Saturday, December 9, 2017

«Σφαλιάρα» της Ε.Ε στους Αλβανούς για τη Χειμάρρα



Δημοσίευση: 9 Δεκεμβρίου 2017, Pentapostagma
Image result for antonio tajani
Η αναγνώριση της Χιμάρας ως περιοχής στην οποία ζει πληθυσμός ελληνικής εθνικότητας, ο αποκλεισμός του πολεοδομικού σχεδίου, η αναγνώριση των ιδιοκτησιών των Χιμαριωτών και της Εκκλησίας, ήταν το μήνυμα του προέδρου του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου, Αντόνιο Ταλιάνι προς το κοινοβούλιο και την αλβανική κυβέρνηση.


Μια ημέρα νωρίτερα, τα Τίρανα, έλαβαν ένα ισχυρό μήνυμα από τον πρόεδρο του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου, Αντόνιο Ταλιάνι, ότι η διαδικασία ένταξης της Αλβανίας στην Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση θα περάσει μέσω των υποχρεώσεων της για τα δικαιώματα των Ελλήνων και της ιδιοκτησίας τους στην ιστορική περιοχή της Χιμάρας.
Πρόκειται για το ισχυρότερο και πιο ακαταμάχητο μήνυμα, μετά την απειλή της Αθήνας με βέτο προς την Αλβανία στην ΕΕ.

Η πίεση των αξιωματούχων της Αθήνας για την προστασία της ελληνικής κοινότητας σε όλη την Αλβανία, ακόμη και σε περιοχές που δεν αναγνωρίζονται επίσημα στο (μειονοτικό) χάρτη του αλβανικού κράτους, επιλύθηκε τελικά, μέσω των Βρυξελλών με τις νομικές αλλαγές για τις μειονότητες.

Σύμφωνα με αυτό το ευρωπαϊκό μέτρο, η τελευταία βία της κυβέρνησης εναντίον της ελληνικής κοινότητας στη Χιμάρα με αποτέλεσμα την καταστροφή των κατοικιών που επηρεάζονται από το σχέδιο αστικής ανάπτυξης, τελείωσε τις πρακτικές της αλβανικής κυβέρνησης, να ληστέψει την ακίνητη περιουσία και τα σπίτια των πολιτών ελληνικής καταγωγής σε όλη την περιοχή της Χιμάρας.

Σύμφωνα με πηγές του SManalysis, η διαδικασία δήλωσης – απογραφής της ελληνικής ιθαγένειας στη Χιμάρα, βρίσκεται σε εξέλιξη και ο αριθμός των πολιτών που δηλώνονται στο ληξιαρχείο υπερβαίνει, ήδη, τα πέντε χιλιάδες άτομα.

SManalysis

Αλβανία: Ο Ντούλε κατηγορεί τον πρωθυπουργό: Δεν υπάρχει πολιτική βούληση για την προστασία των εθνικών μειονοτήτων


Δεκέμβριος 9, 2017. Echedoros

 Ο Βαγγέλης Ντούλε κατηγόρησε τον  επικεφαλής της κυβέρνησης  στην Αλβανία ότι δεν υπάρχει πολιτική βούληση για την προστασία των εθνικών μειονοτήτων.


Μόλις μετά από την έγκριση ενός  νόμου για την προστασία των μειονοτήτων  που υιοθετήθηκε πριν από ένα μήνα από την κυβερνητική πλειοψηφία, ο επικεφαλής του  Κόμματος της Ένωσης Ανθρωπίνων Δικαιωμάτων –ΚΕΑΔ,  δήλωσε ότι ο νόμος δεν επιλύει το πρόβλημα  της εθνικότητας, έναν όρο που έχει καταργήσει το Συνταγματικό Δικαστήριο.’


Ο Βαγγέλης Ντούλε επισημαίνει ότι η αλβανική κυβέρνηση με μεθόδους ‘De Facto’ στέρησε από τους πολίτες  των δικαιωμάτων τους στη δήλωση  για την απογραφή του πληθυσμού.


Μαζί με το επικεφαλής του ΚΕΑΔ,  συντάχθηκε το κόμμα τη ελληνικής εθνοτικής μειονότητας για το μέλλον – MEGA, που δήλωσε ότι δεν πρέπει να αγνοηθούν τα  δικαιώματα των μειονοτήτων’


«Αυτός ο νόμος δεν μπορεί να θεωρηθεί  ικανός για να εκφράσει πλήρως το πλαίσιο των δικαιωμάτων και πάνω από όλα δεν παρέχει τις απαραίτητες εγγυήσεις στις μειονότητες  ώστε να απολαμβάνουν και να  διαχειρίζονται  τα δικαιώματά τους όπως απαιτείται από τις διεθνείς πρακτικές στις εθνοτικές μειονότητες».

 Σχετικό βίντεο:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSQp9n6ZvFI

Albaleaks: Οι μυστικές υπηρεσίες αποκαλύπτουν τη συμμετοχή της αστυνομίας στη διακίνηση ναρκωτικών






«Albaleaks: Έγγραφα πληροφοριών  της Αλβανικής Υπηρεσίας Πληροφοριών (SHISH) για συμμετοχή της κρατικής αστυνομίας στην εμπορία ναρκωτικών», γράφει το δημοσίευμα


Δεκέμβριος 9, 2017. Echedoros


Ένα σημαντικό στοιχείο προέκυψε  από τη δημοσίευση απόρρητων εγγράφων των αλβανικών μυστικών υπηρεσιών, καθώς  η υπηρεσία αυτή έχει συγκεντρώσει δεκάδες πληροφορίες για τη δίωξη σοβαρών εγκλημάτων σε  υπηρεσιακά άτομα του υπουργείου Εσωτερικών για τη συμμετοχή τους στην καλλιέργεια και διακίνηση κάνναβης κατά την περίοδο 2015 έως Δεκέμβριο του 2017, γράφει αλβανικό δημοσίευμα.



Είναι σημαντικό να ειπωθεί ότι οι αντιδράσεις πολιτών και αναγνωστών των δημοσιευμάτων αυτών  ήταν άμεσες, ενώ δεν υπήρξαν αντιδράσεις από τους κυβερνητικούς αξιωματούχους.


Δεν υπήρξε κανένα σχόλιο από την πλευρά της κυβέρνησης  και εφαρμόσθηκε μια σιωπηρή προσήλωση των κυβερνητικών μέσω ενημέρωσης.


Οι πολίτες με τις παρεμβάσεις τους, δείχνουν ότι έχουν  κουραστεί να ζούνε σε μια χώρα που διοικείται από την εμπορία των ναρκωτικών, ενώ συγχρόνως πολλοί αναγνώστες αμφιβάλουν για την πραγματικότητα του εγγράφου.


Αυτός άλλωστε είναι και ο λόγος της δημοσίευσης των εγγράφων των μυστικών υπηρεσιών, ώστε να γίνουν γνωστά σε όλον τον κόσμο, ως πρώτη ανάγνωση, αφού έχουν καλυφθεί  τα στοιχεία  της ταυτότητας των προσώπων που καταγγέλλονται, αλλά, εις βάρος τους δεν έχει εκδοθεί καμία εισαγγελική έρευνα…


(Στοιχεία από exit.al)

Αφήσαμε τη Θράκη στο έλεος των Τούρκων – Eβαλε τις «βάσεις για δημοψήφισμα» ο Τούρκος!


Δημοσίευση: 9 Δεκεμβρίου 2017, Pentapostagma

Άσχετοι και επικίνδυνοι πολιτικάντηδες αποφάσισαν με τις άστοχες ενέργειές τους, να αφήσουν την Ελληνική Θράκη μας στο Έλεος των των Τούρκων που έβαλαν τις «Βάσεις για το δημοψήφισμα» στο προσεχές «Μέλλον στη Περιοχή !»


Ο Τούρκος δεν τήρησε κανέναν από τους όρους που η Ελληνική διπλωματία ,που πίστευε ότι έθεσε και περίμενε απο τον Σουλτάνο να τηρήσει τα συμφωνηθέντα στη Θράκη μας …Πράγμα που σημαίνει ότι ο Τούρκος ήξερε ότι δεν θα αντιδρούσαμε ότι και αν έκανε !


Με το να θέσει ζήτημα αναθεώρησης της Συνθήκης της Λωζάνης σε συνέντευξη του σε Ελληνικό τηλεοπτικό Κανάλι και τις δηλώσεις του πριν αναχωρήσει για την Ελλάδα για 150χιλ Αδέρφια του στην Ελλάδα ,Εμείς δεν αντιδράσαμε ώστε να αναβάλουμε την επίσκεψη του Σουλτάνου !

Αλλά ποιος να το κάνει ο Κοτζιάς ή ο Τσίπρας ή μήπως ο Παυλόπουλος ; …Απο εδώ και πέρα οι Τουρκοπράκτορες στη Θράκη θα ξεσαλώσουν και θα έχουν να λένε ότι μην φοβάστε τίποτε ,γιατί μας Προστατεύει ο «Πατερούλης των Τούρκων ο νέος Ατατούρκ!»

Τα μηνύματα που πέρασε ο Τούρκος είναι για τους Μουσουλμάνους ότι και αν χρειαστείτε οι 4 Μουσουλμάνοι Βουλευτές είναι εδώ …Το ίδιο και για τους ψευτομουφτήδες της Ξάνθης και της Κομοτηνής !

 Τούρκος έβαλε τις «Βάσεις» και σύντομα θα ακούσουμε να μιλάνε (να αποφασίσει ο Λαός της Θράκης με δημοψήφισμα) και εδώ δεν υπάρχει κάποιος να εφαρμόσει το νόμο όπως έκανε ο Ισπανός Πρωθυπουργός που τους έστειλε τους αυτονομιστές στη Φυλακή !

Ο Ερντογάν πανέξυπνα έβαλε τους Τουρκογενείς ,τους Ρομά και τους Πομάκους κάτω απο την Σημαία του Ισλάμ και μπρος σε δεκάδες Τουρκικά τηλεοπτικά κανάλια ώστε να φανεί LIVE στην Τουρκία , απαγόρεψαν τον Αρμόδιο Ελληνα ΥΦΥΠΕΞ να μιλήσει ..Που στην Ελλάδα σε Έλληνες Πολίτες ….!!

Αναρωτιούνται οι Κάτοικοι της Θράκης μόνο σε 6 μήνες μας ήρθαν τρεις Τούρκοι επίσημοι στην Ελληνική Θράκη …Η Ελλάδα και οι Έλληνες Πολιτικοί που κοιμούνται ;

Tsipras Attends Quadrilateral Summit in Belgrade



https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=828&v=gf_2tW2a8UQ

By ANA December 9, 2017

Greek PM Alexis Tsipras at the quadrilateral summit between Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia, Belgrade, Dec. 09, 2017. (Photo by Greek PM Press office/Andrea Bonetti via Eurokinissi)

BELGRADE – The second quadrilateral summit between Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia started with a working dinner in Belgrade on Friday evening, with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Balkan counterparts discussing regional cooperation, Serbia and the Western Balkans’ European prospects.

Tsipras, along with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Romania’s Prime Minister Mihai Tudose, will meet at 10:00 on Saturday and hold a joint press conference following their talks. The summit will end with a working lunch.

The first meeting of the four leaders was held in Bulgari’s Varna, in October. According to Serbian press reports, the summit is expected to confirm the commitment of the four leaders to cooperate for the benefit of the region as a whole and to discuss issues related to stability, security and economic cooperation in the fields of transport, energy and infrastructure.

Partite greke akuzojne Edi Ramen: Komunitetet tona, nuk mund te vetedeklarohen me metodat qe perdor Qeveria e Shqiperise



Pas miratimit te Ligjit per minoritetet, Komuniteti Kombetar Grek, i rikthehet kritikave, pas nje gjysem pershendetje, te aprovimit te Ligjit, por mesaduket, asgje nuk ka garanci ne kete vend, ku manipulimet Ligjore dhe Kushtetuese, jane bere bajate ne emer te Reformave qe kerkohen nga BE. 

Ne terren, himariotet nepermjet Bashkimin Demokratik te Minoritetit Grek, kane shfaqur interes te jashtezakonshem dhe kerkojne me cdo lloj forme ligjore apo te drejten nderkombetare te vetedeklarohen greke, duke shperndare edhe formularet e vetedeklarimit. Sipas Ligjit te Miratuar, ata duhet te shfaqin te drejten mbi kombesine direkt ne Gjendjen Civile, duke nisur praktikisht nepermjet Sherbimit Postar, kerkesen ne gjuhen shqipe dhe ametare greke.   

Ndersa nga ana tjeter kreret e saj politike, mendojne ndryshe. Ata nuk kane Garanci nga Qeveria e Shqiperise rreth ketij procesi, se te dhenat e tyre, do te mbeshteten ne Regjistrin e Popullsise, i cili perben statistikat e pergjithshme Shteterore te Regjistrit Kombetar te Popullsise. 

Per kete arsyje, PBDNJ dhe MEGA, kerkuan sot nga Qeveria Rama, te rishikohen disa ndryshime per sa i takon vetedeklarimit ne baze te Konventes se Keshillit te Europes.

Vangjel Dule akuzon kreun e qeverisë se nuk ka vullnet politik për të mbrojtur pakicat kombëtare.

Nga një tryezë ku u atakua ligji për mbrojtjen e pakicave i miratuar vetëm një muaj më parë nga shumica në pushtet, kreu i PBDNJ-së tha se ai ligj nuk zgjidh problemin e kombësisë, një term që Gjykata Kushtetuese e ka shfuqizuar.

Bashkë me kreun e PBDNJ-së është bërë dhe partia e minoritetit etnik grek për të ardhmen MEGA, e cila nuk kurseu as pozitën dhe as opozitën, si forca të unifikuara për të mos respektuar të drejtat e minoriteteve.

“Ky ligj nuk mund të konsiderohet i denjë për të shprehur të plotë kuadrin e të drejtave dhe mbi të gjitha nuk i jep garancitë e duhura minoriteteve që ti gëzojnë dhe ti lëvrojnë ato ashtu siç e kërkojnë aktet ndërkombëtare për minoritetet etnike”.

Ligji i miratuar në parlament është në kundërshtim me nenin tre të konventës në kuadër të Këshillit të Europës, e cila është ratifikuar nga parlamenti ynë.

Sipas Konventës, çdo person që i përket një pakice kombëtare do të ketë të drejtën që të zgjedhë lirisht për tu trajtuar apo jo si i tillë.

Albaleaks: dokumentat e informimeve të SHISH për përfshirjen e Policisë së Shtetit në trafikun e drogës

Image result for albanian drugs policy

Albaleaks: dokumentat e informimeve të SHISH për përfshirjen e Policisë së Shtetit në trafikun e drogës

Dje Exit.al bëri të ditur se Shërbimi Informativ ka dërguar me dhjetra informacione drejt Prokurorisë së krimeve të Rënda dhe Minsitrisë së Brendeshëm mbi përfshirjen e Policisë së Shtetit në kultivimin dhe trafikimin e kanabisit në periudhën 2015-12017. Reagimet e qytetarëve dhe të lexuesve nuk munguan, por munguan reagimet e zyrtarëve. Asnjë koment nga ana e qeverisë dhe heshtje e studiuar e medias pranë qeverisë.

Në mes të shumë komplimenteve nga qytetarë të lodhur së jetuari në një vend të administruar nga trafiqet, disa persona hodhën edhe dyshimet mbi ekzistencën reale të dokumentit.

Për këtë arsye po fillojmë publikimin e dokumentave, duke kujtuar se në të gjityhë botën, dhe me më shumë arsye në Shqipëri, raportet e shërbimeve sekrete nuk janë domosdoshmërisht një provë dhe akoma më pak dënim fajësie. Kjo është arsyeja që ne i kemi mbuluar të dhënat identifikuese të personave që janë denoncuar denoncuar, por ndaj të cilëve nuk ka hetim nga prokuroria.

Për më tepër, mungesa e kokës së dokumentit nuk na jep mundësin të konfirmojmë me siguri origjinën e tij dhe as qëllimin e vërtet. Por çdo gazetar i pyetur prej nesh e ka quajtur të vërtet dhe shumë të ndërlikuar për të qënë i pavërtet dhe i prodhuar e shpërndarë me qëllimin e vetëm për të rritur turbullirat mbi këtë temë.

Një lajm interesant është se nga 127 emra të punonjësve të policisë të cituar në pjesën e raportit që ne kemie, vetëm 5 janë  nën hetim zyrtarisht, ndërsa 8 emra të tjera janë denoncuar nga PD për përfshirje në trafikun e drogës.

Link

     



No Turkish President Had Gone to Greece in 65 Years. So Why Now?


By ILIANA MAGRADEC. 8, 2017

New York Times

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece, right, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey gave a joint news conference in Athens on Thursday. Credit Alexandros Vlachos/European Pressphoto Agency

Recep Tayyip Erdogan became the first Turkish president to visit Greece in 65 years when he arrived on Thursday and met with the Greek prime minister and president.

He immediately affronted his hosts by raising the prospect of changes to the treaty that defines their borders. On Friday, he repeated the same comments in Thrace, in northeastern Greece, home to the country’s Muslim minority, which Turkey has long referred to as a Turkish minority.

In a conciliatory gesture to his Greek hosts, Mr. Erdogan acknowledged for the first time the tiny Pomak minority as a Muslim community separate from those of Turkish origin.

“You have been fighting for survival, and I congratulate you for this,” Mr. Erdogan said in an impromptu speech, adding that the region was “a bridge between two neighbors.”

The last president of Turkey to visit Greece, Celal Bayar in 1952, promoted the stabilization of borders. Mr. Erdogan had twice visited Greece as a prime minister, but this was his first visit as a newly empowered president, and it came at a time of increasing diplomatic isolation for Turkey.


Why is a Turkish president visiting now?

Mr. Erdogan’s visit on Thursday is the first by a Turkish head of state since “the honeymoon period of Greek-Turkish relations that spanned from the 1930s to the early 1950s,” Soner Cagaptay, the director of the Turkish research program at the Washington Institute, said in a telephone interview.

However, Mr. Erdogan’s position as president, which was consolidated in a referendum in April, is substantially different from that of his predecessors. Previous Turkish presidents were symbolically important, but they did not enjoy the executive powers that Mr. Erdogan now does.

“No president before him had the power to drive foreign policy, none of them,” Fadi Hakura, the manager of the Turkey project at Chatham House, a think tank based in London, said in a telephone interview.

The significance of Mr. Erdogan’s visit also lies in its timing: He reached out to a historically antagonistic neighbor at a moment when he finds himself and Turkey isolated abroad.

Besides a high-profile trial in New York in which he is directly implicated, the past year has seen Turkey’s relations with the West deteriorate because of tensions with the United States, the European Union, Germany and Austria, among others.

“Mr. Erdogan needs a P.R. success story to break Turkey’s diplomatic isolation. He needs a photo opportunity with a country that is a member of NATO and the European Union,” Thanos Dokos, the director of Eliamep, an Athens-based think tank, said in a telephone interview.

Other experts suggested that Mr. Erdogan was reaching out to the Balkan countries, after failing in a plan to render Turkey a significant player in the Middle East.

“He is looking for greatness for Turkey. He wants to make Turkey great again, he wants to make it a star country, which is why he is now directing his attention to the Balkans,” said Mr. Cagaptay, who recently wrote a book on Mr. Erdogan titled “The New Sultan: Erdogan and the Crisis of Modern Turkey.”

How has Greece and Turkey’s relationship changed?

In the 65 years since Turkey’s last president visited Greece, tensions have peaked several times.

In September 1955, Turkish nationalists targeted the Greek minority in Istanbul, after news of a dynamite explosion near the Turkish consulate in Thessaloniki, a city in northern Greece.

“Tens of thousands of young Turks roamed through the city, smashing Greek store windows, wrecking store interiors and overturning automobiles,” read a front-page article in The Times in 1955.


Relations between Greece and Turkey dramatically deteriorated after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in July 1974, which came a few days after a Greek-Cypriot guerrilla group had overthrown Archbishop Makarios, the island’s longtime leader. Turkish officials had feared a Cypriot union with Greece, whose military government at the time had backed the coup. About 160,000 Greek Cypriots were displaced in the crisis.

In late January 1996, both Turkey and Greece claimed the sovereignty of a pair of uninhabited Aegean Islands, known as Imia in Greece and as Kardak in Turkey. Greek and Turkish ships surrounded the islands, a confrontation that calmed only after NATO intervened.

An earthquake that devastated Turkey in the late summer of 1999 prompted a rapprochement between the two countries.

“Big earthquakes took place in both countries at the same time, humanitarian help was offered and the respective societies worked together,” Mr. Hakura said. Turkish and Greek foreign ministers saw an opportunity for reconciliation, the so-called “earthquake diplomacy.”

In the aftermath, there was a dramatic improvement in relations.



With Greece and Turkey still at odds on many important issues, “it’s a breath of fresh air in Greek-Turkish ties that they’re currently reaching out to each other,” said Mr. Cagaptay.

These issues include migration, the Cyprus dispute, Turkey’s stalled accession process for European Union membership — Greece supports moving the process on — and the airspace and Aegean disputes that have been plaguing their relationship for years.

“The two countries could do so much if they worked closer together. There is untapped financial potential,” Mr. Cagaptay suggested.

Any progress is fragile, given the longstanding animosity between the two countries. That was amply demonstrated when Mr. Erdogan raised the prospect of an “update” of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which defined Turkey’s borders with its neighbors.

The notion did not go down well with his Greek hosts.

“I don’t think that Greece has carefully thought about what an ‘update’ of the Lausanne treaty would mean for the country, as it does not consider this to be a matter for deliberation,” Dimitrios Triantaphyllou, an associate professor of international relations at Kadir Has University in Istanbul, said in a telephone interview.

But Mr. Erdogan’s words were most likely intended for domestic consumption in Turkey, he said.

“He is an international leader always talking to a national audience,” Mr. Triantaphyllou said. “He’s interested in demonstrating that Turkey is a key player for stabilization, that it should be respected and that it’s in control.”

Αποστολή βοήθειας στην Αλβανία από την Ελλάδα μετά την πρωτοφανή κακοκαιρία που έπληξε τη χώρα

ΑΛΒΑΝΙΑ
Δημοσίευση: 9 Δεκεμβρίου 2017, Pentapostagma

Βοήθεια στην Αλβανία, που χτυπήθηκε από τις ισχυρότερες βροχοπτώσεις που έχουν καταγραφεί στην ιστορία της χώρας, έστειλε η Ελλάδα, μέσω της Γενικής Γραμματείας Πολιτικής Προστασίας, ανταποκρινόμενη άμεσα στο αίτημα της αλβανικής κυβέρνησης για ενεργοποίηση του Ευρωπαϊκού Μηχανισμού Πολιτικής Προστασίας (Emergency Response Coordination Centre – ERCC).


Σύμφωνα με το Αθηναϊκό Πρακτορείο, η συνδρομή της Ελλάδας στην γειτονική χώρα είναι σε είδη πρώτης ανάγκης, (5 γεννήτριες 2.5 kVa, 1.500 αδιάβροχα, 100 ζευγάρια γαλότσες), μετά τα έντονα πλημμυρικά φαινόμενα που εκδηλώθηκαν στις κεντρικές και τις νότιες περιοχές της Αλβανίας, από την 1η έως τις 3 Δεκεμβρίου 2017, τα οποία προκάλεσαν εκτεταμένες υλικές ζημιές.

ΑΛΒΑΝΙΑ

Σύμφωνα με στοιχεία που έγιναν γνωστά από την ΓΓΠΠ, οι πρωτοφανείς βροχοπτώσεις έπληξαν περισσότερα από 150.000 στρέμματα, ενώ σοβαρές βλάβες προξενήθηκαν σε υποδομές (δρόμους, δίκτυα ηλεκτροδότησης και υδροδότησης, φράγματα, γέφυρες κ.ά.), κατοικίες και επιχειρήσεις. Περισσότερες από 700 οικογένειες έχουν μεταφερθεί σε χώρους προσωρινής διαμονής, ενώ οι τοπικές αρχές και υπηρεσίες κατέβαλαν κάθε δυνατή προσπάθεια για την αποτροπή ανθρώπινων απωλειών.

Η Αλβανία ζήτησε την ενεργοποίηση του Ευρωπαϊκού Μηχανισμού Πολιτικής Προστασίας, καθώς η χώρα αντιμετωπίζει ελλείψεις κυρίως σε υλικά κατασκευής γεφυρών, λοιπό εξοπλισμό έκτακτης ανάγκης (π.χ. γεννήτριες, φακούς, αντλίες νερού), είδη πρώτης ανάγκης (κυτία πρώτων βοηθειών, υπνόσακους, αντίσκηνα, σωσίβια) και τρόφιμα (ξηρά και συσκευασμένη τροφή, βρεφικές τροφές και πάνες).

ΑΛΒΑΝΙΑ

Εκτός από την Ελλάδα, αρωγή έχουν προσφέρει επίσης η Αυστρία, η Γαλλία, η Ιταλία, η Σλοβακία και η Σλοβενία.

Επιπλέον, η Αλβανία έχει απευθύνει αίτημα για στήριξη στο Συντονιστικό Κέντρο για την Αντιμετώπιση Καταστροφών του ΝΑΤΟ (Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre – EADRC). Σε διμερές επίπεδο συνδρομή έχουν ήδη προσφέρει η Βουλγαρία, το Κόσσοβο, το Μαυροβούνιο και η πΓΔΜ.

Friday, December 8, 2017

Dacic "draws Tillerson's attention to old US establishment"

(mfa.gov.rs)
Serbian Foreign MinisterIvica Dacic spoke with US Secretary of State Rex Tilerson on Thursday in Vienna.

SOURCE: BETA FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2017 | 09:14

According to a Serbian MFA statement carried by Beta, Dacic told Tillerson that representatives of the old US establishment who defend their policy from the 1990s cannot be the ones to bring changes to the US foreign policy.

"I drew his attention to the fact that changes in US politics should be brought only by the president, the vice-president and the minister of foreign affairs, since representatives of the old establishment cannot do this, because they are defending their policy from the 1990s," Dacic told the US official during their short conversation on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council.

Dacic also stressed stressed the need to make "certain strategic agreements" and said Serbia was "ready to openly speak with the new US administration," the statement said.

Dacic reiterated that Serbia's position was to find common interest with the United States.

He assessed that it was necessary to have more frequent communication "to see how to find a winning combination where common interests will be found, in order to permanently solve some of the problems that exist in the region, such as Kosovo and Metohija."

"The conversation with Tillerson opened the door to next year have a bilateral meeting with him" Dacic said, according to the statement.

"Open and true dialogue"

In his address to the OSCE Ministerial Council, Ivica Dacic said that Serbia was truly devoted to continuing its European path, neighborly relations and enhancing regional stability and that it was fully committed to the dialogue with Pristina and the implementation of all agreements that were signed with it, especially on establishing a Community of Serb Municipalities.

Dacic voiced his conviction that "an open and true dialogue is the only road to improving the everyday life of people in Kosovo and Metohija," which was why it was important for "the OSCE to remain a neutral and reliable partner."

Dacic said that Serbia was deeply aware of the security risks and challenges in the OSCE region and that it was fully committed to its chair over the Forum for Security Cooperation in the final quarter of the year.

He said that the crisis inside and around Ukraine, unfortunately, had not been resolved, despite all the efforts to stop it, and called on all sides to fully and unconditionally honor the ceasefire, stop all hostilities and implement the Minsk agreements, including the visible and permanent withdrawal of heavy weaponry.

"Serbia continues to support the operations of the Special Observer Mission in Ukraine, which is the most visible element of the OSCE's reaction to this crisis, as well as other constructive efforts, devoted to finding a peaceful solution to the crisis, while fully honoring the principles of the OSCE," he added.

The struggle against terrorism, the Serbian foreign minister said, remained at the top of the OSCE's list of priorities, while not forgetting the challenges of the migrant and refugee crisis.

Μήνυμα Αντόνιο Ταλιάνι σε αλβανική κυβέρνηση για Χιμάρα




Δεκέμβριος 8, 2017. Echedoros


Η αναγνώριση της Χιμάρας ως περιοχής στην οποία ζει πληθυσμός  ελληνικής εθνικότητας,  ο αποκλεισμός του πολεοδομικού σχεδίου, η αναγνώριση των ιδιοκτησιών των Χιμαριωτών και της Εκκλησίας, ήταν το μήνυμα του προέδρου του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου, Αντόνιο Ταλιάνι προς το κοινοβούλιο και την αλβανική κυβέρνηση.


Μια ημέρα νωρίτερα, τα Τίρανα, έλαβαν ένα ισχυρό μήνυμα από τον πρόεδρο του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου, Αντόνιο Ταλιάνι,  ότι η διαδικασία ένταξης της Αλβανίας στην Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση θα περάσει μέσω των υποχρεώσεων της για τα δικαιώματα των Ελλήνων  και της ιδιοκτησίας τους στην ιστορική περιοχή της Χιμάρας.


Πρόκειται για το ισχυρότερο και πιο ακαταμάχητο μήνυμα, μετά την απειλή της Αθήνας με βέτο προς την Αλβανία στην ΕΕ.


Η πίεση των αξιωματούχων της Αθήνας για την προστασία της ελληνικής κοινότητας σε όλη την Αλβανία, ακόμη και σε περιοχές που δεν αναγνωρίζονται επίσημα στο (μειονοτικό)  χάρτη του αλβανικού κράτους, επιλύθηκε τελικά, μέσω των Βρυξελλών με τις νομικές αλλαγές για τις μειονότητες.


Σύμφωνα με αυτό το ευρωπαϊκό μέτρο, η τελευταία βία της κυβέρνησης εναντίον της ελληνικής κοινότητας στη Χιμάρα με αποτέλεσμα την καταστροφή των κατοικιών που επηρεάζονται από το σχέδιο αστικής ανάπτυξης, τελείωσε τις πρακτικές της αλβανικής κυβέρνησης, να ληστέψει την ακίνητη περιουσία και τα σπίτια των πολιτών ελληνικής καταγωγής σε όλη την περιοχή της Χιμάρας.


Σύμφωνα με πηγές του SManalysis, η διαδικασία δήλωσης - απογραφής της ελληνικής ιθαγένειας στη Χιμάρα,  βρίσκεται σε εξέλιξη και ο αριθμός των πολιτών που δηλώνονται στο ληξιαρχείο υπερβαίνει, ήδη,  τα πέντε χιλιάδες άτομα.


(Στοιχεία από SManalysis)

ΝΑΤΟ, τέλος για τη Σερβία- Τι δήλωσε ο Βούτσιτς



Δημοσίευση: 8 Δεκεμβρίου 2017, Pentapostagma

Η Σερβία έχει μπει σε μια φιλοευρωπαϊκή πορεία, όμως δεν σχεδιάζει να ενταχθεί στην αμυντική συμμαχία του ΝΑΤΟ, δήλωσε σε συνέντευξή του ο σέρβος πρόεδρος Αλεξάνταρ Βούτσιτς, όπως μετέδωσε σήμερα το ρωσικό πρακτορείο ειδήσεων TASS.

«Πριν από εννέα ημέρες ήμουν στις Βρυξέλλες, στο αρχηγείο του ΝΑΤΟ, και ενώπιον των 29 ηγετών των κρατών μελών του ΝΑΤΟ δήλωσα πως η Σερβία δεν φιλοδοξεί να ενταχθεί στο ΝΑΤΟ», είπε στο TASS ο Βούτσιτς, ο οποίος σχεδιάζει να επισκεφθεί σύντομα τη Μόσχα.

«Η Σερβία θα διαφυλάξει τη στρατιωτική ουδετερότητά της, αυτή ήταν και θα είναι η πολιτική της Σερβίας», πρόσθεσε.

TIRANA "DOREZON" HIMAREN, VENDIM I PRESIDENTIT TE PARLAMENTIT EUROPIAN

Image result for himara greke

Njohja e Rajonit te Himares me Kombesi Greke dhe Bllokimi i Planit Urban per tu njohur pronat himarioteve dhe Kishes, ka qene mesazh i prere i Presidentit te Parlamentit Europian Antonio Tajani, drejtuar Parlamentit dhe Qeverise Shqiptare.

Vetem nje dite me pare, Tirana, ka mare nje mesazh te forte nga Presidentit i Parlamentit Europian, Antonio Tajani, ne te cilen, ai ka dashur ti tregoje qeverise Shqiptare, se Procesi i pakthyeshem i anetaresimit te Shqiperise ne Bashkimin Europian, do te kaloje nepermjet detyrimeve qe Shqiperia ka me te drejten e Kombesise Greke dhe te pronesise territorial qe ka Rajoni historik i Himares.

Ky eshte mesazhi me i forte dhe i pakundershtueshem, pas kercenimit te Athines me VETO, ndaj Shqiperise ne BE, praktikat e ndryshimeve Kushtetuese, Ligjore dhe vendimet e qeverise shqiptare, jane bere terresisht ne menyren me te kamufluar, per te grabitur toka dhe implementimin e nje Mater Plani Urban, te financuar nga Projekti i Qeverise Shqiptare prej 1 Bilion dollare, me partneritetin Publik dhe Privat.

Presioni i Athines zyrtare per te mare nen mbrojtje Komunitetin Grek ne gjithe Shqiperine edhe ndaj zonave ne te cilen nuk njihen zyrtarisht nga harta e shtetit shqiptar, me ne fund iu dha zgjidhje, nepermjet Brukselit dhe ndryshimeve Ligjore per Minoritetet. Sipas ketij kalendari europian, dhuna e fundit qeveritare ndaj Komunitetit Grek ne Himare, e cila rezultoi me shkaterimin e shtepiave qe preken nga Plani I Zhvillimit Urban, I dha fund praktikave te qeverise shqiptare, per te grabitur Territorin dhe pronat e qytetareve me kombesi greke ne gjithe Rajonin e Himares.

 Nderkohe, sipas burimeve nga SManalysis, ne Himare, procesi i deklarimit te kombesise greke, ka kaluar kufijte dhe numri i qytetareve qe po deklarohen ne zyrat e gjendjes civile i kalon 5 mije vete. Ka nje pjese qytetare te cilet ende jane ne process te marjes se Nenshtetesise greke por jane deklaruar prane gjendjes civile Greke autoktone, ndersa mesohet se vetem ne lokalitetin Borsh, nje nga fshatrat e Bashkise se Himares me relixhion kryesisht myslyman, kane detyruar gjendjen civile te deklarohen te kombesise greke.



Nderkaq Organizata e Bashkimit Demokratik Grek, Omonia, ka kerkuar qe Bashkia dhe Zyrat e Gjendjes Civile ne Himare, Brenda 15 ditesh ne baze te Ligjit te Ri per Minoritetet, nga dorezimi formularit, te japin detajet me trasparence rreth ketij procesi, por duket se nga presioni i BE dhe Parlamentit Europian, Tirana, ka mare mesazhe te qarta: Respektoni lirite dhe te drejtat humane duke lejuar procesin e vetedeklarimit me trasparence, bllokoni Planin Urban te Turizmit dhe ktheni pronat dhe territorin qe i takon Rajonit te Himares. 

Albania-Greece: minority properties




The new urban plan of the little coastal city of Himara is heating up bilateral relations between Albania and Greece. Ethnic minorities and property speculation in this analysis

07/12/2017 -  Gjergji Kajana

One year after the frictions caused by the Cham issue, Albania and Greece find themselves embroiled in a series of quarrels related to the urban plan of the coastal town of Himara. This city in Southern Albania includes a significant Greek minority, which complains about the violation of property rights by the authorities of Tirana and has asked Athens to intervene on its behalf.

The Himara issue arose in September 2016, when mayor Jorgo Goro approved a new urban plan which included the demolition of several properties. According to the Albanian authorities, the expropriation was justified by the public interest, and the decision was ratified by the Albanian Council of Ministers of February 22nd, 2017, which also determined the monetary compensation. On August 30th, the Himara Municipal Council approved the new general urban plan. The decision was ratified in mid-October by the National Council of Territory (KKT). The development plan provides for a series of strategic investments in the tourism sector of the seven urban areas affected, and specifically for the construction of a new boulevard, the renewal of the pavement of many streets, the pruning of trees, the authorisations for the construction of multi-storey buildings in Himara, and the construction of tourist resorts in the region. The demolition of some buildings in these areas has already begun.

The protest

The inhabitants of Himara affected by demolitions are contesting the legal basis of the acts which led to the adoption of the urban plan, and – consequently – to the demolitions and the related compensation. According to them, the mayor exceeded his competences by approving the urban plan in first reading, as this was up to the KKT. This would make the resolution of the Council of Ministers and the demolition order by the municipality illegal. Moreover, citizens argue that they were not properly consulted and complain about the amount of the compensation, allegedly set by the Municipality well below market values. Albania has never had a building census and cadastral maps since the fall of Communism and the nationalisation of these properties. Recent attempts have been made to tackle these problems through the law of 2012, which provides for the registration of these properties and the issuing of an ownership certificate. In Himara this process has never been completed, and this provides a strong legal argument against the urban plan and the demolition order.

Politics and ethnic minorities
In the Albanian political scene, Himara citizens are strongly supported by the organisation OMONIA and the Unity for Human Rights Party (PBDNJ), both representing the Greek minority.

OMONIA leader Fredi Bejleri claimed that Greece and Cyprus will block Albania's EU accession if the violation of the property rights in Himara continues. According to Vangjel Dule, Secretary of PBDNJ, the actions of the Rama government aim at forcing the Greek community of Himara out of the city. The ethnic belonging of the Greek minority in Albania, its size, and its rights remain disputed. The Communist regime in Albania recognised the Greek minority status only to those who lived in the areas near the common border, called “the minority zones”. In these minority zones, people had access to minority rights such as Greek-language education, that continued even after the communist era. Himara and some neighbouring villages (like Dhermi) are not part of these zones, despite the significant presence of ethnic Greeks (numerically reduced after the 1990 emigration).

Athens demands that even those who live outside minority zones be considered members of the Greek minority.

After revoking the Greek citizenship to mayor Goro, Athens strongly supports the request made by Himara citizens for the Albanian government to grant them property rights.

“Not only are they taking properties, but they are doing that without paying a fair compensation”, claimed Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias in a TV interview on September 28th. In a harsh press release on October 19th, the Ministry defined the urban plan as a way to uproot the historical presence of Hellenism in the region of Himara.

The press release clearly alluded to the fact that Tirana seeks to divert attention from the Tahiri scandal (the former Albanian Interior Minister accused of belonging to a criminal organisation). The next day, the Albanian Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs reacted referring to the statement as “an unprecedented interference” and upholding the legality of the urban plan of Himara.

Athens also expressed its disappointment about the Albanian law on the protection of the ethnic minorities, adopted on October 13th. The spokesman for the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that this law is “a step backward for the main minority of Albania”.

The dialogue
Fortunately for the good neighbourly relations between Albania and Greece and for Albania's EU membership ambitions (as Athens holds veto power over new accessions), the bilateral dialogue continues. From November 10th to 12th, Greek Foreign Minister Kotzias hosted in Crete his Albanian counterpart Ditmir Bushati, for a bilateral meeting on all the open issues between the two countries, including the need to abolish the state of war (ineffective, but formally in force since 1940) and the need to define the maritime border between Albania and Greece. At the end of the summit, a joint statement was released to declare that meetings will soon continue in Albania.

Despite the resumption of direct dialogue with Athens, it seems unlikely that the Rama government will desist from carrying out the urban plan of Himara.

The meetings of the Prime Minister and Albanian Ministers Mirela Kumbaro and Damian Gjiknuri with the Himara community and their legal representatives have not suggested any change of heart by the Albanian government. As of now, Himara citizens are trying to slow down the implementation of the plan by resorting to legal action. At the political level, they very much hope that Athens will commit to defending their interests against Tirana.




KATHIMERINI

NEWS 31.10.2017

Athens monitoring situation in Himara




Athens said on Tuesday that it is closely monitoring events in Albania as TV footage in the neighboring country showed some 3,000 police arriving in Himara in the southeast of the country to oversee the demolition of several homes belonging to members of the ethnic Greek minority.

The homes are slated for demolition as part of an urban regeneration plan that critics have denounced as unconstitutional while Greece has warned it could hurt Tirana’s European Union aspirations.

Government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said Athens has its eye on developments there and is undertaking the necessary initiatives to safeguard the rights of the Greek minority in the Albanian seaside resort.

Nje Delegacion Amerikan i Kongresit, me ‘mision urgjent’ hetimi në Ballkan mbi tensionin e krijuar nga Soros-Obama

Image result for george soros albania


The American Spectator” shkruan sot se kryetari  i ‘House Judiciary’ Republikani Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) është vënë në krye të 15 anëtarëve të një delegacioni për një mision urgjent në Greqi, Shqipëri, Maqedoni, Kosovë dhe Itali pas disa provave se disa favorizime të dhëna në erën e Obamës, vazhdojnë që të vendosin mbi qytetarët, institucionet e këtyre vendeve dhe stabilitetin rajonal.

The Congressional Delegation u nisën të shtunën për 10 ditë hetime gjatë ndërprerjes së punimeve të Kongresit.

Stafi i komunikimit i ‘House Judiciary’ refuzoi të komentojë mbi shqetësimet ndaj sigurisë.

Gjithashtu, gjashtë nga nëntë anëtarët që udhëtojnë në zonë, janë Republikanët Steve King (IA), Tom Marino (PA), dhe Jason Smith (MO) — në një udhëtim për një paketë rregullimesh ligjore që varet nga Departamenti i Shtetit; në këtë rast ambasadorët në të gjithë këto vendeqë i përkasin administratës Obama dhe që vazhdojnë politikat e trashëguara.

Është e vështirë të imagjinohet të merren informacione të papanshme nga katëto ambasada që kanë ndërhyrë në politikat vendore.

Konflikti i Prokurorit të Përgjithshëm me ambasadën në Tiranë

Një qëndrim i keq u shfaq mes zyrës së shefit të Prookurorisë sëi një entitet neutral kombëtar, dhe ambasadorit Amerikan, kinezit Donald Lu.

“ kryeministri Edi Rama, i mbështetur nga Ambasadori i Shteteve të Bashkuara, ka shkatërruar pavarësinë e drejtësisë sonë”, deklaroi Prokurori nga Tirana, duke folur në telefon për ‘The American Spectator’. “Nën parullat për reformë në Drejtësi, ata po ia dalin që ta politizojnë atë”.

Edi Rama, për një kohë të gjatë mik i ngushtë i George Soros, rrjeti i të cilit është i futur thellë në Shqipëri, si një partner i Ambasadës së SHBA në një numër projektesh ku përfshihen 8.8 milionë dollarë për projekte të USAID… ju e merrni me mend çfarë reforme në drejtësi’.

“Kur ne shprehnim ndonjë opinion profesional të ndryshëm nga ai i Ambasadës Amerikane- Lu bëhej keq”, tha një prokuror, duke dashur  që të mos i përmendej emri. Ajo shpjegoi se Komisioni i Venecias i BE, i formuar për të ndihmuar propozimet e reformës në drejtësi në përputhje me ligjet në BE, shpesh mbanin anën e prokurorëve shqiptarë në këto debate teknike.

Prokurorët shtojnë se zyra e saj u përpoq që të bënte prioritare trafikun e e drogës dhe kriminalitetin si çështje themelore në Shqipëri; ndërsa Ambasada e Shteteve të Bashkuara fuste në harresë kultivimin dhe eksportin  masiv të kanabisit si një ‘problem që nuk i përket SHBA’. Divergjencat mes autoriteteve të ligjit në Shqipëri dhe ambasadës së Shteteve të Bashkuara janë konfirmuar edhe në sitin e lajmeve Exit.al

Donald Lu ka ndëshkuar prokurorët dhe gjykatësit të cilët nuk binin dakord me të, duke iu ndaluar dhënien e vizave për në Shtetet e Bashkuara. Kjo ka ndodhur me 70 gjykatës dhe prokurorë- sipas Prokurorit të Përgjithshëm Adriatik Llalla.

Në përgjigje,Llalla ka qortuar Ambasadorin, duke e akuzuar për manipulime dh shantazh, si në letra dërrmuese publikuar në website të zyrës, ashtu edhe në konferencë shtypi në Shkurt.

Llalla gjithashtu ka akuzuar ambasadorin Lu se ka tentuar në zyrën e tij që t’i krijojë privilegje një kompanie me pronar kinez, Bankers Petroleum.

Siç ka shkruar ‘Washington Times’ që në titujt kryesorë, para tre muajsh “Soros-ka infektuar Departamentin e Shtetit me lojërat e tij në Tiranë”.

Gazeta amerikane shkruan gjatë edhe mbi krizën politike në Maqedoni, ku thotë se ambasada Amerikane ka qenë në “anë të partisë socialiste, njësoj si në Shqipëri”.

Po me detaje gazeta shkruan mbi rolin destabilizues të politikave të Soros- Obama në Kosovë, Bosnjë, Greqi dhe Itali.

… Në përgjithësi, ambasadorët e kohës së Obamës kanë arritur të ushqejnë tensionet etnike (sidomos në Maqedoni dhe Bosnjë), duke promovuar favoritë politike të bartur nga e kaluara – kryesisht socialistë dhe anëtarë të rrjetit George Soros (Shqipëri, Greqi, Maqedoni) – ndërsa kanë bërë armiq zyrtarë të cilët ndjejnë se e dinë çfarë është më e mria për vendin e tyre (Shiqpëri, Bosnie, Kosovë, Maqedoni).

Sekretari i Shtetit Rex Tillerson njoftoi javën e shkuar se Shtetet e Bashkuara nuk do të kenë më mandat për t’u imponuar vendeve të tjera që të adoptojnë vlerat e SHBA.

Ambasadat tona në Ballkan në mënyrë të qartë nuk e kanë marrë memorandumin.

Thursday, December 7, 2017

«Συνάντηση αρχηγών ΓΕΣ Τουρκίας -Ελλάδας»




Δεκέμβριος 8, 2017. Echedoros

Αθήνα.

Ο αρχηγός του τουρκικού Γενικού Επιτελείου, στρατηγός Χουλούσι Ακάρ συναντήθηκε με τον Έλληνα αρχηγό του Γενικού Επιτελείου Ευάγγελο Αποστολάκη, σημειώνει η τουρκική εφημερίδα Μιλιέτ.


Ο στρατηγός Χουλούσι Ακάρ συνοδεύει τον πρόεδρο Ερντογάν στην επίσκεψή του στην Ελλάδα, όπου είχε επίσημες επαφές.


Στη συνάντηση με τον Έλληνα ομόλογό του συζήτησαν θέματα στρατιωτικών επιχειρήσεων  και ασφάλειας, σημειώνει το δημοσίευμα χωρίς να επεκτείνεται σε λεπτομέρειες.


(Στοιχεία από milliyet.com.tr)

HASHIM THACI WANTS INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS TO LEAVE KOSOVO

Image result for hashim thaci
Dec 6, 2017

PHOTOAP Photo/ Visar Kryeziu

SOURCE VOA


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Kosovo’s president on Tuesday openly called for international missions to leave the country and complained that the international community is discriminating against Kosovo when it comes to war crimes investigation and the process to join the European Union.

Hashim Thaci told security force troops that the “time of the international missions in Kosovo has passed.” Complaining of their “unjustified number” operating in Kosovo, he said now “accountability for our path, for the present and the future is in our hands.”

Thaci said the six-year EU-facilitated negotiations with Serbia should end with a “bilateral recognition.” He said that Kosovo’s goal is EU membership and “not to have its lifelong missions (in its territory).”

The president openly complained about the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, a court based in The Hague, Netherlands, with international judges. It has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, war crimes and other crimes under Kosovo law which allegedly occurred between Jan. 1, 1998, and Dec. 31, 2000.

Thaci said the court wouldn’t “strengthen the feeling of justice for the war victims” since its focus will only be on Kosovo Liberation Army fighters. He said that “100 such courts need to be created to cover all the war crimes committed by Serbia” and that the international community is discriminating against Kosovo.

He also said that the EU door to Serbia, which he blamed for most of the war crimes in the Balkans, “is open … while Kosovo is isolated.”

Thaci considered unfair that Brussels has linked the visa liberalization for Kosovo to the approval of the border demarcation deal with Montenegro, signed in 2015 but harshly contested by the opposition.

“Does Kosovo enjoy a European prospect, or not,” he asked.

Thaci was pleased the mandate of the EU mission supporting Kosovo’s path to European integration in the areas of rule of law and fighting corruption since independence in 2008 would be over next year.

Thaci didn’t complain, however, about the presence of around 4,500 troops from 31 countries deployed in Kosovo since June 1999.

Serbia will fight for Trepca mine in Kosovo - Vucic

(Tanjug, file)
The Trepca mining and metallurgical complex in Kosovo is this Thursday marking its 90th anniversary.

SOURCE: TANJUG THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2017 
  

And the head of state, Aleksandar Vucic, said that Serbia would fight for that company "uncompromisingly."

"When an enterprise is cherished and built for 90 years, as is the case with Trepca, that enterprise is no longer just a business entity, it is a part of family and national heritage, a part of tradition," Vucic wrote in a letter to the company's workers, recalling the tradition of mining and the existence of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija were indelible. 

In the letter, read out during a ceremony in the town of Zvecan in northern Kosovo, the president pointed out that Trepca has witnessed great historical turmoils and changing of social orders and political systems, but has survived "all temptations and challenges." 

"Serbia will uncompromisingly continue to fight for your right to manage that which your ancestors created before you, which belongs to you, and as long as Serbia exists, nobody will be able to grab Trepca and take it away from you," Vucic said. 

The president told the workers that they will live to see the mining tradition in this complex continued by new generations of Serb miners. 

The opening of Trepca 90 years ago, he recalled, heralded a new era - that of urbanization and economic progress, and also testified to the sincere desire of the state at the time to, through industrialization, lead this part of the territory out of the darkness of the Ottoman feudal heritage. 

The opening of Trepca, Vucic pointed out, represented a victory of new times over backwardness, and it remains a symbol of development and progress to this day. 

"That is why Trepca is much more than a mining complex, it is an idea of ​​a better future and of progress, and it will be that to your sons, as it has been to you, your fathers and grandfathers," the president said. 

When "some" tried to reach for what is not theirs, he continued, they "forgot that Trepca has become a kind of intangible heritage, a value which is not tangible and cannot be stolen." 

"This is because Trepca is carried by every worker inside them, by every worker who has built the future of their family and of the Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija in its mine shafts and plants," said Vucic.

«Δικηγόρος των Χιμαριωτών ο πρώην πρωθυπουργός Σαλί Μπερίσα»



Δεκέμβριος 7, 2017, Echedoros

Είναι αρκετά  ενδιαφέρον το γεγονός ότι ο πρώην πρωθυπουργός Σαλί Μπερίσα, σε πολλές περιπτώσεις, ενώ είναι πηγή έμπνευσης για τον αλβανικό αλυτρωτισμό στην Ελλάδα,  έχει αναλάβει το ρόλο του δικηγόρου των Χιμαριωτών, σε αντίθεση με την ελληνική πρεσβεία στα Τίρανα, που αντί να παρεμβαίνει δραστικά, συμβουλεύει τους πολίτες της ελληνικής κοινότητας να πάνε στα δικαστήρια,  όταν διαπιστώνουν ότι ζημιώνονται, γράφει το αλβανικό κείμενο του ομογενούς  Σταυρί Μάρκο.


Ίσως για την πολιτική, τη διπλωματία  ή απλά  για την πολιτική αντιπολίτευση, ο Σαλί Μπερίσα, πρώην πρωθυπουργός τη Αλβανίας , καταδίκασε στο κοινωνικό δίκτυο Facebook, προσπάθεια  παραβίασης των ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων και ελευθεριών στις Δρυμάδες της Χιμάρας, όταν εκπρόσωποι μιας οικογένειας - πρώιμης κομμουνιστικής νομενκλατούρας,  με στενές οικογενειακές σχέσεις  πολιτικών,  προσπάθησαν να αποκτήσουν άδεια κατασκευής γιγάντιου ξενοδοχείου, η ιδιοκτησία του οποίου ανήκει σε ορισμένες οικογένειες της ελληνικής κοινότητας της Χιμάρας.


Συγκεκριμένα, σύμφωνα με την καταγγελία για 17 χιλιάδες τ.μ. ακίνητης περιουσίας κοντά στη θάλασσα, του πλέον περιζήτητου τουριστικού τμήματος της Αλβανίας, που ανήκει σε ορισμένες αυτόχθονες οικογένειες, που το εγκατέλειψαν πρόσφατα εξαιτίας διεφθαρμένων πρακτικών  του αλβανικού κράτους, που έβαλε σε λειτουργία τον παραπλανητικό κρατικό μηχανισμό για να ληστέψουν τους αυτόχθονες  κατοίκους της περιοχής.


Και δεν είναι η μοναδική περίπτωση, όπως τονίσαμε, το Σχέδιο Ανάπτυξης της Χιμάρας δεν είναι τίποτε άλλο από πρόγραμμα των Αλβανών ολιγαρχών, προκειμένου να αρπάξουν κτήματα που ανήκουν στην ελληνική κοινότητα, για δημιουργήσουν σε αυτά,  ξενοδοχεία πέντε αστέρων, ξοδεύοντας δισεκατομμύρια δολάρια .


Επαφίεται στην αξιοπρέπεια της Ελλάδας, να γεφυρώσει τις απειλές προκειμένου να μην εξαφανισθεί η Ελληνική Κοινότητα της Χιμάρας, παρά να προβαίνει σε διπλωματικές υποσχέσεις και δηλώσεις.


Είναι σημαντικό να κάνει η Ελλάδα παρεμβάσεις για να σταματήσει η εφαρμογή του Σχεδίου Ανάπτυξης της Χιμάρας, ώστε να μην  επηρεασθεί  το έργο αξίας 1 δις δολαρίων.


Αξίζει να σημειωθεί ότι η εκπρόσωπος της ΕΕ στα Τίρανα, Ρομάνα Βλαχούτιν κατά τις συναντήσεις με την  τρόικα και τον πρωθυπουργό της Αλβανίας τον Σεπτέμβριο, ο Ράμα υποσχέθηκε, την αλλαγή των νόμων και  όλων των κυβερνητικών αποφάσεων που  υπονομεύουν την ελληνική κοινότητα .


Ωστόσο, υπάρχει μια  σιωπή για τη Χιμάρα και φυσικά για τη δράση της ολιγαρχικής μαφίας στην Αλβανία,  ενώ σκοπεύει να αρχίσει τη λεηλασία των κατασκευών στην πιο συγκεχυμένη περιοχή της Χιμάρας.



(Στοιχεία από SManalysis)

Albin Kurti: Kosovo and Albania should unite



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In the exclusive interview for the Deutsche Welle programs in Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian, the leader of the Self-Determination, Albin Kurti, explains his idea of joining Albania and Kosovo. Kurti also talks about the demarcation of the border with Montenegro, dialogue with Serbia, the possibility of partition of Kosovo and the territorial deployment ...

Berisha denounces an attempt of the Government of Albania, to built resort on the properties stolen of the Greek Community in Drymades of Himara





SManalysis

Very interesting that, Berisha was, in many cases, an inspiration for Albanian irredentism to Greece, to take the role of a lawyer pro Himariots, while in fact, has made a denunciation, which would be an investigation of the Special Prosecution, for which, for the only reason that the property and territories of the Greek Community of Himara, are being stolen, everyone is silent in Albania.

Perhaps for politics, diplomacy or just being in the political opposition, Sali Berisha, former Prime Minister of Albania, has denounced in the social network Facebook, an attempt to violate human rights and freedoms in Drymades, Himara Region, while representatives of an early communist-nomic family and close to left-wing politicians are making an attempt with the Albanian government to get a construction permit for a giant hotel, on the properties owned by some families belonging to the Greek community of Himara.

Specifically, according to the denunciation, for 17,000 square meters of property near the sea, as the most delightful tourist part of Albania, belonging to some autochthonous Greek families, but which have recently been abandoned by corrupt practices, the Albanian state has put in the functionality of legislation and government decisions, to robbing the properties and territory of the himariotes.

This is not the only case, but as we have pointed out, the Himara Development Plan has been deliberately prepared to implement the $ 1 Billion Project of the Albanian Oligarchs, one of which is this project to build a 5-star Hotels, on the properties owned by the Greek Community.

The fact that Berisha, in many instances inspired by Albanian irredentism to Greece, to take the role of a lawyer against Himariotes, is very interesting, while the Greek Embassy in Tirana, rather than having a hard time intervening, orients the citizens of the Greek community, to go to the Albanian Tribunals, when they know, they are lost.

It is in the dignity of Greece, that it is silent on the threats to the disappearance of the Greek Community of Himara, despite the diplomatic promises and declarations, it is now very important that the interventions from Athens, to be made to stop the implementation of the Himara Development Plan, does not touched by the $ 1 Billion Project.

It is worth mentioning the fact that the EU Representative in Tirana, Romana Vllahutin, calling during meetings with Trojka (UE – USA) to Prime Minister of Albania Rama, at last September, that “where laws and government decisions, undermine the Greek community, than they must be changed”. But there is a silence on Himara and, of course, an action by the oligarchic mafia of Albania, to start the looting and construction in the most confusing area of Albania, the Himara Region.

BERISHA DENONCON NJE TENTATIVE TE POLITIKANEVE TE MAJTE, PER TE NDERTUAR RESORT MBI PRONAT E HIMARIOITEVE




SManalysis

Shume interesant fakti, qe Berisha, i perfolur shume raste per frymezues i iredentizmit shqiptar edhe ndaj Greqise, te mare rolin e avokatit, ndaj Himarioteve, ndersa Ambasada e Greqise ne Tirane, ne vend qe te nderhyje fort, i orenton qytetaret e komunitetit grek, te kalojne ne shkallet e Gjyqesorit, kur dihet se ata humbasin.

Ndoshta per politike, diplomacy apo thjesht te qenurit ne opoziten politike, Sali Berisha, ish Kryeminister i Shqiperise, ka denoncuar ne rjetin social Facebook, nje tentative te shkeljes dhe dhunimit te lirive dhe te drejtave te njeriut ne Drymades, te Himares, kun perfaqesuesit e nje familje te hershme te nomeklatures komuniste dhe e afert me politikane te majte, po bejne tentative me qeverine shqiptare, per te mare leje ndertimi, per nje hotel gjigant, prona e te ciles eshte e disa familjeve qe u perkasin Komunitetit Grek te Himares.

Behet fjale me konkretisht sipas denoncimit, per 17 mije metra katrore prone afer detit, si pjesa me e lakmueshme turistike e Shqiperise, qe i perket disa familjeve autoktone, por qe jane mare kohet e fundit me praktikat korruptuese qe shteti shqiptar, i ka vene ne funknsion te legjislacionit dhe vendimeve qeveritare, per ti grabitur token himarioteve.

Ky nuk eshte rasti i vetem, por sic kemi theksuar, Plani I Zhvillimit te Himares, eshte pergatitur qellimisht per tu zbatuar Projekti prej 1 miliard Dollare, te Oligarkeve shqiptare, ku nje nder ta, eshte edhe ky project per te ndertuar Hotel me 5 yje ne prone te Komunitetit Grek.

Fakti qe Berisha , i perfolur ne shume raste per frymezues i iredentizmit shqiptar edhe ndaj Greqise, te mare rolin e avokatit, ndaj Himarioteve, eshte shume interesant, ndersa Ambasada e Greqise ne Tirane, ne vend qe te nderhyje fort, i orenton qytetaret e komunitetit grek, te kalojne ne shkallet e Gjyqesorit, kur dihet se ata humbasin.

Eshte ne dinjitetin e Greqise, qe te most e heshte ndaj kercenimeve per zhdukje te Komunitetit Grek te Himares, megjithe premtimet diplomatike dhe deklaratat, tashme eshte faza shume e rendesishme qe nderhyrjet te behen per te ndalur zbatimin e Planit te Zhvillimit te Himares, per te mos u prekur nga Projekti 1 Miliard Dollare.

Vlen per tu theksuar fakti se Perfaqesuesja e BE ne Tirane, Romana Vllahutin, gjate takimeve qe kane patur ne shtator me Trojken dhe Kryeministrin e Shqiperise, i ka kerkuar z. Rama, qe atje ku ligjet dhe vendimet e qeverise, demotojne komunitetin grek, ato duhet te ndryshohen. Por ka nje heshtje ndaj Himares dhe sigurisht, aksion nga pala oligarko mafia e shqiperise, per te filluar grabitjen dhe ndertimet ne zonen me te konfrontueshme, Rajoni i  Himares.


TRUMP WHITE HOUSE WEIGHING PLANS FOR PRIVATE SPIES TO COUNTER “DEEP STATE” ENEMIES

Blackwater founder Erik Prince arrives for a closed meeting with members of the House Intelligence Committee, Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Matthew Cole, Jeremy Scahill
December 5 2017,

Link

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION is considering a set of proposals developed by Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a retired CIA officer — with assistance from Oliver North, a key figure in the Iran-Contra scandal — to provide CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the White House with a global, private spy network that would circumvent official U.S. intelligence agencies, according to several current and former U.S. intelligence officials and others familiar with the proposals. The sources say the plans have been pitched to the White House as a means of countering “deep state” enemies in the intelligence community seeking to undermine Donald Trump’s presidency.

The creation of such a program raises the possibility that the effort would be used to create an intelligence apparatus to justify the Trump administration’s political agenda.

“Pompeo can’t trust the CIA bureaucracy, so we need to create this thing that reports just directly to him,” said a former senior U.S. intelligence official with firsthand knowledge of the proposals, in describing White House discussions. “It is a direct-action arm, totally off the books,” this person said, meaning the intelligence collected would not be shared with the rest of the CIA or the larger intelligence community. “The whole point is this is supposed to report to the president and Pompeo directly.”

North, who appears frequently on Trump’s favorite TV network, Fox News, was enlisted to help sell the effort to the administration. He was the “ideological leader” brought in to lend credibility, said the former senior intelligence official.

Some of the individuals involved with the proposals secretly met with major Trump donors asking them to help finance operations before any official contracts were signed.

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The proposals would utilize an army of spies with no official cover in several countries deemed “denied areas” for current American intelligence personnel, including North Korea and Iran. The White House has also considered creating a new global rendition unit meant to capture terrorist suspects around the world, as well as a propaganda campaign in the Middle East and Europe to combat Islamic extremism and Iran.

“I can find no evidence that this ever came to the attention of anyone at the NSC or [White House] at all,” wrote Michael N. Anton, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, in an email. “The White House does not and would not support such a proposal.” But a current U.S. intelligence official appeared to contradict that assertion, stating that the various proposals were first pitched at the White House before being delivered to the CIA. The Intercept reached out to several senior officials that sources said had been briefed on the plans by Prince, including Vice President Mike Pence. His spokesperson wrote there was “no record of [Prince] ever having met with or briefed the VP.” North did not respond to a request for comment.

According to two former senior intelligence officials, Pompeo has embraced the plan and lobbied the White House to approve the contract. Asked for comment, a CIA spokesperson said, “You have been provided wildly inaccurate information by people peddling an agenda.”

At the heart of the scheme being considered by the White House are Blackwater founder Erik Prince and his longtime associate, CIA veteran John R. Maguire, who currently works for the intelligence contractor Amyntor Group. Maguire also served on Trump’s transition team. Amyntor’s role was first reported by BuzzFeed News.

Michael Barry, who was recently named NSC senior director for intelligence programs, worked closely with Prince on a CIA assassination program during the Bush administration.

Prince and Maguire deny they are working together. Those assertions, however, are challenged by current and former U.S. officials and Trump donors who say the two men were collaborating.

As with many arrangements in the world of CIA contracting and clandestine operations, details of who is in charge of various proposals are murky by design and change depending on which players are speaking. An Amyntor official said Prince was not “formally linked to any contract proposal by Amyntor.” In an email, Prince rejected the suggestion that he was involved with the proposals. When asked if he has knowledge of this project, Prince replied: “I was/am not part of any of those alleged efforts.”

The former senior intelligence official with direct knowledge of the efforts scoffed at Prince’s denials. “Erik’s proposal had no company names on the slides,” this person said, “but there is no doubt that Prince and Maguire were working together.”

Prince and Maguire have a long professional relationship. Maguire recently completed a stint as a consultant with Prince’s company, Frontier Services Group, a Hong Kong-based security and logistics company partially owned by the Chinese government. FSG has no known connections to the private spy plan.

Prince has strong ties to the Trump administration: His sister Betsy DeVos is secretary of education, he was a major donor to the Trump election campaign, and he advised the transition team on intelligence and defense appointments, as The Intercept has previously reported. Prince has also contributed to Pence’s campaigns.

Maguire spent more than two decades as a paramilitary officer in the CIA, including tours in Central America working with the Contras. He has extensive experience in the Middle East, where he helped plan the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Maguire and Prince met together in September with a senior CIA official at a Virginia restaurant to discuss privatizing the war in Afghanistan.

Prince told a top fundraiser that Maguire was working on part of his Afghanistan plan, characterizing it as the first part of a multi-pronged program. The fundraiser added that Prince never directly asked him for money. But sources close to the project say Maguire did seek private funding for Amyntor’s efforts until a CIA contract materialized. “They’ve been going around asking for a bridge loan to float their operations until the CIA says yes,” said a person who has been briefed on the fundraising efforts.

Beginning last spring and into the summer, Maguire and a group of Amyntor representatives began asking Trump donors to support their intelligence efforts in Afghanistan, the initial piece of what they hoped would be a broader program. Some Trump fundraisers were asked to provide introductions to companies and wealthy clients who would then hire Amyntor for economic intelligence contracts. Maguire explained that some of the profit from those business deals would fund their foreign intelligence collection. Others were asked to give money outright.

“[Maguire] said there were people inside the CIA who joined in the previous eight years [under Obama] and inside the government, and they were failing to give the president the intelligence he needed,” said a person who was pitched by Maguire and other Amyntor personnel. To support his claim, Maguire told at least two people that National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, in coordination with a top official at the National Security Agency, authorized surveillance of Steven Bannon and Trump family members, including Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. Adding to these unsubstantiated claims, Maguire told the potential donors he also had evidence McMaster used a burner phone to send information gathered through the surveillance to a facility in Cyprus owned by George Soros.

Amyntor employees took potential donors to a suite in the Trump Hotel in Washington, which they claimed was set up to conduct “secure communications.” Some White House staff and Trump campaign supporters came to refer to the suite as “the tinfoil room,” according to one person who visited the suite. This account was confirmed by another source to whom the room was described. “John [Maguire] was certain that the deep state was going to kick the president out of office within a year,” said a person who discussed it with Maguire. “These guys said they were protecting the president.”


PRINCE, MAGUIRE, AND North have long shared a common frustration over the failure of the U.S. government to bring two suspects from a high-profile terrorist event in the 1980s to justice. Last summer, Maguire discussed rendering the suspects with White House officials after learning the men had been located in the Middle East. Despite having no U.S. government approval, associates of Maguire began working on a snatch operation earlier this year, according to a former senior U.S. intelligence official and a former Prince colleague.

Maguire, concerned that the FBI would not take action, made an offer to senior White House officials. The message, according to a person with direct knowledge of the rendition plan, was: “We’re going to go get these guys and bring them to the U.S. Who should we hand them over to?”

The rendition plan was meant to be a demonstration that Maguire and his associates had an active intelligence network and the capability to grab suspects around the world. Prince maintains he has nothing to do with that plan. But according to a source with extensive knowledge of Prince’s networks, Prince was working in parallel to assemble a team to help apprehend the men.

According to two people who have worked extensively with Prince in recent years, Prince has been contacting former Blackwater personnel who worked on a post-9/11 era CIA assassination program targeting Al Qaeda operatives. That program, which the Bush White House prohibited the CIA from disclosing to congressional intelligence committees, was revealed to Congress in 2009 by then-CIA Director Leon Panetta. The CIA says the program did not result in any assassinations.

Among the capabilities Prince offers is a network of deniable assets —  spies, fixers, foreign intelligence agents — spread across the globe that could be used by the White House. “You pick any country in the world Erik’s been in, and it’s there,” said a longtime Prince associate. “They’re a network of very dark individuals.” The associate, who has worked extensively with Prince, then began rattling off places where the private spies and paramilitaries already operate — Saudi Arabia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, “all across North Africa.”

Opaque contracting arrangements are typical for Prince, who became a lightning rod in his Blackwater days and now prefers to minimize controversy by operating in the shadows, disguising his involvement in sensitive operations with layers of subcontractors and elaborately crafted legal structures. “That’s his exact MO,” said the longtime Prince associate, adding that Prince consistently attempts to ensure plausible deniability of his role in U.S. and foreign government contracts.

“I have zero to do with any such effort and saying that I did/do would be categorically false,” Prince said in his email to The Intercept. “Knowingly publishing false information exposes you to civil legal action. The only effort I’ve quite publicly pitched is an alternative to Afghanistan.”

Erik Prince, Founder and CEO of Blackwater Worldwide drives through campus in Moyock, N.C., Monday, July 21, 2008. Prince, along with another former Navy SEAL, turned to the swamps of eastern North Carolina, where he could train SEALS based at Virginia Beach and build a business among law enforcement and military, believing all lacked a one-stop training site. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
Erik Prince, then-CEO of Blackwater Worldwide, drives through campus where he could conduct training in Moyock, N.C. in 2008. Photo: Gerry Broome/AP
THE INTELLIGENCE AND covert action program would mark an unorthodox return to government service for Prince, the onetime CIA contractor who built a mercenary force that became notorious during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It would also raise new questions about Prince’s foreign entanglements since he sold Blackwater.

In addition to Prince’s former assassination network, the hidden cadre of spies with no official cover — NOCs in CIA jargon — includes the assets of another key player in the Iran-Contra affair, CIA Officer Duane Clarridge, who died in 2016. Maguire, who worked under Clarridge as a young CIA paramilitary in Central America during the mid-1980s, took over the network of contract spies, who operate mostly in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Last summer, as Prince pushed his public proposal to privatize the war in Afghanistan, he and Maguire had broader ambitions, according to a person involved in the discussions. “The goal was to eventually get their network of NOCs worldwide, but they initially started with Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

“Prince seems to be firing on a lot of cylinders and pitching overt and covert plans,” said a current intelligence officer who has closely monitored Prince’s career and been briefed on several of Prince’s recent efforts, including the proposals to Pompeo. The official declined to discuss details of the plans but pointed to Prince’s much-discussed pitch to privatize the war in Afghanistan as a smokescreen for offering other more controversial programs and operations.

Prince’s Afghanistan plan, which received substantial media attention and got a hearing at the highest levels of the Trump administration, “was brilliant because it changed the narrative and made him relevant,” the officer said, referring to Prince’s scandal- and investigation-plagued career at Blackwater. The officer also added that the very public Afghanistan pitch, replete with cable news interviews and op-eds, provided a legitimate reason “to justify meeting with people” at the White House, CIA, or other government agencies.

“Erik has no hobbies,” said the longtime Prince associate. “Counterterrorism is his hobby.”

In some ways, these plans mirror operations Prince led during the Bush-Cheney administration. When Prince was running Blackwater, he and a former CIA paramilitary officer, Enrique Prado, set up a global network of foreign operatives, offering their “deniability” as a “big plus” for potential Blackwater customers, according to internal company communications obtained by The Intercept.

In a 2007 email, with the subject “Possible Opportunity in DEA—READ AND DELETE,” Prado sought to pitch the network to the Drug Enforcement Administration, bragging that Blackwater had developed “a rapidly growing, worldwide network of folks that can do everything from surveillance to ground truth to disruption operations.” He added, “These are all foreign nationals (except for a few cases where US persons are the conduit but no longer ‘play’ on the street), so deniability is built in and should be a big plus.”

The longtime Prince associate said that the nexus of deniable assets has never gone away. “The NOC network is already there. It already exists for the better part of 15 years now,” he said.

Prince has long admired North and viewed his role in Iran-Contra as heroic, said the Prince associate. In 2007, Prince testified defiantly before Congress following the Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad, in which Blackwater operatives gunned down 17 Iraqi civilians, including women and children. Shortly after his testimony, Prince’s longtime friend, conservative California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, praised the Blackwater chief. “Prince,” Rohrabacher said, “is on his way to being an American hero just like Ollie North was.”

North, a Marine lieutenant colonel on the Reagan National Security Council, oversaw a scheme to divert proceeds from illicit arms sales to Iran to Contra death squads in Nicaragua. The resulting scandal became known as the Iran-Contra affair, and North was convicted of three felonies, though these convictions were later thrown out.

Both North and Maguire attended a small reception in 2014 celebrating Prince’s third marriage — to his former spokesperson Stacy DeLuke. “It was an intimate affair,” said the Prince associate. “Only Erik’s closest friends were invited to that reception.” On election night in 2016, DeLuke posted photos on social media from inside Trump headquarters.

On November 30, Prince testified behind closed doors before the House Intelligence Committee about his January trip to the Seychelles to meet with Mohammad bin Zayed, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, and a Russian fund manager close to Vladimir Putin. According to the Washington Post, Prince presented himself as an unofficial envoy of President-elect Trump. The Intercept reported last week that the fund manager was Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. Prince repeatedly said that he did not remember the identity of the Russian, but on Thursday, in testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, Prince admitted that he did in fact meet with Dmitriev.

Prince may have revealed part of his strategy in a July 2016 radio interview with Steve Bannon, when he proposed recreating the CIA’s Phoenix Program, an assassination ring used in the Vietnam War, to battle the Islamic State. Prince said in the interview that the program would be used to kill or capture “the funders of Islamic terror, the wealthy radical Islamist billionaires funding it from the Middle East.”