounding joint patrols of the Greek-Albanian border.
Tirana says it is ready to shoulder its share of responsibility of the refugee crisis in a "joint European plan," adding it has limited capabilities of sheltering refugees in transit toward northern Europe.
"By Semini Llazar
___
6:15 p.m.
A Turkish official says five Greek islands would be "cleared" of migrants before a proposed deal with the European Union on the return of migrants to Turkey comes into effect.
The Foreign Ministry official told reporters Friday that the migrants on those islands would be taken to mainland Greece and resettled elsewhere. Turkey would start taking back any new migrants that arrive on the islands once the deal is in place, the official said. He did not name the islands.
The EU and Turkey this week agreed on the outlines of a deal that would send thousands of irregular migrants back to Turkey. In return, the EU would take an equal number of Syrian refugees who have found shelter in Turkey. The deal could be finalized at an EU summit next week.
The official said the aim of the deal is to discourage the illegal and dangerous migrant crossings from Turkey to the Greek islands and said Turkey was confident that these crossings would drop significantly days after the Turkish proposal comes into effect.
He added the EU would pay for the return of the migrants to Turkey.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the issue.
"By Suzan Fraser
___
6:00 p.m.
A senior State Department official says the U.S. is increasing the number of refugees it accepts, including the number of Syrians.
Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland also told a press conference in Athens Friday that the U.S. "will continue to be a welcoming place for refugees."
Nuland was responding to a question on whether the U.S. was ready to increase the number of asylum-seekers it is willing to accept. She provided no further details.
On Thursday, Nuland visited an overcrowded tent city on Greece's northern border with Macedonia, where about 14,000 refugees heading for central Europe are living in dire circumstances.
Friday, March 11, 2016
The Latest: Albania raises police presence near Greek border
Albania won't become EU 'gateway,' Italian admiral says
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The Italian navy couldn't stop migrant boats, like the Vlora, in the 1990s Albania crisis. (Photo: Alan Kotok)
There is little risk that migrants will enter the EU en masse via
Albania, Italy’s former defence chief has said, adding that a deal with
Russia on Syria is the best way to restore “stability”.
“I don’t think it [Albania] will become the main gateway [for migrants]," admiral Luigi Binelli Mantelli told EUobserver from Italy in an interview on Thursday (10 March).
“Albania has very attentive border control and doesn’t suffer from illegal immigration,” he said.
He also said Albania has a “strong will” to work with the EU because it wants to be a member and because it’s a “full Nato ally.”
Concern had mounted that migrants would divert to Albania after the EU closed the Greek-Macedonia border this week. The closure of the Western Balkan corridor was part of a broader EU deal with Turkey on taking back migrants.
Binelli Mantelli was chief of the Italian Defence General Staff from 2013 to 2015. He also took part in operations in Italy's migrant crisis in the early 1990s, when the fall of communism in Albania prompted a mass exodus of people across the Adriatic.
He said the 1990s crisis showed that navies can’t stop migrant boats.
He recalled the Vlora incident in 1991, when thousands of Albanian migrants forced a cargo ship to enter the port of Bari in Italy.
“We tried to stop it with some harassment by our vessels but it was impossible because it was very dangerous for the people on board so they entered the port,” he said.
“When you’re at sea any operation quickly turns into a rescue operation. It’s not like a land theatre … Even in World War II when our submarines waged war they also came to rescue people.”
He said Italy stabilised the 1990s crisis by working with Albania’s post-communist government to stop migrant boats from leaving shore.
“This is a problem of intelligence, surveillance, and interception. You need strong security cooperation between the countries involved,” he said.
He said that “the migrant problem from Turkey and Greece will continue” despite the EU deal on Turkey hosting more refugees.
He said the huge number of migrants makes “the eagerness to stop them there weak” in both countries.
He also said the Turkey-Greece sea route is hard to police. “There are many ferries with trucks which contain clandestine migrants … There are tourist boats full of people and, in the summer, lots of sail boats and motor boats, so migrant boats can come undetected,” he said.
He said a deal with Russia could do more to alleviate the migrant crisis than the EU deal with Turkey.
Russia’s “very powerful [military] posture” in Syria has put it in a position to restore the authority of its ally Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, the Italian admiral said.
The EU and US have said Assad must leave power due to war crimes.
But Binelli Mantelli said: “At the moment the only stability that we can have is with Bashar al-Assad there. There are no other solutions.”
In terms of broader Russia relations, he said there is no risk of a Russia-Nato military confrontation.
“I’m not so worried about the Ukraine crisis. We will probably find a solution with Russia, a reasonable agreement, which of course means giving up something,” he said.
He said Russia would “never withdraw” from Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
“For all the faults of Russia, its show of muscles, its power-policy, but also for that same reason we should be careful abdout surrounding Russia too much with Nato. They have a different approach. We’re more confident. But they’re not so confident in the [Nato-Russia] relatioship,” he said.
Commenting on EU military cooperation, he said Europe has struggled to defend its interests.
“Russia has a long term strategy. China has a long term strategy. The US has one. But we don’t because we’re too divided,” he said.
He said the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) has penetrated Libya via an east-west maritime corridor from Syria and via Mali.
The EU is taking part in UN-led talks on a Libya unity government. It is also interested in relaunching a border control mission in Libya.
But Binelli Mantelli said: “It isn’t a problem of two or three governments. It’s a problem of more than 100 tribes, each one with its own interests in human trafficking, oil smuggling, arms, and drugs. People say we should talk with this or that government [in Libya], but they have no power to control the tribes.”
He said Egypt is helping Nato to stop IS in Libya.
Egypt is to take the delivery of two French warships in September. Binelli Mantelli said “hypothetically” that Egypt could use the Mistral-class vessels “to improve the posture of its forces from Tobruk [in eastern Libya] westward.”
“I don’t think it [Albania] will become the main gateway [for migrants]," admiral Luigi Binelli Mantelli told EUobserver from Italy in an interview on Thursday (10 March).
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Binelli Mantelli (centre, on left) was Italy's defence chief from 2013 to 2015. (Photo: US Naval Forces Europe-Africa)
He also said Albania has a “strong will” to work with the EU because it wants to be a member and because it’s a “full Nato ally.”
Concern had mounted that migrants would divert to Albania after the EU closed the Greek-Macedonia border this week. The closure of the Western Balkan corridor was part of a broader EU deal with Turkey on taking back migrants.
Binelli Mantelli was chief of the Italian Defence General Staff from 2013 to 2015. He also took part in operations in Italy's migrant crisis in the early 1990s, when the fall of communism in Albania prompted a mass exodus of people across the Adriatic.
He said the 1990s crisis showed that navies can’t stop migrant boats.
He recalled the Vlora incident in 1991, when thousands of Albanian migrants forced a cargo ship to enter the port of Bari in Italy.
“We tried to stop it with some harassment by our vessels but it was impossible because it was very dangerous for the people on board so they entered the port,” he said.
“When you’re at sea any operation quickly turns into a rescue operation. It’s not like a land theatre … Even in World War II when our submarines waged war they also came to rescue people.”
He said Italy stabilised the 1990s crisis by working with Albania’s post-communist government to stop migrant boats from leaving shore.
“This is a problem of intelligence, surveillance, and interception. You need strong security cooperation between the countries involved,” he said.
Russia deal
Binelli Mantelli, who is retired, said his comments reflected his personal opinion and not the official position of the Italian military.He said that “the migrant problem from Turkey and Greece will continue” despite the EU deal on Turkey hosting more refugees.
He said the huge number of migrants makes “the eagerness to stop them there weak” in both countries.
He also said the Turkey-Greece sea route is hard to police. “There are many ferries with trucks which contain clandestine migrants … There are tourist boats full of people and, in the summer, lots of sail boats and motor boats, so migrant boats can come undetected,” he said.
He said a deal with Russia could do more to alleviate the migrant crisis than the EU deal with Turkey.
Russia’s “very powerful [military] posture” in Syria has put it in a position to restore the authority of its ally Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, the Italian admiral said.
The EU and US have said Assad must leave power due to war crimes.
But Binelli Mantelli said: “At the moment the only stability that we can have is with Bashar al-Assad there. There are no other solutions.”
In terms of broader Russia relations, he said there is no risk of a Russia-Nato military confrontation.
“I’m not so worried about the Ukraine crisis. We will probably find a solution with Russia, a reasonable agreement, which of course means giving up something,” he said.
He said Russia would “never withdraw” from Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
“For all the faults of Russia, its show of muscles, its power-policy, but also for that same reason we should be careful abdout surrounding Russia too much with Nato. They have a different approach. We’re more confident. But they’re not so confident in the [Nato-Russia] relatioship,” he said.
Commenting on EU military cooperation, he said Europe has struggled to defend its interests.
“Russia has a long term strategy. China has a long term strategy. The US has one. But we don’t because we’re too divided,” he said.
IS in Libya
Binelli Mantelli warned that instability in Libya could “intensify” migration in the western Mediterranean.He said the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) has penetrated Libya via an east-west maritime corridor from Syria and via Mali.
The EU is taking part in UN-led talks on a Libya unity government. It is also interested in relaunching a border control mission in Libya.
But Binelli Mantelli said: “It isn’t a problem of two or three governments. It’s a problem of more than 100 tribes, each one with its own interests in human trafficking, oil smuggling, arms, and drugs. People say we should talk with this or that government [in Libya], but they have no power to control the tribes.”
He said Egypt is helping Nato to stop IS in Libya.
Egypt is to take the delivery of two French warships in September. Binelli Mantelli said “hypothetically” that Egypt could use the Mistral-class vessels “to improve the posture of its forces from Tobruk [in eastern Libya] westward.”
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Trump Calls Putin ‘Very Strong Leader,’ Saying Obama Is Weaker
©
AFP 2016/ Jewel Samad
Donald Trump claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin a "very strong leader."
©
AFP 2016/ Michael B. Thomas
"I think Putin’s been a very strong leader
for Russia, he’s been a lot stronger than our leader, that I can tell
you," Trump said during a Thursday Republican presidential debate
broadcast by CNN. "That doesn’t mean I’m endorsing Putin," he added.
Earlier this month, Trump said during a presidential debate that it would be "nice" if relations between the United States and Russia could improve.Unlike most of his Republican rivals, who have criticized Russia for its actions in Ukraine and Syria, Trump said last September that he would "get along with" Russian President Vladimir Putin.
US-Russia relations deteriorated in early 2014 largely due to Crimea's reunification with Russia and the escalation of the internal conflict in Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it is not involved in the Ukrainian conflict, and that Western sanctions introduced against Russia as a punitive measure are counterproductive and hurt all sides involved.
Turkey Approves Billions in New Defense Projects
MIDDLE EAST
22:26 10.03.2016
Amid escalating tensions, the Turkish government has approved nearly $6 billion in defense programs, largely aimed at increasing Ankara’s own military production capabilities.
"Today, we approved $5.9 billion worth of new defense projects," Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said after a meeting with Turkey’s Defense Industry Executive Committee on Thursday. "Around $4.5 billion worth of these projects will consist of local production."
Pentagon OKs $683 Million Smart Bomb Deal for Turkey
The announcement comes as Turkey increases its military export industry. In the first two months of this year, defense exports have already risen by 35%.
The new programs will cover a large swatch of the defense sector. In addition to Turkish-made infantry rifles, which Davutoglu indicated will go into serial production later this year, the money will also go toward the development of more advanced weaponry.
One such product will be the Anka, a medium-altitude, long-endurance drone developed by Tusas Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). The UAV underwent successful test flights last month, reaching an altitude of 19,000 feet, and the company will soon move the aircraft into mass production.
TAI will also be involved in the production of T-129 attack helicopters, in association with Italian-British AgustaWestland. Ten of these helicopters were delivered to the Turkish Army last year, and Ankara plans to purchase 17 additional units.
Davutoglu also said that the money will support efforts to produce the engines used in the T-129s.
A woman reacts while walking among the ruins of damaged buildings following heavy fighting between government troops and Kurdish fighters, on March 2, 2016 in the southeastern Turkey Kurdish town of Cizre, near the border with Syria and Iraq
Turkey's Kurds Face Increasingly Humiliating Conditions, Deportations
Sources familiar with the meeting told Defense News that one production program will focus on the development of a new fighter jet, though details have not yet been released, as well as a dual-purpose aircraft meant for both civilian and military use.
While the new agreement is focused on exports, the Turkish government is still spending heavily on military imports. Earlier this month, the Pentagon authorized a $682.9 million contract to provide Ankara with an undisclosed number of smart bombs.
"The deal came timely as we are deeply engaged in asymmetrical warfare and need smart bombs," one Turkish military official said, according to Defense News.
Ankara has been engaged in security operations against Kurdish communities in the country’s southeast and has been accused of shelling Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) positions in neighboring Syria. While the Turkish government insists these actions are necessary to defend its territory, Kurdish groups deny attacking Turkey.
"I want to appeal to Turkish society about the need to unite to oppose this AKP government policy," Kamuran Yuksek, co-chairman of the Democratic Regions Party, told Sputnik Turkiye.
Soldiers carry ammunition as Turkish artillery fire from the border near Kilis toward northern Syria, in Kilis,
Turkish Deputy PM Hopes Ankara Will Not 'Engage in Syrian Conflict Alone'
"The authorities’ actions are creating serious and deep divisions in our society. By its actions, the AKP has formed a society of people who feel satisfaction and joy while reading reports of Kurds killed in Cizre, Silopi, and Sura."
Ankara is also pushing its allies to launch a ground invasion of Syria.
"Turkey isn’t going to engage in a war…But Turkey defends its sovereignty and will respond to any attempt of attack," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told 24 TV earlier this month. "I hope that in this case, Turkey won’t have to engage in the conflict alone."
Europe migrant crisis: Germany, Greece blast Balkan route closure as EU divisions deepen
Key points:
- Germany, Greece slam closure of Balkan route
- EU President Donald Tusk praises closure
- Thousands of asylum seekers are now trapped in Greece
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said the closures were "neither sustainable nor lasting" in tackling Europe's biggest migrant crisis since World War II and would leave Greece bearing the burden of the influx.
Underlining the deep divisions cleaving the bloc, Ms Merkel and Mr Tsipras' reactions flew in the face of the response of EU President Donald Tusk, who welcomed the route closure as being part of a collective response of the 28-member EU.
The strong words came after Slovenia, Croatia and Macedonia barred entry to transiting asylum seekers, and Serbia indicated it would follow suit.
EU member Slovenia said it would allow in only migrants and refugees wishing to claim asylum there or those seeking entry "on humanitarian grounds and in accordance with the rules of the Schengen zone".
Prime Minister Miro Cerar said the move meant that "the (Balkan) route for illegal migrations no longer exists", while Mr Tusk on Twitter called the decision "not a question of unilateral actions but common EU28 decision".
"I thank Western Balkan countries for implementing part of EU's comprehensive strategy to deal with migration crisis," he wrote.
Mr Tsipras retorted on Twitter that Mr Tusk should "focus efforts on implementing our common decisions and not encourage those who ignore them".
Leaving Greece in the lurch
Under pressure at home to reduce the influx, Ms Merkel acknowledged the western Balkan states' action "will obviously bring us fewer refugees, but they put Greece in a very difficult situation".
Her Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel noted while some at home were "secretly pleased that the Balkan states ... are doing Germany's dirty work", their actions would not help in the long term.
Ms Merkel is battling to avoid leaving Greece in the lurch as the number of asylum seekers stranded there is still steadily growing.
Greek authorities said on Thursday there were 41,973 migrants and refugees in the country, including some 12,000 stuck at Idomeni on the closed Macedonian border.
The EU has been locked in dispute over how to stem an unprecedented influx of asylum seekers that reached more than a million in 2015, many from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq and most aiming to reach wealthy Germany, Austria and Scandinavia.
Ms Merkel wants a comprehensive European deal with Turkey to stop asylum seekers from jumping on unseaworthy rubber boats to get to Europe.
The plan involves joint action with Ankara to tighten the EU's external borders, while also distributing migrants and refugees among EU members.
"If we do not manage to reach a deal with Turkey, then Greece cannot bear the burden for long," she said.
"That's why I am seeking a real European solution, that is, a solution for all 28 (EU members)," stressed Ms Merkel, who was once vilified in Greece over her hardline push for austerity, but is now standing firmly by Athens.
In the meantime, asylum seekers also did not appear dissuaded by latest developments, and were still risking their lives to cross to Europe.
At least another five asylum seekers, including a baby, drowned as they tried to sail from Turkey to Greece, local media reported on Thursday.
It’s Time to Seriously Consider Partitioning Syria
There may be a tentative cease-fire at present, but let’s not get
carried away. The war in Syria is going nowhere fast. It staggers along,
with daily violations and a rising body count — another vicious “problem from hell.”
Estimates vary, but some observers now put the death toll in Syria at
nearly 500,000 and climbing — roughly 2.5 percent of the prewar
population. Close to 50 percent of the population is displaced. It is hard to think of a catastrophe of similar proportions since the end of World War II.
Some efforts to negotiate a solution have been undertaken, led by the indefatigable U.N. diplomat Staffan de Mistura. The real problem, of course, is that the major players are in sharp disagreement about a path forward: the United States and Russia disagree on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s future; Saudi Arabia and Iran are locked in a geopolitical and religious conflict across the region, with Syria as ground zero; Russia and Turkey are in bitter disagreement about tactical and strategic issues; and on and on.
What is increasingly apparent amid all this misery is that Syria as a nation is increasingly a fiction. It is utterly riven by the civil war that has raged for three years, and large chunks of it are ruled by disparate actors with no allegiance and often bitter enmity toward what remains of the sovereign state. Like Humpty Dumpty in the children’s nursery rhyme, the odds of putting Syria back together again into a functioning entity appear very low. It is time to consider a partition.
Syria’s borders, of course, were famously drawn
in the early part of the last century, as the “sick man of Europe” —
the Ottoman Empire — collapsed after World War I. Syria is not a
long-standing civilization like Persia (today’s Iran), Turkey, or
Greece. Part of the reasons it has descended into chaos (along with the
brutal actions of the Assad regime, water scarcity problems, and the
general upheaval of the Arab Spring) is that it is already divided along
religious and ethnic lines.
Some observers have taken an initial look at a partition, which would probably include an Alawite region around Damascus, running to the sea, ruled by the Assad regime or its follow-on leaders. It would also have a central portion that hopefully over time would be run by a moderate Sunni regime, obviously after subduing the Islamic State and various al Qaeda factions. Finally, and most controversially, it might include a Kurdish enclave in the east. Obviously, the approach for a partition could range from a full break-up of the country (much as Yugoslavia broke up after the death of Marshal Josip Tito); to a very federated system like Bosnia after the Dayton Accords; to a weak but somewhat federated model like Iraq.
Certainly there are downsides, which need to be measured and set against the potential to achieve a negotiated solution. Partitions in general set bad precedents and appeal to small, disenfranchised minorities around the world, inflaming other potentially chaotic scenarios. They are also difficult to negotiate, requiring detailed knowledge of the human terrain in a failed state and carving out complex compromises that often leave no one satisfied and can plant the seeds of conflicts yet to come.
Additionally, neighbors can be opposed to the creation of enclaves that exert pull on their ethnic or religious minorities (Turkey worries deeply about a Kurdish state, naturally). And they are difficult to implement, because most of the parties are unhappy with some aspect of the final deal. Finally, partitions are cumbersome under international law, which generally sides with sovereign states and seeks to support existing unified territory. Generating support for a partition is difficult because many states (Spain, Turkey — not to mention Security Council members like Britain, China, and Russia) have minorities yearning for their own countries.
Next door to Syria, of course, is Iraq. There have been calls to partition that troubled state for decades, and a coherent case can be made that it would create better long-term outcomes. What makes Iraq different is plenty of oil resources that can be used to assuage the demands of minority populations and a system of federal government that is creaky but holding together thus far. Syria has neither, and totters on the abyss.
Despite the negatives, partitions can be used with good effect to move warring parties to opposite sides of the battle space. For a population that is already almost 50 percent displaced, frankly, there is not much to lose. A partition could provide a simple chance to leave a refugee camp or avoid a long and dangerous trek to an asylum state — in effect creating the elusive “safe zones” that the international community has yet to put in place.
Unfortunately, an immediate partition would effectively cede much of Syria to Sunni extremists. For this reason, Assad (with strong Russian backing) is unlikely to agree to a full partition. Thus, the most likely course would be a mix of a combined campaign to defeat the Islamic State and a federal system allowing a high degree of local autonomy. Presented as a package at a negotiation, this concept might move the situation off its gridlocked posture, much as similar ideas in Bosnia 20 years ago permitted the creation of the Dayton Accords.
In terms of introducing the idea in negotiations, it is premature until we at least give the cease-fire a chance to take hold for its short term, then see if it can be fashioned into a longer-term instrument. The idea is that if the parties can at least begin talking, they may be able to, over time, agree on a path toward a new constitution and fresh elections. Surfacing the idea of a partition, which Secretary of State John Kerry mentioned publicly recently (although he has since walked back somewhat), can help sharpen the talks while providing a fresh set of ideas for negotiators to consider if the current path falters.
Given the parlous state of the civil war, the mounting death toll, the utter chaos on the ground, and the ineffective progress using any other approach, at least thinking through the possibilities of using a partition approach in the course of the negotiations should be on the table now.
Some efforts to negotiate a solution have been undertaken, led by the indefatigable U.N. diplomat Staffan de Mistura. The real problem, of course, is that the major players are in sharp disagreement about a path forward: the United States and Russia disagree on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s future; Saudi Arabia and Iran are locked in a geopolitical and religious conflict across the region, with Syria as ground zero; Russia and Turkey are in bitter disagreement about tactical and strategic issues; and on and on.
What is increasingly apparent amid all this misery is that Syria as a nation is increasingly a fiction. It is utterly riven by the civil war that has raged for three years, and large chunks of it are ruled by disparate actors with no allegiance and often bitter enmity toward what remains of the sovereign state. Like Humpty Dumpty in the children’s nursery rhyme, the odds of putting Syria back together again into a functioning entity appear very low. It is time to consider a partition.
Some observers have taken an initial look at a partition, which would probably include an Alawite region around Damascus, running to the sea, ruled by the Assad regime or its follow-on leaders. It would also have a central portion that hopefully over time would be run by a moderate Sunni regime, obviously after subduing the Islamic State and various al Qaeda factions. Finally, and most controversially, it might include a Kurdish enclave in the east. Obviously, the approach for a partition could range from a full break-up of the country (much as Yugoslavia broke up after the death of Marshal Josip Tito); to a very federated system like Bosnia after the Dayton Accords; to a weak but somewhat federated model like Iraq.
Certainly there are downsides, which need to be measured and set against the potential to achieve a negotiated solution. Partitions in general set bad precedents and appeal to small, disenfranchised minorities around the world, inflaming other potentially chaotic scenarios. They are also difficult to negotiate, requiring detailed knowledge of the human terrain in a failed state and carving out complex compromises that often leave no one satisfied and can plant the seeds of conflicts yet to come.
Additionally, neighbors can be opposed to the creation of enclaves that exert pull on their ethnic or religious minorities (Turkey worries deeply about a Kurdish state, naturally). And they are difficult to implement, because most of the parties are unhappy with some aspect of the final deal. Finally, partitions are cumbersome under international law, which generally sides with sovereign states and seeks to support existing unified territory. Generating support for a partition is difficult because many states (Spain, Turkey — not to mention Security Council members like Britain, China, and Russia) have minorities yearning for their own countries.
Next door to Syria, of course, is Iraq. There have been calls to partition that troubled state for decades, and a coherent case can be made that it would create better long-term outcomes. What makes Iraq different is plenty of oil resources that can be used to assuage the demands of minority populations and a system of federal government that is creaky but holding together thus far. Syria has neither, and totters on the abyss.
Despite the negatives, partitions can be used with good effect to move warring parties to opposite sides of the battle space. For a population that is already almost 50 percent displaced, frankly, there is not much to lose. A partition could provide a simple chance to leave a refugee camp or avoid a long and dangerous trek to an asylum state — in effect creating the elusive “safe zones” that the international community has yet to put in place.
Unfortunately, an immediate partition would effectively cede much of Syria to Sunni extremists. For this reason, Assad (with strong Russian backing) is unlikely to agree to a full partition. Thus, the most likely course would be a mix of a combined campaign to defeat the Islamic State and a federal system allowing a high degree of local autonomy. Presented as a package at a negotiation, this concept might move the situation off its gridlocked posture, much as similar ideas in Bosnia 20 years ago permitted the creation of the Dayton Accords.
In terms of introducing the idea in negotiations, it is premature until we at least give the cease-fire a chance to take hold for its short term, then see if it can be fashioned into a longer-term instrument. The idea is that if the parties can at least begin talking, they may be able to, over time, agree on a path toward a new constitution and fresh elections. Surfacing the idea of a partition, which Secretary of State John Kerry mentioned publicly recently (although he has since walked back somewhat), can help sharpen the talks while providing a fresh set of ideas for negotiators to consider if the current path falters.
Given the parlous state of the civil war, the mounting death toll, the utter chaos on the ground, and the ineffective progress using any other approach, at least thinking through the possibilities of using a partition approach in the course of the negotiations should be on the table now.
Photo credit: SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Serbian president says Russia is his nation's "defender"
Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has told TASS that Russia has always positioned itself as "the defender of the Serbian people."
SOURCE: B92, BETA WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2016
Nikolic' made this statement in Moscow on Wednesday, where he arrived for a two-day visit and meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill.
"I have topics to talk about with Putin. The world situation is very complicated, while Serbia's position is difficult. I do not know what his feelings toward me are, I can say what I feel. I feel a completely open friendship, a friendship that goes to the point where I can reveal to him my secrets and problems and seek advice from him," Nikolic said.
He particularly stressed the relationship between the two nations.
"I think I can talk with President Putin the same way that any Serbian and Russian can. We know the history of our peoples and the relationships between them, of course, Russia has always positioned itself as the defender of the Serbian people and hence the love of Serbians towards Russians. Serbia suffered when it was not on the Russian side or when Russia was not strong enough, say, like in the time before Putin came to power," said Nikolic.
The Serbian president reiterated Belgrade's position of neutrality - but also expanded on it somewhat:
"Serbia is neutral, the Serbian Assembly passed a decision on military neutrality, but there's our common desire to maintain political neutrality, which is much harder to do than military neutrality. There should be a good political balance."
"Firm guarantees"
Meanwhile, Moscow-based daily Kommersant writes that Nikolic's visit had "unexpectedly gained political importance" and that Russia "expects to receive firm guarantees that Serbia will not join NATO."
According to the paper, Russia is also "asking Belgrade to organize a referendum" on this issue.
Furthermore, said the article, quoted by Beta agency, diplomatic status will be sought for Russian personnel of the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Center in southern Serbia.
Turkey, Greece agree on multiple topics in İzmir meeting
İZMİR
Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) shakes hand with Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (L) during a press conferrence on March 8, 2016 in Izmir. AFP Photo
The prime ministers of Turkey and Greece discussed and agreed on multiple topics during meetings held in Turkey’s Aegean coastal town of İzmir on March 8, hours after Turkey and the European Union agreed on a draft agreement to combat the refugee crisis and boost Turkey’s EU bid.
Turkey and Greece also vowed close cooperation on a plan to return migrants rejected by Europe, laying aside historic differences in an agreement they hope will end the illegal flow of people crossing the Aegean Sea.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said the two countries had common stances on many topics, adding that they had reached a consensus to launch flights, ferry services and trains between Greece and Turkey, and to realize the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) project.
Stating that Greece’s Thessaloniki was the port that opens to Eastern Europe, and İzmir was the hub for Asia and Anatolia, Davutoğlu said the link between these two cities was very important.
“Ferry services will start [between İzmir and Thessaloniki], God willing,” Doğan News Agency quoted Davutoğlu as saying, adding that Greek products coming to İzmir via this ferry line would reach Ankara and even the Caspian, as Turkey has already organized its hinterland.
“From the same route it can go to the depths of Asia [and products] coming from Asia can go to Europe,” he said during a joint press conference with his Greek counterpart on March 8.
Davutoğlu said a high-speed train between Istanbul and Thessaloniki was also being planned. “We promise to remove the obstacles,” he said.
The Turkish prime minister also said direct flights from Athens to Ankara were going to begin, while flights between Athens and İzmir would start if the parties agreed.
“There needs to be more links. Tourism is an extraordinary opportunity,” he said. “We are determined to bring the two sides of the Aegean [together] in order to not separate ever again.”
Tsipras said talks were ongoing over the dispute between the two countries regarding the continental shelf and the “casus belli” approach to the issue needed to be left behind, as it reflected the perspective of bygone times.
He added Greece supported Turkey’s EU membership, which would enhance regional peace and stability.
Tsipras said the readmission agreement reached as part of the EU-Turkey deal would help to reduce the “unbearable flow” of refugees into Europe.
“[It] sends a clear message to migrants coming from third countries, rather than countries at war... that there is neither the political will [to allow their passage] nor the ability to cross to Europe,” Reuters quoted Tsipras as saying.
“This is the reality we ought to sincerely convey to them in order to stop, to reduce, this unbearable flow for our countries,” he added.
The neighboring prime ministers met a day after Ankara offered the EU to take back all irregular migrants who cross into Europe from Turkish soil in return for an agreement in principle on its demands for more money, faster EU membership talks and earlier visa-free travel.
More than a million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and beyond have flooded into the EU since early 2015, most making the perilous sea crossing from Turkey to Greece, then heading north through the Balkans to Germany.
“The aim here is to discourage irregular migration and... to recognize those Syrians in our camps who the EU will accept - though we will not force any one to go against their will - via legal routes,” Davutoğlu said, adding there would be no extra financial burden on Turkey.
“Europe will cover all costs of readmitting migrants from the Aegean, the readmission costs [including] returning to Turkey and to a third country, or their own country,” he said.
Schulz expels Golden Dawn MEP Synadinos for calling Turks “dirty and polluted” in racist rant
MEP Eleftherios Synadinos (left) asks for the floor as his exclusion from Plenary is announced by President Martin Schultz. MEP Lampros Fountoulis (right) accompanied by Synadinos caused problems on a Parliament event last week.
The other two Golden Dawn MEPs asked for the floor, calling President Schulz a “fascist”.
By Irene Kostaki
Journalist, New Europe
Just a week after the first serious Golden Dawn incident in the European Parliament, President Martin Schulz took action, expelling Greek Golden Dawn MEP Eleftherios Synadinos from Plenary in Strasbourg.
“As it has been expressed in scientific literature, the Turks are dirty and polluted. Turks are like wild dogs when they play but when they have to fight against their enemies they run away. The only effective way to deal with the Turks is with decisive and resolute attitudes”, said Synadinos earlier today during the debate on the EU-Turkey Summit, pushing Martin Schulz to MEP’s expulsion. His extremist Party, Golden Dawn, has regularly voiced such political positions in there rhetoric at the national level.
“This morning there was an incident in the Chamber and I believe that the European Parliament should not fail to react to it. We absolutely must react to the incident. I’d like to quote the sentence, which, firstly, I don’t think [is] acceptable and secondly I think … must be sanctioned”, explained President Schulz, which quoted Syndino’s sentence above, for the record.
In accordance to article 165 of the rules of procedure, this sentence “represents a breach of the values of the EU”, Schulz added, underlining that this was an immediate measure. “I believe that we have to establish a procedure here where if red lines are crossed, then we have to declare them unactable, particularly with regards to racism”, underlined the President, after a big applaude in Plenary. “For that reason, in accordance with rule 165 of the rules of procedure, in accordance with rule 11, I immediately exclude Mr Synadinos from the Chamber”, he concluded.
MEP Synadinos took his briefcase and left the Plenary, while the other two fellow Golden Dawn MEPs shouted at the President, calling him a “fascist”. Nearby Non-attached MEPs recorded the scene with their mobile phones. Referring to the Golden Dawn MEPs, Schulz said that “if they wanted to leave the Chamber with him they are free to do so”, refusing to go on a debate: “Mr. Synadinos will be heard on this incident; no debates on the rules of procedure” Schulz said to close with the issue and put a stop Georgios Epitideios and Lampros Fountoulis, the other two Golden Dawn MEPs that kept asking for the floor.
Last week, Fountoulis accompanied by Synadinos entered a European Parliament conference organized by Csaba Sógor, a Romanian center-right MEP, on minority rights in Greece. The MEPs took exception to the debate. “There is no Turkish minority. Go to the problems of your country, not my country”, shouted Fountoulis to the EPP MEP.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Refugees may start to cross over Albania
Just as, twenty-five years ago, Albanians left the country in droves
Today’s migrant crisis gives many Albanians mixed feelings. As a country of emigrants Albanians are sympathetic to others who flee war or who just want better lives. Just under 3m people live there; at least 1m Albanians, the largest part of the diaspora, live in Greece and Italy. Last year just under 55,000 tried their luck at escaping poverty by joining the flow from the Middle East and applying for political asylum in Germany (nearly all will fail).
The Albanian authorities have started to worry that Albania is going to have to deal with people arriving rather than leaving. Some now predict that refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq—many of whom are blocked in Greece from entering Europe through Macedonia—may now try their luck through Albania. Small numbers have been detected on the routes across Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia. Rumours are circulating that Albanian mafiosi are looking in Italy for rubber dinghies known as gommoni to speed migrants to Italy as they did with thousands of Kurds and others in the 1990s. So far nothing, bar the odd drug-smuggling speedboat, appears to be crossing the Adriatic. Many migrants in Greece have heard that Albania is risky and that if you are not robbed and killed by the mafia you risk spending a year in jail. In the last few months only a few hundred have had a go.
Although the country has experienced a sudden influx of migration before—during the Kosovo war of 1998-99 around 500,000 Kosovo Albanians went there and stayed until the war was over—in many respects it is ill-prepared. Albania is now deploying extra police to guard its borders. On March 4th Italy promised to send men and equipment to help on both land and sea. But Edi Rama, Albania’s prime minister, says that his country is not open to migrants. So one more country along the Balkan migrant trail may yet become overwhelmed by, and then deeply hostile to, thousands of refugees fleeing war. The fact that so many Albanians have found welcome abroad may count for little.
Big Tech Bosses Meet in Secret on Private Island to Stop Donald Trump
©
REUTERS/ Chris Keane
How do you stop a man like Donald Trump from entering the White House? Hold a secret meeting on a far-away island between billionaires, Republicans and big tech CEOs in the hope he'll go away.
©
AP Photo/ Cheryl Senter
"A specter was haunting the World Forum — the
specter of Donald Trump. There was much unhappiness about his emergence,
a good deal of talk, some of it insightful and thoughtful, about why
he's done so well, and many expressions of hope that he would be
defeated… The key task not, to once again paraphrase Karl Marx, is less
to understand Trump than to stop him."
Trump has nearly one-third of the delegates he needs to secure the Republican Party nomination but faces big tests in the forthcoming Florida and Ohio primaries.
©
AFP 2016/ Michael B. Thomas
The spoof ceremony hosted by the Islamic Human Rights Commission announced Trump as the winner, mainly because of his campaign to stop Muslims from entering the US.
Turkey’s $6.6bn EU Bribe
©
REUTERS/ Yves Herman
Erdogan’s Turkey this week diversified its rogue-state conduct from terror sponsorship to international bribery. The proceeds? Not bad earning, with $6.6 billion in “aid” extracted from the European Union.
©
Fotobank.ru/Getty Images/ Sean Gallup
Four months ago, the Ankara regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan squeezed the EU for a promise of $3.3 billion in financial aid, allegedly to slow down the flow of refugees from Turkey to Europe. Over that period, the influx of refugees has only become much worse, with numbers for the first three months of this year set to overwhelm last year’s record high of one million migrants reaching European shores.
Yet in spite of Ankara’s abysmal failure to curb the human trafficking from its territory, Erdogan’s regime is now to get double the money paid out by Brussels – courtesy of hard-pressed EU taxpayers. The $6.6 billion that Ankara is to receive over the next two years is purportedly for helping to accommodate refugees on the Anatolian mainland.
As part of the “deal” hatched this week in Brussels between EU leaders and Ankara, all “irregular migrants” currently languishing in Greece – some 30,000 – are to be forcibly returned to Turkey.
NATO warships have been called in to facilitate the “processing”. Britain this week announced that it is sending a large amphibious landing ship for the unspoken but obvious purpose of relocating people en masse.
Ostensibly, the EU is committed to eventually take back an equal number of Syrian refugees for asylum. But don’t count on that. Out of 160,000 refugees that the EU vowed to domicile last year, so far only 700 individuals have been distributed among the 28-nation bloc. Don’t be surprised if the camps in Turkey become permanent features like refugee centers in Lebanon and Jordan.
What we have here is a sordid bargain. The EU establishment gets to “ship back” migrants to Turkey, and to stop the flow of refugees. That influx was straining the very fabric of the EU, not because of the absolute numbers of migrants involved, but because of the bickering between the various member states.
So to the immense relief of the Eurocrats, the problem is solved, at least on the short term. Violating its own lofty “principles”, the EU is to dump the migrants into camps in Turkey. And the Ankara authorities not only stand to collect $6.6 billion from the EU, this week Erdogan’s sidekick prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu also extracted other concessions: visa-free travel for 75 million Turks to Europe to take effect within four months, and a promise from Brussels to speed up Turkey’s accession to the EU.
The strong-arming of the EU by Erdogan was no doubt emboldened by Brussels’ weak-kneed response to his brutal crackdown last weekend on independent news media. The violent seizure by riot police of Turkey’s biggest opposition newspaper, Zaman, was met with cowardly silence from the EU.
Pusillanimous platitudes of “concern” for “free speech” and European “core values” issued by the likes of French President Francois Hollande and the EU’s foreign affairs chief Federica Morgherini would have only caused Erdogan and Davutoglu to snigger with derision at the “protestations”. Erdogan knows that the EU is a paper tiger. European governments and its parliament have known for months about his creeping despotism, and they have done noting about it. Journalists have been locked up, media outlets forced to close, and Brussels just mouths a few trite cautions.
Erdogan’s regime has stepped up bloody repression of ethnic Kurds in the country’s southeast, and again Brussels hardly squeaks.
The Turkish military has been bombarding northern Syria for weeks, in what is plainly an act of aggression towards a sovereign state, and Brussels says nothing. Erdogan’s rogue regime is documented to be supplying weapons across Syria’s border to illegally armed groups trying to topple the government in Damascus, and again Brussels goes mute.
So Ankara knows full well that the EU establishment has no principles despite its lofty proclamations on human rights and avowed respect for international law. He knows that his roguery will be given a blind eye because when it comes to Syria the EU itself has been one giant rogue entity. Its governments, Britain and France in particular, have been part of the covert war on Syria for regime change, along with Washington of course.
The EU maintains economic sanctions on Syria while complaining about the humanitarian conditions in the country. How’s that for criminal double-think?
From the outset of the war in March 2011, Turkey and Saudi Arabia financed the sectarian mobilization of Syrian communities who were readily recruited to the project of regime change against President Assad. An important element in this mobilization was the creation of refugee camps in Turkey, from where “jihadists” could be trained, weaponized and filed back into Syria. Turkey provided the terrain and logistics, while Saudi Arabia furnished the money, and the US and other NATO powers orchestrated the whole project.
By way of substantiating the nefarious role of Turkey, a senior source in the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) told this author that Ankara has always insisted on controlling the refugee camps in its territory. Normally in an international refugee crisis, the UNHCR is the lead body for registering and administrating relief facilities. Why Turkey has refused this international input is no doubt because Ankara has been using refugee camps for its own political and covert military ends.
Ironically, Turkey and other NATO powers have accused Russia of “weaponizing the refugee problem” with the alleged intention of undermining the EU. It is a contemptible, baseless contention.
Nonetheless, the concept and practice of weaponizing refugees finds reality when the role of Turkey in the war on Syria is examined.
Erdogan’s regime has not only played a prominent part in fomenting the displacement of nearly 12 million Syrians for the state-sponsored terror war on Syria, Ankara has also evidently orchestrated the refugee crisis for extortion of the EU.
But the EU mis-leaders are so compromised in the whole sordid affair they cannot deal effectively with the problem. Because that would mean admitting that the war on Syria has been a criminal enterprise from the get-go, which they have willingly colluded in.
What the EU plutocrats then do is this: shunt the refugees off to camps outsourced to Turkey regardless of international law; pay off Erdogan and his autocratic cronies with $6.6 billion and other concessions; and, in the best bumbling Eurocrat-style, hope that the problem will just go away.
The EU establishment will find, however, that the crimes of Erdogan, as with their own, cannot be buried in this way. Brussels may think it has found a quick-fix for now. But the corruption that it is entertaining with Ankara is a fatal, terminal disease.
'EU Ready to Betray Greece as it Did Czechoslovakia in 1938'
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REUTERS/ Yannis Behrakis
Brussels' scheme to close the 'Balkan route' for illegal immigration through Greece puts the country in a difficult and humiliating situation, comparable to the betrayal of Czechoslovakia by Western powers in 1938, says French lawyer and academic Alexis Teas.
In an op-ed
for France's Le Figaro, Teas suggested that the current migrant crisis
is one of the worst tragedies Europe has faced since the end of Second
World War.
As far as the first question is concerned, Teas argues that it is completely legitimate for Europe to demand that Turkey keep a portion of the refugees it accepts, since "one of the overriding principles of asylum law is that the victims of persecution do not have the right to choose the place where they are held," and must settle in the first place where are made safe.
"As for economic migrants, in other words – illegal immigrants, Turkey should not push them into Europe. Ankara's role, under international law and readmission agreements, is to return them to the country from which they came."
In essence, Teas suggests, "Mr. Erdogan's Turkey seems to be engaged in a showdown with Europe, using a form of blackmail by conditioning its aid to migrants to accession to the EU, which would open it unlimited access to the European labor market and billions in structural funds. Yielding to these conditions would make Europe into Turkey's hostage."
As far as the summit's second question – on the closing of the Balkan route of European migration, the lawyer suggests that "it's enough to take a glance at a map to understand the essence of the formula: it factually means abandoning Greece, with its hundreds of thousands of migrants scattered across makeshift camps."
"There is only one solution to this drama: Europe, through the governments of its five or six largest states, should, on an equal footing, take its destiny into its own hands." They have a "historical responsibility" to struggle against the smugglers, "those who accumulate fortunes by throwing millions of poor into the sea."
Europe has a duty to get them to comply with international law and with borders, to control the shores from which criminals send the boats laden with refugees to their countries. "But is Europe in the face of its current leadership capable of getting out of its suicidal stupor and regaining its political will and respect the rule of law?", Teas asks.
"More than a million arrivals in 2015 –an
influx which has continued to grow since the start of this year; the
consequences are disastrous, leading to continental-wide social
breakdown, the return of nationalist tensions, and popular anger
exacerbated by the proliferation of slums and refugee camps."
Europe's
leaders, the academic noted, are themselves responsible for the present
situation, after the continent's main leaders, German Chancellor Angela
Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker 'opened
their arms' in September, which triggered the flood.
"The extraordinary March 7 summit on migration issues in Brussels
suggests that [the continent's leaders] have realized, belatedly, what's
going on. Convened on the initiative of the German chancellor, who has
become the de facto leader of the continent, the summit focused on two
priorities: an agreement with Turkey urging Ankara to hold back some
of the refugees, and the closure of the migration's Balkan route."
As far as the first question is concerned, Teas argues that it is completely legitimate for Europe to demand that Turkey keep a portion of the refugees it accepts, since "one of the overriding principles of asylum law is that the victims of persecution do not have the right to choose the place where they are held," and must settle in the first place where are made safe.
"As for economic migrants, in other words – illegal immigrants, Turkey should not push them into Europe. Ankara's role, under international law and readmission agreements, is to return them to the country from which they came."
In essence, Teas suggests, "Mr. Erdogan's Turkey seems to be engaged in a showdown with Europe, using a form of blackmail by conditioning its aid to migrants to accession to the EU, which would open it unlimited access to the European labor market and billions in structural funds. Yielding to these conditions would make Europe into Turkey's hostage."
As far as the summit's second question – on the closing of the Balkan route of European migration, the lawyer suggests that "it's enough to take a glance at a map to understand the essence of the formula: it factually means abandoning Greece, with its hundreds of thousands of migrants scattered across makeshift camps."
"This sinister choice has the aftertaste of the
Munich Agreement of September 1938, under which the democracies gave
Czechoslovakia to Hitler. The cowardly abandonment of this country, the
cradle of European civilization, is emblematic of a Europe that is
disoriented, rootless and drifting…"
Ultimately, Teas notes, one should not count on Turkey fulfilling its
obligations in good faith, in this case, to save Europe, "nor on Greece
playing the role of a scapegoat, sacrificing itself on behalf of our
continent's collective errors.""There is only one solution to this drama: Europe, through the governments of its five or six largest states, should, on an equal footing, take its destiny into its own hands." They have a "historical responsibility" to struggle against the smugglers, "those who accumulate fortunes by throwing millions of poor into the sea."
Europe has a duty to get them to comply with international law and with borders, to control the shores from which criminals send the boats laden with refugees to their countries. "But is Europe in the face of its current leadership capable of getting out of its suicidal stupor and regaining its political will and respect the rule of law?", Teas asks.
At the moment, he warns, "it doesn't seem
to have found the way." And, as far as France is concerned, "given the
gravity and severity of the events, May/June 2017 [when France is set
to hold its next presidential elections] seems light years away…"
Monday, March 7, 2016
NATO expands migrant mission in Aegean Sea
Kathimerini
JOHN-THOR DAHLBURG
TAGS: Migration, Defense, Diplomacy, Interview
NATO announced Sunday that it was expanding its mission to help choke off the smuggling of migrants into Europe by deploying warships in Greek and Turkish waters, reinforcing its flotilla and deepening cooperation with the European Union's Frontex border agency.
Early Monday, Britain said it is contributing an amphibious landing ship backed by a Wildcat helicopter, as well as two border force cutters to the NATO force.
"We've got to break the business model of the criminal smugglers and stop the desperate flow of people crammed into makeshift vessels from embarking on a fruitless and perilous journey," British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a statement. "'
'That's why this NATO mission is so important. It's an opportunity to stop the smugglers and send out a clear message to migrants contemplating journeys to Europe that they will be turned back."
The widened mission comes after defense ministers of the 28-nation alliance on Feb. 11 ordered the immediate deployment of the three vessels in NATO's Standing Maritime Group 2 to the Aegean Sea.
In a telephone interview with the Associated Press, NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said, "We will do reconnaissance, we will do surveillance, we will collect information, and share this information in real time with the Turkish coast guard, the Greek coast guard and with Frontex, helping them with managing the migrant and refugee crisis, and also to cut the lines of the illegal trafficking and smugglers,"
The waters between Greece and Turkey, two NATO allies, are a key area where smugglers have been bringing tens of thousands of migrants into Europe, sparking what some have called the gravest crisis in the EU's history. EU and Turkish leaders will meet Monday in Brussels to discuss the emergency.
"Now we are going further by actually doing two new things," NATO's secretary-general told the AP. "We are going into Greek and Turkish territorial waters. We have agreed on arrangements for doing that."
"In addition, we have agreed with Frontex on how to work with them, how to share information so what we will do will be more efficient," Stoltenberg said.
NATO officials said the alliance's Allied Maritime Command and Frontex exchanged letters Sunday on specifics of their tactical and operational cooperation.
Now "NATO and Frontex will be able to exchange liaison officers and share information in real time, to enable Frontex, as well as Greece and Turkey, to take action in real time," NATO said in a statement.
Stoltenberg said additional NATO assets will also be sent to the Eastern Mediterranean. The German, Canadian and Turkish naval vessels deployed Feb. 11 have already been joined by a Greek unit, and Stoltenberg said France has announced it is sending a ship and that other allies are expected to follow suit.
The British announcement said the amphibious landing ship RFA Mounts Bay is expected to begin operations in the coming days-"identifying smugglers taking migrants to Greece and passing the information to the Turkish coast guard so they can intercept these boats." It said one British border force boat, VOS Grace, is already in the Aegean, that one cutter, the Protector, is on the way and another is expected to start operations later this month.
Stoltenberg stressed that NATO ships and crews "will not turn back the boats" carrying migrants, many of whom are fleeing war or poverty in their Middle Eastern or African homelands.
"What we will do is to support, assist, help the Turkish and the Greek authorities and the European Union," Stoltenberg said. He called the agreement reached for joint NATO-EU efforts in the field unprecedented.
In a statement, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Home Affairs Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos hailed the "common understanding with NATO" formalized Sunday as "an important contribution to international efforts to tackle smuggling and irregular migration in the Aegean Sea."
The International Office of Migration estimated Friday that 125,819 migrants had reached the Greek islands since Jan. 1, and that 321 others drowned in the Eastern Mediterranean while attempting to make the journey across the cold, often dangerous waters.
On Monday, Stoltenberg is scheduled to meet in Brussels with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
The Observer: Underwater and Underhanded: Russian Submarines Come to the Mideast
A new Russian submarine. Photo: ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/AFP/Getty Images)
ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/AFP/Getty Images
Russians have deployed a fleet of submarines off the coast of Syria. And not just any subs. These are the quietest subs in the world. NATO has termed these Russian subs “Black Hole.” They are diesel electric powered and fire Tomahawk-style rockets from the sea.
The subs are also known as Rostov -on- Don and the Russians have already used them against ISIS and al Qaeda. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu with Russia President Vladimir Putin recently held a televised meeting and broadcast footage of the submarines striking at ISIS targets.
One of the secret weapons of great powers is their submarine fleet. Very little time is spent analyzing the power and strength of these underwater vessels, but conventional wisdom has it that the greater the submarines fleet the more powerful the navy. This explains why the actual size of almost every nation’s submarine fleets is a top secret, and the best analysts can do is speculate as to the numbers involved. An advanced sub fleet can and will be much more powerful than any aircraft carrier.
In other words—the greater the sub fleet, the more powerful the military. And if a set of subs can go undetected for weeks at a time, the weapon becomes enormously effective both as a defensive and offensive weapon.
This Russian sub can remain submerged for 45 days. Weighing in at 4,000 tons, it is very small and very fast and can cruise at an underwater speed of 20 knots. Because of its small size, it is able to get into shallow water. Because it is so quiet, it leaves no sound signature. It becomes invisible.
“Black Hole” is one of Russia’s secret weapons, and it is now taking up residence just off the coast of Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Israel.
How many are there? Best intel guesses say that Russia has 20 “Black Holes.” There are probably six of seven of these subs now submerged in the Mediterranean Sea.
They are not alone. Other subs in the area are there courtesy of the United States, England, Germany and France. Israel has submarines in the Mediterranean too. The others come and go at will. But for Israel this area is home.
Last year Iran brought one of its subs through the Suez Canal and up the Mediterranean Coastline to Syria. The sub was escorted by a naval vessel, and they cruised right by Israel to Syria. Once it reached its destination, the ship spun around and returned to Iran. To this day analysts have been searching for that Iranian sub. It is assumed that the Iranian sub returned to port, but no one knows for sure. We do know that it was the first time in decades that Iran had a naval presence in the Mediterranean Sea.
They are not as highly developed as the “Black Hole,” but Israel does have five or six (again, it’s top secret and classified and no one knows for sure) dolphin class, diesel-powered, subs that have been specially redesigned and outfitted with the ability to fire Tomahawks as well as “other weapons.”
Each of those subs, it is believed, is equipped with a 200 kilo nuclear missile containing six kilos of plutonium. This is known as a second strike weapon. In the event that Iran or some other country was to strike Israel, the nukes would be unleashed against the attacker.
It is safe to assume that, because of the threats facing Israel from her many enemies, all of her subs are not onshore, but rather, they are moving in and around the waters of potential attackers. Given the new tensions in the region and the presence of Russian subs in the region, Israel has probably relocated several subs closer to home. The Israeli subs are likely tracking the Russian subs in a dangerous game of underwater cat and mouse.
The airspace above Syria is also very crowded. There are air forces from 14 countries bumping shoulders in the sky. Russia has exercised control over the airspace with its anti-air missile program, and it controls the sky patrols thru an AWACS type plane. At this point, any country that wants to fly above Syria—and they all do—must get clearance from Russia.
Russia wants to do in the sea what they are doing in the air. And they want to do it through intimidation.
With their submarine presence now powerfully established off the coast of Syria, Russia has created what has been termed an Arc of Steel. The arc goes from the Arctic Circle through the Baltic Sea to Crimea to the Mediterranean Sea. The game plan is to challenge and confront NATO and the West. In this game, the Middle East is just one connecting link in a chain of naval influence, power and intimidation.
Tirana is preparing 4 camps for Syrian refugees
Sources from the Albanian Interior Ministers' speak about 4 camps in Vlora, Gjirokastra, Librazhdi and Lezha.
Voices from the Ministry of Interior of Albania, provide data for 4 camps to be set up in Albanian territory, which consists of a large influx of Syrian refugees to come from the border with Greece.
Albania faces some pressure to European countries, among which the Austria and Italy on the one hand seeking control of the border with Greece, and Greece on the other hand, which requires opening the border with Albania.
Albanian politicians, their position might prefer Greece, for the reasons why financial assistance can be allocated and the second to change although domestic climate policy, giving primary object question of accommodation of refugees.
Albania offers collectors its Communist-era airborne glory: Military’s rusting fighter jets up for auction
AP Photo/Gent ShkullakuIn
this photo taken on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016 Vasil Jangari, a former jet
engineer, climbs over an old Mig-19 fighter jet at the Rinasi air base,
near Tirana. If you want to buy a secondhand fighter jet, Albania is
the place to go right now.
The 40 obsolete Soviet and Chinese-made aircraft up for sale once
roared over what was Europe’s most exclusive airspace. The Albanian
pilots were members of an exalted military elite that had its own
food-tasters and was tasked by Communist Albania’s paranoid regime with
deterring countless enemies who never did come to this country on the
Adriatic Sea.
Now a NATO member, Albania is auctioning off the rusting jets to pay for modernizing its military and to save space in its air bases. The Socialist government says it has received strong interest from aviation collectors and museums abroad — so much that it pushed back the initial auction date and is considering raising the starting bids, first set at 1.1 million to 1.9 million leks (Cdn $11,700-$20,000).
“It was a surprise for us,” Defence Minister Mimi Kodheli said,
noting “a rush” of interest from prospective bidders in the United
States, Germany, France, Italy and other countries.
In a corner of the Rinasi air base outside the capital of Tirana, 11 decrepit MiG-17 and MiG-19 jets are parked in neat rows, guarded by two military officers. Their silver-grey paint with the distinctive red, black and red roundels is fading, their tires are flat, the guns are rust-flecked and some of their glass canopies are broken.
Former jet mechanic Vasil Jongari, 55, seemed almost ashamed to show the planes to visiting journalists.
“There is nostalgia always,” he said, running his fingers over the 32 millimeter gun on a MiG-19. “But they cannot be kept only based on desire. They need money, and money we don’t have.”
Ilirjan Kola, 61, who flew Albanian air force MiG-15 to MiG-19 jets from 1976 until 1991, said the planes were always so expensive to operate.
“MiGs were so costly,” he said. “A twin-engine MiG-19 consumed 52 litres of fuel a minute. With a normal flight of 30-40 minutes, imagine the expense … Better that they had sold them before.”
Albania’s air force was founded in 1951 and received MiGs from the
Soviet Union until 1962. After Communist leader Enver Hoxha broke with
the Russians, the country continued to be supplied with planes and
spares from Communist China — until 1977, when Albania also severed ties
with the Chinese.
About 160 Albanian pilots graduated from a military academy in southwestern Vlora, and used to clock up about 80 flying hours a year. Only five still serve — and now they all fly helicopters.
“We were privileged at the time, with specially chosen food, shelter, health care and vacations,” Kola said. He said the food came from a dedicated farm near the air base, which a doctor tasted for them on a daily basis.
Now a NATO member, Albania is auctioning off the rusting jets to pay for modernizing its military and to save space in its air bases. The Socialist government says it has received strong interest from aviation collectors and museums abroad — so much that it pushed back the initial auction date and is considering raising the starting bids, first set at 1.1 million to 1.9 million leks (Cdn $11,700-$20,000).
AP Photo/Gent ShkullakuIn this photo taken on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016 an old Mig-19 fighter jet is photographed at the Rinasi air base, near Tirana.
In a corner of the Rinasi air base outside the capital of Tirana, 11 decrepit MiG-17 and MiG-19 jets are parked in neat rows, guarded by two military officers. Their silver-grey paint with the distinctive red, black and red roundels is fading, their tires are flat, the guns are rust-flecked and some of their glass canopies are broken.
Former jet mechanic Vasil Jongari, 55, seemed almost ashamed to show the planes to visiting journalists.
“There is nostalgia always,” he said, running his fingers over the 32 millimeter gun on a MiG-19. “But they cannot be kept only based on desire. They need money, and money we don’t have.”
Ilirjan Kola, 61, who flew Albanian air force MiG-15 to MiG-19 jets from 1976 until 1991, said the planes were always so expensive to operate.
“MiGs were so costly,” he said. “A twin-engine MiG-19 consumed 52 litres of fuel a minute. With a normal flight of 30-40 minutes, imagine the expense … Better that they had sold them before.”
AP Photo/Gent ShkullakuIn this photo taken on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016, a Mig-17 and Mig-19 fighter jets stand at the Rinasi air base, near Tirana.
About 160 Albanian pilots graduated from a military academy in southwestern Vlora, and used to clock up about 80 flying hours a year. Only five still serve — and now they all fly helicopters.
“We were privileged at the time, with specially chosen food, shelter, health care and vacations,” Kola said. He said the food came from a dedicated farm near the air base, which a doctor tasted for them on a daily basis.
AP Photo/Gent Shkullaku In this photo taken on Monday, Feb. 15, 2016 old Migs fighter jets are stand at the Rinasi air base, near Tirana.
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