Saturday, October 24, 2015

Montenegro: Thousands Take Part in Anti-Gov’t, Anti-NATO Rally


Published:
PODGORICA – Several thousand protesters are participating in an anti-government rally in the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica on Saturday, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported.
Photo: Stevo Vasiljevic / REUTERS
Photo: Stevo Vasiljevic / REUTERS
Protesters took to the streets of Podgorica to call for the resignation of the country’s prime minister, Milo Djukanovic, over alleged election fraud and corruption, urging the formation of a transitional government.
The peace rally is also aimed against Montenegro‘s NATO accession under the Freedom or Nothing slogan.
Last week, Montenegrin police forcefully dispersed a campsite of the opposition in Podgorica, the site of a prolonged protest in front of the parliament.
On October 15, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Montenegro was moving closer to becoming a NATO member, but said that more reforms and public support were needed.

"Political unity of Serbs in Kosovo imperative"


PM Aleksandar Vucic, Kosovo Office Director Marko Djuric and Labor Minister Aleksandar Vulin met on Friday with political representatives of Kosovo Serbs.
Source: B92
Djuric and Vucic are seen during the meeting (Tanjug)
Djuric and Vucic are seen during the meeting (Tanjug)
They discussed the current political situation in Kosovo and Metohija and the rest of Serbia and challenges related to the admission of the self-proclaimed Kosovo state to UNESCO, the government announced on its website.
The economic and social problems of the Serbian people in the province, the formation of the Community of Serbian municipalities and political disagreements within the Srpska (Serb) List were also discussed.

It was concluded that "a strong unity of Serbian political representatives in Kosovo-Metohija is an imperative and requirement of national survival of Serbs in the province."

It was agreed that Aleksandar Jablanovic should no longer perform the function of the representative of the Srpska List, and that this function be performed by Head of the parliamentary group of the Srpska List Slavko Simic.

This change will be promptly registered in the relevant Pristina government institutions "and Alexander Jablanovic will be moved to another responsible public function in the system of the government of the Republic of Serbia."

The changes in the top of the Srpska List were not caused by media attacks and manipulations, but by the need to make this list even stronger and more unified, the government said, and added that "the participants in the meeting agreed that all possible disagreements among political representatives of Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija be resolved within the Srpska List and in coordination with the Office for Kosovo and Metohija."

Foreign Visitors Spent €10.4 Bln in Greece in January – August 2015

News from Greece
By Philip Chrysopoulos -
Oct 23, 2015


14575Foreign tourists spent at least 10.4 billion euros in Greece in the first eight months of the year, with almost a third of that coming in August.

According to Bank of Greece figures released on Thursday, there was a 7.1 percent increase in receipts compared to the first eight months of 2014. More specifically, British tourists spent 1.48 billion euros, 33.5 percent more than in the January-August 2014 period. The same percentage of growth was recorded by U.S. visitors, who spent a total of 618.8 million euros.

German holidaymakers parted with 10.2 percent more, to reach 1.43 billion euros, while the French raised their spending 4 percent to 898.3 million euros. Only Russians showed a decline in spending and arrivals, falling 68 percent to 281.9 million euros.

Arrivals in the January-August 2015 period increased by 10.6 percent to almost 17 million people. There was a 35.7 percent yearly rise in U.S. visitors, a 24.9 percent rise in visits from the U.K., 22.5 percent from Germany and 4.4 percent from France, while 61.6 percent fewer Russian holidaymakers came to Greece.

According to estimates by the Tourism Ministry and the Association of Hellenic Tourism Enterprises (SETE), tourists this year will reach 26 million and travel takings will come to around 14.5 billion euros. It will be a record-breaking year, as was 2014 when 25 million tourists visited Greece.

The travel balance in the January-August period showed a surplus of 9.1 billion euros, or 8.5 percent more than 2014. This is mainly due to the 690 million euros more in travel revenues and the decline in the travel expenditure of Greeks abroad by 20 million euros.

Average spending per trip contracted by 3 percent to 600 euros, although August visitors spent 3 percent more than last year.
- See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/10/23/foreign-visitors-spent-e10-4-bln-in-greece-in-january-august-2015/#sthash.3YtxEHPN.dpuf

Friday, October 23, 2015

'New Neighbors' Are Resurrecting Old Rivalries in The Balkans


© AFP 2015/ ARIS MESSINIS
Columnists
Andrew Korybko

The uncontrollable refugee influx to the Balkans, politically orchestrated by Turkey, is having extremely negative consequences on regional relations.

One year ago, those who spoke of a possible return to Balkan rivalries would have been dismissed as fear mongers, nationalists, or worse, but lo and behold, 2015 has vindicated those individuals and provided irrefutable proof that intra-regional tension is brewing in the Balkans. The overwhelming surge of refugees traversing the region en route to the EU was initiated by Turkey, which made the political decision to release interned Syrian refugees and send them westward.
Erdogan's intent was to use the resulting problems they'd create as a form of blackmail in ‘negotiating' an accelerated path to EU membership for Turkey, and judging by the latest meeting he held with Merkel, the bloc is cowering in the face of his bullying and seems ready to cave in.
Everybody's talking about the two nodes of the refugee crisis — Turkey and Germany — but it seems like the world has forgotten about the unwilling geographic link between them, the Balkans, which has had to bear the brunt of this human flood much more than any of those two, and is now at serious odds with itself over this manufactured crisis.

The Turkish Strongman Is Strong-Arming The EU Erdogan knew what he was doing when he finally set the hundreds of thousands of interned Syrian refugees loose from their camps, and it was to engender such humanitarian, social, and political crises in the EU that the bloc would be forced to grovel before him in begging the strongman to stop the flow at any cost. That's what happened when he traveled to Brussels and made the outrageous demand that the EU pay his country billions of dollars and give it a shortcut into the organization, proving that he intended to use the calculated refugee flows as blackmail all along.
There's a geostrategic aspect to all of this too, and it's that Turkish membership in the EU would totally transform the balance within it and create yet another obstacle to its possible reconciliation with Russia.
The EU would be so internally weakened, and its powers so diluted, by Turkish membership that a country with only 3% of its given territory in the continent would be in a position to indefinitely spoil any of its future outreaches to Russia.
This would obviously play to the US' grand strategy of separating the EU and Russia, so it's for this reason why the US takes such outlandish actions as bombing a power plant in Aleppo. It keenly knows that the worse it can make living conditions in Syria, the more refugees it can motivate to flee to Turkey, and with this, the more human pawns Erdogan can sacrifice in his quest to checkmate the European continent.
"Good Fences" Make Bad Neighbors
There's a common aphorism that "good fences make good neighbors", but that surely doesn't hold true for the Balkans. The former Yugoslav states, despite the 1990s history of internecine violence between some of them, had been carrying on quite peacefully with one another in the past decade, and that's without any fences between them. Once they started coming up this year, however, that's when regional relations hit a downward spiral, and as is typical in Balkan history, some states started blaming and teaming up against Serbia.
Hungary couldn't take the refugee flows any longer and controversially fenced off Serbia this summer, which diverted the refugee flows to Croatia and Slovenia. Zagreb is now following the lead of its former imperial sovereign in Budapest in constructing its own anti-Serbian fence, and Slovenia has just called in the military to reinforce its border with Croatia and is provocatively entertaining he possibility of its own "border fortifications". What's being forgotten amidst the ‘fence race' is that Serbia isn't the cause of the problem, it's Turkey, and that Greece is the ‘frontline' country most responsible for halting this flow.
Athens hasn't ever tried to do anything constructive to stem the refugee tide that's been crashing into the Balkans, but the tiny Republic of Macedonia is a different matter. It took a valiant stand in protecting all of Europe last August by temporarily closing its border with Greece, but after a vicious information campaign was waged against it and its requests for international help were largely rebuffed, it had to backtrack and reopen the border. Greece has proven itself to be a lost cause for border control by this point, but if the EU and its Croatian, Hungarian, and Slovenian members really wanted to halt the refugee flows, they'd urgently help the Republic of Macedonia build its own border fence, the only one that could make a real and effective difference.
Refugee Riots
The situation is very critical at the moment, with thousands of disaffected refugees on the verge of rioting all throughout the region. Although they were only in Slovenia for just a couple of days already, refugees there torched one of their own camps in a sign of just how uncontrollably frustrated these "new neighbors" are becoming. Serbia is worried that the Hungarian and Croatian border fences will turn the country into one big refugee camp, with tensions at risk of boiling over both because the country doesn't want them and the stranded refugees don't want to be there in the first place.
In such a situation, Serbia wouldn't become a refugee camp, but a colony.
Evidence from analogous camps and ‘host' countries all across the world proves that refugees are more likely to procreate the longer they remain in one place, and Serbia would be no exception. If one defines a colony as being created when a large foreign population enters a region and begins populating it against the desires of the native inhabitants, then Serbia is at risk of being colonized. This process already happened in the Province of Kosovo with tragic results, but now it's occurring all throughout the country, and the "new neighbors" once more don't want to assimilate or integrate.
All of this is perfectly okay with Turkey, however, since it seems to have given up on its Neo-Ottoman dreams in the Mideast and has now set its sights back toward the other land that it had previously occupied for centuries, the Balkans. Its neighborhood proxy in Tirana has its own regional ambition of Greater Albania that would greatly facilitate what Turkey is trying to achieve, and it's telling that both Balkan troublemakers are NATO members. Disturbingly, however, some Albanian forces have taken to terrorist means to achieve this shared goal, as was witnessed by the "Kosovo Liberation Army's" deadly shootout in the Macedonian city of Kumanovo in May. The return of Albanian terrorism and Turkey's plans to geo-culturally transform the Balkans raise serious concerns about what kind of regional disaster could unfold if the KLA armed disaffected refugees stranded in the Balkans and provoked them to riot in order in advance of this grand strategy. The refugees themselves are not personally at fault for their plight — one must remember that they're just pawns in a larger game being orchestrated by the US and Turkey — but one should also keep in mind that just as the US was created by European "refugees" in North America, so too might a Neo-Ottoman Empire be revived by their contemporary Mideast analogues in the Balkans.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.

ANTENNA Group acquires controlling stake in B92


ANTENNA group acquires a controlling stake in B92, a leading Serbian broadcaster - further strengthening of ANTENNA’s leading position in South Eastern Europe
Source:
ANTENNA Group, the international media and entertainment organization, with a leading position in South Eastern Europe, has acquired a controlling stake in B92, one of the leading free to air television networks and radio broadcasters in Serbia and the region.

B92 is a well-established, commercial, news oriented TV station that has developed a multimedia broadcast platform including television, digital media and radio. In 2014, B92 recorded the highest growth in viewership, in the free to air TV market, while B92.net has been the most influential and visited Serbian website since 1996.

ANTENNA will use its proven operational expertise to further develop B92’s media. This acquisition further expands ANTENNA Group’s presence in South Eastern Europe, where it now has operations in 5 countries.

I strongly believe in the future of Serbia, a country in which we have experienced tremendous growth, having turned PRVA into the strongest Media company in Serbia and Montenegro”, said Theodore Kyriakou, CEO of ANTENNA Group.

ANTENNA Group sees B92 as an exciting investment opportunity and we continue to seek similar ones in the European media sector, in countries where the regulatory authorities have strong working relationships with investors, such as Serbia.”
Theodore Kyriakou, CEO of ANTENNA Group
Theodore Kyriakou, CEO of ANTENNA Group
ANTENNA Group is an international media and entertainment organization with a leading position in South East Europe, operating across Europe, North America and Australia. It has offices in Amsterdam, London, Athens and New York and distributes content in over 20 countries worldwide. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Group employs over 2.600 staff in Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Romania, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.

Created in 1989, ANTENNA owns and operates a portfolio of media assets across a variety of technological platforms. The Group’s activities include: free-to-Air TV and pay TV channels, online and digital ventures, television production, radio stations, magazine publishing, music publishing and production, content distribution, telecommunications services and education services. Channels and content from ANTENNA are carried on networks including Time Warner Cable, DISH, Foxtel and Unity Media.

ANTENNA Group pursues high-growth opportunities in both existing and new markets all over the world and invests selectively in media content and distribution assets, delivering high return-on-investment through a combination of management expertise, production and marketing skills, and experienced rights negotiations.

ANTENNA Group has significant experience in monetizing its investments and rewarding its shareholders and has built a unique track record in turning around and growing businesses. Its successful strategy follows its turnaround of Nova TV in Bulgaria, which it acquired for $3.6 million in 2000 and sold for €620 million in 2008, one of the largest returns-on-investment ever in the European media sector.

Among recent investments, ANTENNA transformed PRVA into the market leader in the Serbian commercial television market after acquiring the former Fox Televizija free-to-air network from News Corporation. It extended the PRVA brand in 2011 to Montenegro, where it acquired the Pro TV/FM and built it into the country’s second most widely-watched channel. In Slovenia, ANTENNA formed a joint venture with Telekom Slovenije to operate and develop Planet TV, which doubled its audience numbers within the first 6 months. In Romania, the Group completed in July 2014 the acquisition of one music TV and four music radio stations from ProSiebenSat.1: Kiss TV, Kiss FM, Magic FM, One FM and Rock FM.

ANTENNA Group is privately owned by the Kyriakou family.

"UNESCO should remove churches from list before takeover"


SPC monastery Visoki Decani Abbot Sava Janjic believes that UNESCO should remove Serbian Orthodox churches from its list if it lets "Kosovo take them over."
Source: B92
(Thinkstock)
(Thinkstock)
"If UNESCO wants despite all to let Kosovo 'take over' Serbian Orthodox churches let them take us generously off World heritage list first," Janjic said on Twitter.
He believes the only way to move forward is to create a mechanism that would protect the Serb identity and rights in the territory of Kosovo.

"ONLY way forward is a Mechanism protecting our identity, rights etc in Kosovo. Right place is Brussels dialog. Without it UNESCO bid's absurd," he said in a another tweet.

The Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) abbot believes that a UNESCO status without a protection mechanism is no protection, but an even greater problem for the Serbian churches in Kosovo.

Janjic pointed out that his monastery "never did anything to harm anyone, and provided help to Albanians during the Kosovo conflict."

"We want to live in peace. We have come under attacked four times since the war, while NATO has been protecting us for 15 years," said Janjic.

The Visoki Decani abbot mentioned as examples of "the Kosovo reality" a number of photos of destruction of Serbian churches in Kosovo and thanked the troops of KFOR and NATO that protected those sites in previous years.

"Without them, all our churches would have been demolished," said Janjic.

After a former commander of a special unit of the French KFOR, Jacques Hogard, said that UNESCO should not allow Kosovo to join, the same position was expressed in a tweet reposted by Janjic of a former U.S. staff sargeant Anthony J. Pelliccio who added there were "many more" who shared his opinion.

Several days ago Sava Janjic spoke for B92 about the current situation and among other things said that allowing Kosovo to join UNESCO would be "very dangerous for our cultural heritage."

Bishop of Raska and Prizren Teodosije issued a statement recently on the same topic, and addressed Pristina's "rush" to join UNESCO:

"Regrettably, the rejection of dialog on Serbian Orthodox heritage in Brussels clearly demonstrates that their goal is to become a member of UNESCO as soon as possible so that they could use their status in this organization as a tool for further cultural repression against the SPC by once again tabling controversial laws on cultural heritage, under the UNESCO umbrella."

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Berlin to reduce its demands if Athens accepts more refugees


German government sources claimed their top priority is for a greater number of refugees to remain in Greece

Friday, October 16, 2015
Berlin to reduce its demands if Athens accepts more refugees
6
An article in weekly business magazine WirtschaftsWoche claims that Berlin is willing to reduce its financial demands from Greece if Athens is willing to keep a greater number of refugees.
The magazine article cites German official who claim that Berlin will help Greece financially, provided that Athens agrees to do more to address the refugee crisis. The German government sources argued that their first priority is for a greater number of refugees to remain in Greece.
Since the start of 2015 about 400,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Greece, mostly via sea from Turkey, with the overwhelming majority intending to travel to other EU countries, such as Germany. The magazine article does not further elaborate on what Berlin would actually offer to Greece.

Francois Hollande Arrives in Athens

News from Greece


By Anastassios Adamopoulos -
Oct 22, 2015
tsipras hollande

tsipras hollandeFrench President Francois Hollande landed at the Athens International Airport on Thursday afternoon for a two-day state visit in the Greek capital.

Hollande was greeted by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras upon his arrival and the two men embraced as the French President descended from his aircraft.

The leader of the European Union’s third biggest economy had a large entourage accompanying him, including French Finance Minister Michel Sapin, French Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, French Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin, and French Secretary of State for European Affairs Harlem Desir among other current and former French politicians. Several French business leaders have also joined Holllande on this visit to Athens.

Tsipras and the French President headed to Syntagma Square at the centre of Athens where Hollande offered a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Greek National Defence Minister Panos Kammenos greeted the two leaders at the scene.

Following the ceremony at Syntagma Square, the two European heads of state made their way toward the Presidential Palace where the President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos officially welcomed his French counterpart and thanked him for his help to Greece during the past few months.

Pavlopoulos will host a dinner, which will be attended by Hollande and his entourage, Tsipras and other members of the Greek government, as well as officials from other Greek political parties, later in the evening.

The French President will address the Greek Parliament on Friday.

- See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/10/22/francois-hollande-arrives-in-athens/#sthash.9uXnKxbp.dpuf

"There's chance Pristina's bid will fail"


Serbian FM Ivica Dacic said on Thursday he believes there is a chance that the UNESCO General Conference in November will not "confirm Kosovo's entry."
Source: Tanjug
(Tanjug)
(Tanjug)
He spoke for the Belgrade-based Pink TV broadcaster a day after UNESCO's Executive Board recommended to the Conference to allow Pristina to join the organization as a member.
Dacic said it was important for Serbia to continue with political activity and that he "hoped there would be, among the 60 countries that have not recognized Kosovo, a certain number that will vote against at the General Conference."

"I believe there is a chance that the proposal will not pass. We will be in Paris, we will be very active at the bilateral level and as two-thirds must vote (in favor) in order to pass a decision on admitting Kosovo, I hope that among the 60 countries that have not recognized Kosovo there will be a certain number that will vote against," he said.

"Nothing will happen now because Kosovo will be under the watchful eye of the international community, but in the long run, that is a danger," said Dacic of the possibility of Pristina's membership in UNESCO and the consequences for Serbian cultural heritage.

As for Montenegro and Macedonia voting in favor of the Albanian initiative to recommend that Kosovo be admitted to UNESCO, he said Serbia will behave toward these countries in the future in the international arena "in equal measure."

"It's about their internal relations, we have invested a lot in the development of relations with regional countries. The way someone treats our interests, we will treat theirs. I do not believe that we will vote for their things at the international level," said Dacic.

Speaking during an extraordinary news conference he called in Belgrade late on Wednesday, Dacic said the result of the vote on Wednesday was more favorable for Serbia than expected.

"Out of 58 members of the Council, 27 voted for this recommendation, which means there is no absolute majority for Kosovo's admission to this organization. Moreover, out of 32 countries which have recognized Kosovo's independence, five abstained," he added.

"The vote has shown that there are huge divisions within the international community, as well as within UNESCO," Dacic said. "Nothing is over yet," the foreign minister noted, adding that Serbia will continue its fight.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Turkey May Become 'Ungovernable' After Elections - Polling Expert

Demonstrators in central Istanbul attend a protest against Saturday's bombings in Ankara, Turkey, October 10, 2015.

© REUTERS/ Osman Orsal

Turkey's government may slide into chaos if the country's political parties are unable to form a coalition following November's elections, the head of an Istanbul polling agency told Sputnik Turkiye.

Turkey's government will descend into chaos if the parties standing for election do not negotiate a coalition, the head of Turkey's Konda polling agency Tarhan Erdem told Sputnik Turkiye.
No single party has a clear majority in opinion polls for Turkey's upcoming November 1 parliamentary elections, and it may be impossible for a coalition to form because of the parties' polarized attitude toward each other, according to Erdem. Konda is one of Turkey's most authoritative yet secretive public opinion polling agencies.
"The country has literally approached a line, behind which is an abyss called an 'ungovernable state.' Responsibility for this lies on all participants of the political processes," Erdem told Sputnik Turkiye.
The upcoming election was announced after Turkey's June 15 elections resulted in no clear majority or coalition. Opinion polls have not changed greatly since then, although Turkey's political climate has become increasingly polarized following terrorist attacks against political activists, including a peace rally bombing in Ankara on October 10, which killed 102 people. Erdem added that Turkey's president has to gather the political parties' leaders following the elections to discuss strategies for governing the country. He noted that political players would have to stop searching for enemies and work toward an agreement for this to happen.
"Otherwise, if party leaders begin forming the government without agreeing to a further action program, Turkey is threatened with a descent into chaos, which may turn out to be much more serious than the tense atmosphere we see in the country now," Erdem added.
According to most recent opinion polls, President Recep Erdogan's AKP party is polling at slightly above 40 percent, and the party's sharp disagreements with the nationalist MHP and the secularist CHP may make it very difficult for them to form a ruling coalition.

NATO Maritime Command

NATO Maritime component Commander Personnel, during Exercise Trident Juncture 20th Oct 2015.
HMS OCEAN is the Royal Navy’s Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH). A helicopter carrier and amphibious assault ship, Ocean is designed to deliver troops to the centre of the action by helicopter or by landing craft. Aviation capabilities include six helicopter operating spots on her flight deck with space in the hangar to hold, transport and maintain many more aircraft. Ocean’s compliment Ship’s Company of 450 personnel includes 9 Assault Squadron Royal Marines (9 ASRM), who operate the four Mk5 landing craft vehicle and personnel (LCVP), and provide the projection of fighting capability ashore for HMS OCEAN. The 21,500 tonne amphibious assault ship was launched in 1995, has a top speed of 16 knots and a range of 8,000 miles.
‘Cougar’ is the Royal Navy’s long standing annual deployment of the UK’s high readiness Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime). In 2015 it will focus principally on working alongside and integrating with French amphibious forces during Exercise Corsican Lion, then the wider NATO community in Exercise Trident Juncture.
'NATO Maritime component Commander Personnel, during Exercise Trident Juncture 20th Oct 2015.

HMS OCEAN is the Royal Navy’s Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH).  A helicopter carrier and amphibious assault ship, Ocean is designed to deliver troops to the centre of the action by helicopter or by landing craft. Aviation capabilities include six helicopter operating spots on her flight deck with space in the hangar to hold, transport and maintain many more aircraft. Ocean’s compliment Ship’s Company of 450 personnel includes 9 Assault Squadron Royal Marines (9 ASRM), who operate the four Mk5 landing craft vehicle and personnel (LCVP), and provide the projection of fighting capability ashore for HMS OCEAN. The 21,500 tonne amphibious assault ship was launched in 1995, has a top speed of 16 knots and a range of 8,000 miles.

‘Cougar’ is the Royal Navy’s long standing annual deployment of the UK’s high readiness Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime).  In 2015 it will focus principally on working alongside and integrating with French amphibious forces during Exercise Corsican Lion, then the wider NATO community in Exercise Trident Juncture.

Exercise Trident Juncture 2015 will be held through October and November, predominantly in, over and on the seas around Portugal, Spain and Italy.  It is one of a series of long-planned exercises to ensure that NATO Allies are ready to deal with any emerging crisis, from any direction, and that they are able to work effectively with partners in tackling any crisis.  Over 36,000 personnel from 30 nations will take part – that includes NATO Allies as well as seven partner nations. And those partner nations are Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Sweden and Ukraine.'
Exercise Trident Juncture 2015 will be held through October and November, predominantly in, over and on the seas around Portugal, Spain and Italy. It is one of a series of long-planned exercises to ensure that NATO Allies are ready to deal with any emerging crisis, from any direction, and that they are able to work effectively with partners in tackling any crisis. Over 36,000 personnel from 30 nations will take part – that includes NATO Allies as well as seven partner nations. And those partner nations are Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Sweden and Ukraine.
'NATO Maritime component Commander Personnel, during Exercise Trident Juncture 20th Oct 2015.

HMS OCEAN is the Royal Navy’s Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH).  A helicopter carrier and amphibious assault ship, Ocean is designed to deliver troops to the centre of the action by helicopter or by landing craft. Aviation capabilities include six helicopter operating spots on her flight deck with space in the hangar to hold, transport and maintain many more aircraft. Ocean’s compliment Ship’s Company of 450 personnel includes 9 Assault Squadron Royal Marines (9 ASRM), who operate the four Mk5 landing craft vehicle and personnel (LCVP), and provide the projection of fighting capability ashore for HMS OCEAN. The 21,500 tonne amphibious assault ship was launched in 1995, has a top speed of 16 knots and a range of 8,000 miles.

‘Cougar’ is the Royal Navy’s long standing annual deployment of the UK’s high readiness Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime).  In 2015 it will focus principally on working alongside and integrating with French amphibious forces during Exercise Corsican Lion, then the wider NATO community in Exercise Trident Juncture.

Exercise Trident Juncture 2015 will be held through October and November, predominantly in, over and on the seas around Portugal, Spain and Italy.  It is one of a series of long-planned exercises to ensure that NATO Allies are ready to deal with any emerging crisis, from any direction, and that they are able to work effectively with partners in tackling any crisis.  Over 36,000 personnel from 30 nations will take part – that includes NATO Allies as well as seven partner nations. And those partner nations are Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Sweden and Ukraine.'
'NATO Maritime component Commander Personnel, during Exercise Trident Juncture 20th Oct 2015.

HMS OCEAN is the Royal Navy’s Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH).  A helicopter carrier and amphibious assault ship, Ocean is designed to deliver troops to the centre of the action by helicopter or by landing craft. Aviation capabilities include six helicopter operating spots on her flight deck with space in the hangar to hold, transport and maintain many more aircraft. Ocean’s compliment Ship’s Company of 450 personnel includes 9 Assault Squadron Royal Marines (9 ASRM), who operate the four Mk5 landing craft vehicle and personnel (LCVP), and provide the projection of fighting capability ashore for HMS OCEAN. The 21,500 tonne amphibious assault ship was launched in 1995, has a top speed of 16 knots and a range of 8,000 miles.

‘Cougar’ is the Royal Navy’s long standing annual deployment of the UK’s high readiness Joint Expeditionary Force (Maritime).  In 2015 it will focus principally on working alongside and integrating with French amphibious forces during Exercise Corsican Lion, then the wider NATO community in Exercise Trident Juncture.

Exercise Trident Juncture 2015 will be held through October and November, predominantly in, over and on the seas around Portugal, Spain and Italy.  It is one of a series of long-planned exercises to ensure that NATO Allies are ready to deal with any emerging crisis, from any direction, and that they are able to work effectively with partners in tackling any crisis.  Over 36,000 personnel from 30 nations will take part – that includes NATO Allies as well as seven partner nations. And those partner nations are Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Sweden and Ukraine.'
+3

EU Leaders To Pave Way For Kosovo To Join Bloc

The European Union is expected to sign an agreement with Kosovo next week, paving the way for the accession of the Balkan country to the bloc, officials said October 20.
The move, which is seen as also helpful in bringing Serbia closer to the EU, may cause concern in some EU member states struggling with internal separatist movements.
Spain, Cyprus, Romania, Greece, and Slovakia have not recognized Kosovo since its secession from Serbia in 2008, almost a decade after its majority ethnic Albanians waged a guerrilla uprising against Belgrade.
But this did not prevent them in the past giving their authorization to the start of EU negotiations with Kosovo, with an eye towards helping quell nationalist tensions in the Balkans.
Kosovo concluded talks with the EU in July 2014 for a Stabilization and Association Agreement, a step on the path to eventual EU membership that can carry economic benefits.
Next week the EU foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, and EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn will sign the accord, officials said. It is to take effect next year.
"The signature of the agreement will reinforce Kosovo's European perspective and also help domestic stabilization," an EU official said.
This comes despite Kosovo's scant progress in key policy sectors.
 "The rule of law in Kosovo, including judicial independence, and limited results in the fight against organized crime and corruption, remains a major concern," the European Commission said in its last report on Kosovo a year ago.
A new step towards EU membership for Kosovo is also a matter of concern in Serbia, which still formally regards Kosovo as part of its territory. To allay Serbian worries, the EU seems ready to make concessions to Belgrade.
"I am confident that the first two chapters with Serbia [for accession to the EU] can be opened by the end of the year," a top EU official said.
Chapters are policy sectors where a candidate to EU membership has to show alignment with EU rules before it can join the bloc.
For Serbia to join the EU, 35 chapters on topics ranging from fundamental rights to economic issues need to be opened and successfully closed with the unanimous support of member states.
The EU admitted most of the former Communist states of eastern Europe between 2004 and 2007. Croatia was the last country to join the bloc in 2013.
Besides Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, and Turkey are candidates to join the EU.

South Ossetia: Separatist leader Leonid Tibilov plans referendum on 'reunification' with Russia

'The political reality is that we have to make a historic choice to be reunited with brotherly Russia'











The separatist leader of Georgian breakaway region South Ossetia has proposed plans to hold a referendum on whether the region should join Russia, in a move that has left observers guessing as to who is behind the move: South Ossetia or Moscow. Leonid Tibilov told a press conference that “reunification” with Russia is an ancient dream of South Ossetians, after meeting with Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov.
“In principle we understand Mr Tibilov’s motivation, but I wouldn’t make any guesses before the referendum takes place,” Russian state duma deputy Leonid Slutsky said. “Next we must put our heads together to discuss whether this is necessary. We have to understand that the response from the international community will be absolutely explosive.”
The European Union and the United States, neither of which recognise Russian-backed South Ossetia as an independent state, condemned Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev for choosing to recognise both South Ossetia and a second breakaway region, Abkkhazia, as independent following the 2008 Russian-Georgian war.
 “The political reality is that we have to make a historic choice to be reunited with brotherly Russia,” Mr Tibilov told journalists, “to ensure the security and prosperity of our country and our people”.
Ties between Moscow and South Ossetia became even closer in March this year, after Mr Tibilov and President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty “of alliance and integration”, which would see closer cooperation on political, social, defence and security spheres between both regions, a move both the EU and the US denounced. At the time of signing the agreement, South Ossetia’s foreign minister Dmitry Sanakoyev said that there were no plans “to discuss unification between Russia and South Ossetia”.
In July, the EU gave a warning to Russia after claims from Georgia that Russian troops, which have been patrolling Georgia’s administrative border with South Ossetia since the end of the war in 2008, had used signs to redraw part of its de facto border with South Ossetia.

Greece abandons the agreement on the border with Albania, but requires an Autonomous Status for South



Greece has decided to "Veto" for a progress report for Albania and Macedonia (FYROM) due to changes of its national policies in respect of these two countries.

With the help of diplomacy in Washington and Brussels, speaking for an Autonomous Status between the Protocol of Corfu and in areas where living things Greek population, officially unknown by the government of Tirana. Orthodox Church, is the factor having a special status even in the South. .

Changes in the national policies of Greece, reflect some divergence in issues with FYROM and Albania, for which it decided to postpone Athens with "veto" the EU progress report, for both countries.


Himara, occupies the leading place in all the geopolitical issues, which require attention ..
.

In exchange for the assist for the recognition of Kosovo, Greece will not hinder or FYROM in NATO, but will insist with Tirana, resolve the status of Greeks in the south of Albania even where they are not known to self-determination minority areas..

Some days ago, Foreign Minister Niko Kotsias, dismissed the ambassador of Athens in Brussels, for which according to the Greek press, is shown indifferent "to protect national toll policy of Greece. The EU, immediately canceled the progress report on both countries, as regards Greece, decide as a border what will decide in a report expected to be released soon.

Sources from Athens, speak for immediate diplomatic escalation between Albania and Greece, in the light of European perspectives, assisted by Washington and Brussels. According to information, Greece will not prevent Macedonia from joining NATO, trying to find yet a consensus on the name, helping Kosovo for membership and recognition of its official, but from Tirana are expected solution geopolitical coordinated as activation of International agreements such as the Protocol of Corfu known officially by Albania ,, as the right to self-determination a status for the Greeks in the south of Albania, having the strong role of the Orthodox Church.


Interesting is the fact that the main role of developments, issues plays as Himara, which especially after the collapse of the Church of Agia Athanassios and the enormous problems of ownership, Territorial Division and ethnic identity, has become a strong reference to clashes between Tirana, Washington and Athens.

The report is expected to come up in the middle of November, will include many of the above items, for which Albania needs to change the Constitution ..

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Orthodox Addresses at the International Conference “Religious and Cultural Pluralism and Peaceful Coexistence in the Middle-East”


 His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, His Eminence Anastasios of Tirana, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev)

The largest ever conference dedicated to the plight of Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East was held in Athens October 19-20, 2015, entitled "Religious and Cultural Pluralism and Peaceful Co-existence in the Middle East." Delegates from fifty countries gathered, including primates of local Orthodox Churches, representatives of Catholic and Protestant communities, Muslim leaders, governmental officials, and representatives of international organizations and the academic community.
Among the participants were His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, their Beatitudes Patriarchs Theodoros of Alexandria and All Africa, John of Antioch and All the East, Theophilos of Jerusalem and All Palestine, and their Beatitudes Archbishops Chrysostom of New Justiniana and All Cyprus, Jeronymos of Athens and All Greece, and Anastasios of Tirana and All Albania. The Russian Orthodox Church was represented by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate department for external church relations (DECR).
Below are the addresses to the conference of three Orthodox hierarchs:
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     Source: Jersualem Patriarchate
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Address of His Eminence Anastasios, Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and All Albania

The conscious acceptance of religious and cultural pluralism and the peaceful coexistence of various communities can come from two opposite starting points: either from indifference to religious faith or the conscious experience of religious substance. Conversely, religious intolerance between coexisting religious communities and cultural traditions can be developed by: a) religious-origins, e.g. from an extreme fanaticism, or b) non-religious roots, e.g. political factors, or nationalism, which use religion for other pursuits. All these influences remain strong in the Middle East. However, the human desire for world peace remains apprehensive. Thus, every effort to study and confront the complexity of this problem is a valuable contribution. Therefore wholehearted congratulations are merited to the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, to its Head, His Excellency the Foreign Minister Professor Nikolaos Kotzias, and his distinguished colleagues, for taking the initiative to organize this International Conference. With great pleasure we welcome the opening of its proceedings and we wish for fruitful success.
1. It is my personal belief that the cultivation of a healthy religious conscience constitutes the stable foundation for peaceful coexistence, and not religious indifference. In the monotheistic religions that dominate the Middle East the following are found: a) a search for inner peace b) the curbing of aggression, c) principles that facilitate peaceful co-existence within each particular social group, d) peaceful relations with the supreme Reality, with a Personal God, e) the desire to maintain peace with all humankind. Christians particularly perceive God as a God of peace and request his intervention.
All of us who have a responsibility within the religious communities in our region must cultivate a peaceful theology and anthropology, drawing on the richness of our religious principles and the best pages of our traditions. Particularly we are called to condemn all forms of violence. Stressing the duty of every person to respect the religious freedom of our fellow human beings. Violence in the name of religion defiles the essence of religion. And every crime in the name of religion is a crime against religion itself. No one has the right to use the oil of religion, to strengthen the fire of armed conflict. Religion is a divine gift, which calms hearts, heals wounds and brings individuals and peoples closer together.
2. Peace is directly related to justice. An unjust world cannot be peaceful. A clear rule, which is already highlighted in the Old Testament, is that: “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice” (Prov. 21.3). In our century, peace and justice have adopted another synonym: development. Poverty remains the worst type of violence. When people are deprived of their basic needs for survival, it is not strange for them to turn to other directions and adopt extreme religious beliefs to achieve a just society.
Obviously, there exists a general responsibility of the great powers for the crises in the Middle East: promoting decisions for violent changes of leadership and regimes; the supplying of weapons; apathy to collateral damage; and the millions of innocent victims and huge waves of refugees; pollution of the environment and destruction of rare monuments of culture.
It is time for everyone to shake off their lethargy and take effective action in order to cease the military conflicts and terrible bloodshed.
The efforts for peace and security need to combine forces to care about social justice and to develop the world’s poorest communities. It would be a tragic political error if, due to negligence or arrogance, these powers were to allow it to develop into a new multiform proletariat, able to abuse the spiritual “atomic energy” of a concrete religious tradition.
3. Finally the opposite of peace is not exactly war, but egotism: individual, collective, national, and racial. It enlists the various forms of violence, which in numerous ways kills peaceful coexistence. It initiates and fuels large and smaller conflicts and it constantly renews hate.
The antidote to egocentrism is not generic advice or various laws and state suppression mechanisms, but rather the strengthening of love in society. A multidimensional effective love that is not limited by borders, prejudice, or discrimination of any kind. Here there is also enormous potential for the contribution of a healthy religious conscience. This, even under conditions of long-standing conflicts, grants the power of forgiveness and reconciliation.
The power of love, after all, is one that can defeat the love of power, which constantly destroys peace. The inexhaustible source of love remains the truth, which in the most simple and shocking way the evangelist John expressed: “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 Jn. 4:16).
I wish wholeheartedly, through the presentations, discussions and general deliberation of our Conference, that we might draw valuable material for a fuller, deeper understanding of our theme and that we might be able to continue more enthusiastically to be peace workers. The unceasing struggle for peace, justice and solidarity is the most essential and valuable contribution that we can offer for the survival and the cultural development of the Middle East.

In crowded Mediterranean, Nato showcases military force


Reuters | Oct 18, 2015, 12.10 PM IST
BRUSSELS: Nato and its allies will open their biggest military exercise in more than a decade on Monday in a show of strength in the central Mediterranean that takes place as Russia seeks to reassert itself across the water in the Levant.

While the exercises were planned long before Russia's build-up in Syria and are independent of events, the escalation of conflicts across North Africa and the Middle East are challenging Nato to react to multiple threats on its borders.

Committing 36,000 troops, 230 military units, 140 aircraft and more than 60 ships over five weeks, Nato and its allies want to show they can act in what British defence minister Michael Fallon has called "a darker and more dangerous world".

Some of the North Atlantic alliance's most senior officials will descend on an air base in southern Italy for an aircraft and helicopter showcase on Monday, facing questions about how to react to a Russian threat no longer just on its eastern flank.

"Nato needs a strategy for its south, what is going on in this arc of instability, from Iraq to North Africa," said Britain's ambassador to Nato, Adam Thomson. "We also need to agree across the alliance on a long-term approach to Russia."

Russia, which conducted major exercises with more than 45,000 troops earlier this year and also held drills in the Mediterranean before conducting its air strikes in Syria, has been invited to observe the exercises.

After more than a decade of Nato-led combat operations in Afghanistan, the US-led military alliance is shifting to defend its territory, but the focus has been on its eastern border following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Much of Nato's efforts have gone to reassure newer, eastern members that the alliance can deter a resurgent Russia. The 28-nation alliance has set up small command and control centres flying Nato flags from Estonia to Bulgaria, which can be backed up by rapid-reaction forces in the event of an attack.

But Libya's collapse, the rise of Islamic State militants, Syria's civil war and the European Union's failure to stabilise its southern neighbourhood are now Nato's problems too and Nato member Turkey shares borders with Syria and Iraq.

Russia's intervention in Syria has complicated an already complex scenario, testing the alliance's ability to deter a newly assertive Moscow without seeking direct confrontation.

"We used to talk the eastern threat and the southern threat, but now the two have merged," said one Nato official.

'Mobile trip wire'

Nato's efforts at deterrence in the east have produced one powerful new tool that exercises will test out: a 5,000-strong "spearhead" force that can deploy in less than a week.

The exercises, named Trident Juncture, aim to certify the spearhead force, which has air, maritime and special operations components, allowing it to become fully operational next year. It is part of a 40,000-strong rapid-reaction force.

Yet it is just one step, with some military experts calling it a 'mobile trip wire' that would simply slow down any Russian advance. Even its deployment is the subject of debate, with some members, such as Poland, seeing its role only for Nato's eastern flank, supporting Nato's fundamental role of collective defence.

Warsaw sees the spearhead force as going some way to meeting its appeals for Nato to permanently station thousands of troops on its territory because of the crisis in Ukraine.

Others, including the United States, France and Britain, are willing to see it be used in Turkey and outside Nato borders, potentially helping to stabilize post-conflict governments in Libya or Syria, what Nato calls 'crisis management'.

"We may not need a reinforced land brigade for the south, you could easily see how maritime, air or special operations forces might be useful," said Douglas Lute, the United States' envoy to Nato.

Despite the east-south debate, Nato's planners of the Trident Juncture exercises proved to be prescient because they are not about reacting to an attack on a Nato ally.

In the fictitious training scenario, a U.N. Security Council resolution authorises a Nato mission to help protect a threatened state and to safeguard the seas.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Francois Hollande to address Greek Parliament on 23 October


The French President will be in the Greek capital on an official visit on Friday

Friday, October 16, 2015
Francois Hollande to address Greek Parliament on 23 October
The President of France Francois Hollande will address the Greek Parliament on Friday, the 23rd of October, as part of his official visit to Athens.
Although there has been no official announcement yet from the Greek Parliament, Mr. Hollande will address the national assembly, with the President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, party leaders and MPs being present.
The French President's upcoming visit to Greece has reportedly generated major interest in the French media.