Saturday, June 6, 2020

Νήσος Σάσων: Πώς παραχωρήθηκε στην Αλβανία με Νόμο. Μια νησίδα στρατηγικής σημασίας (1914)

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Νήσος Σάσων: Πώς παραχωρήθηκε στην Αλβανία με Νόμο. Μια νησίδα στρατηγικής σημασίας (1914)



22/04/2017, Proto Thema 

Η Σάσων από την αρχαιότητα ως το 1864 – Πώς και γιατί ανήκει στα Επτάνησα – Η ακατανόητη 50χρονη ελληνική ολιγωρία για πλήρη άσκηση κυριαρχίας στο νησί – Η εθνικά επιζήμια, ακατανόητη και ολέθρια παραχώρησή της στην Αλβανία το 1914
Μια ακόμα άγνωστη και σκοτεινή ιστορία της ελληνικής εξωτερικής πολιτικής θα εξετάσουμε και θα προσπαθήσουμε να φωτίσουμε, όσο περισσότερο γίνεται, σήμερα.
Πρόκειται για την παραχώρηση με νόμο (με δύο μόλις άρθρα), από την ελληνική Βουλή, της νήσου Σάσωνος, που ανήκε στην Ελλάδα από το 1864 (με βάση το 2ο άρθρο της Συνθήκης του Λονδίνου της 17/29 Μαρτίου 1864), στην Αλβανία, μετά από απαίτηση της Ιταλίας και της Αυστρίας.



Η ΝΗΣΟΣ ΣΑΣΩΝ – ΓΕΩΓΡΑΦΙΚΑ ΚΑΙ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΚΑ ΣΤΟΙΧΕΙΑ

  Η Σάσων είναι νησί που ανήκει, σήμερα, στην Αλβανία. Η αλβανική της ονομασία είναι Sazan ή Sazani και η ιταλική της Saseno. Έχει έκταση περίπου 6 τ.χλμ. και μεγάλη στρατηγική σημασία, καθώς βρίσκεται ανάμεσα στα στενά του Οτράντο και την είσοδο του Κόλπου της Αυλώνας. Δεν έχει μόνιμους κατοίκους, τουλάχιστον επίσημα.

  Η Σάσων ή Σασώ είναι γνωστή ήδη από την αρχαιότητα. Ο Πολύβιος την αναφέρει σε ένα «επεισόδιο» του πολέμου ανάμεσα στον Φίλιππο Ε’ της Μακεδονίας και τους Ρωμαίους (215 π.Χ.). Ο Σκύλαξ ο Καρυανδεύς γράφει :«Κατά ταύτα έστι τα Κεραύνια Όρη εν τη Ηπείρω και νήσος παρά ταύτα έστι μικρά, η όνομα Σάσων». Ο Στράβωνας την αναφέρει πρώτος και ως Σασώ, ενώ ο Κλαύδιος Πτολεμαίος γράφει : «Νήσοι δε παράκεινται τη Μακεδονία, εν μεν τω Ιονίω πελάγει Σασώ νήσος (ή Σάσων)». Ο Πλίνιος τη χαρακτηρίζει ορμητήριο πειρατών. Την αναφέρουν ακόμα ο Πομπώνιος Μέλας και ο Σίλιος ο Ιταλικός, ενώ μνεία της γίνεται και στο Itinerarium Antonini Augusti, που συντάχθηκε αρχικά στα χρόνια του Καρακάλλα, αλλά το γνωρίζουμε από μεταγενέστερη έκδοσή του, με προσθήκες (4ος αι.)


  Στα βυζαντινά χρόνια, ο Νικήτας Χωνιάτης αναφέρεται στο Απειρονήσιον, το οποίο ο Πουκεβίλ ταυτίζει με τη Σάσωνα. Σαφής αναφορά από βυζαντινούς συγγραφείς γίνεται μόνο από τον Ιωάννη Ευγενικό το 1439 : «κατ’ αυτόν τον Ανδρίαν κόλπον εγγύς μικρόν κατωτέρω της νήσου Σαζαίνης νυν καλουμένης...».

  Το 1297, η Σάσων καταλήφθηκε από τους Ανδηγανούς της Νεάπολης. Το 1303 μνημονεύεται στα βενετικά αρχεία. Σε έγγραφο της Ραγούζας (σημ. Ντουμπρόβνικ) του 1324, γίνεται λόγος για αποστολή 2 πλοίων στα παράλια της Αλβανίας προκειμένου να καταδιώξουν ένα πειρατικό πλοιάριο κι εκεί γίνεται μνεία της Σάσωνος. Το 1344 η Σάσων αναφέρεται ξανά σε βενετικά έγγραφα, ενώ το 1372 δίνεται διαταγή στον Βενετό πλοίαρχο της Αδριατικής να πείσει τους «μεταχθέντες» (όπως γράφεται) από την Αυλώνα στη Σάσωνα, να εγκατασταθούν στη Μεθώνη και την Κορώνη, αν όμως δεν δεχθούν κάτι τέτοιο, να τους επιτρέψει να παραμείνουν στη Σάσωνα, απαλλάσσοντάς τους από κάθε φόρο για 4 χρόνια, αρκεί να ορκιστούν πίστη στη Βενετία.

  Στα τέλη του 14ου αιώνα, φαίνεται ότι η Σάσων βρισκόταν στην κατοχή του Αλβανού φυλάρχου Μπάλσα Β’ και αργότερα της χήρας του, κόμισσας Μουζάκη, η οποία αναγνώρισε τη Βενετσιάνικη επικυριαρχία στο νησί. Το 1417, οι Τούρκοι καταλαμβάνουν τον κόλπο της Αυλώνας, ενώ το 1571 η Σάσων αποτελεί το ορμητήριο του οθωμανικού στόλου κατά τη ναυμαχία της Ναυπάκτου. Το 1696 έχει περάσει, όμως, πάλι στους Ενετούς, όπως φαίνεται στα έργα του μεγάλου Βενετσιάνου γεωγράφου Coronelli. Φαίνεται, λοιπόν, ότι μεσολάβησε οθωμανική κυριαρχία στη Σάσωνα, χωρίς να γνωρίζουμε ακριβείς ημερομηνίες, η οποία στη συνέχεια συμπεριλήφθηκε στα νησιά της Βενετίας.



ΟΙ ΣΥΝΘΗΚΕΣ ΠΟΥ ΚΑΘΟΡΙΖΟΥΝ ΟΤΙ Η ΣΑΣΩΝ ΑΝΗΚΕΙ ΣΤΑ ΕΠΤΑΝΗΣΑ

  Ένα φλέγον ερώτημα είναι αν η Σάσων ανήκει στα Επτάνησα ή όχι. Πολύτιμες πληροφορίες μας δίνει και γι’ αυτό το θέμα ο Κερκυραίος ιστορικός και πολιτικός Σπυρίδων Λάμπρος (1851-1919), πρωθυπουργός το 1916, που πέθανε εξόριστος στη Σκόπελο το 1919. Τα στοιχεία υπάρχουν στο περιοδικό «Νέος Ελληνομνήμων» 11/1914, που έγραφε και εξέδιδε ο Λάμπρος. Αντίγραφο του περιοδικού βρέθηκε στα χέρια μας χάρη στη βοήθεια, για νιοστή φορά, του κυρίου Ιωάννη Παπαφλωράτου, τον οποίον ευχαριστούμε θερμότατα. Το άρθρο αυτό, χωρίς τα στοιχεία από τον «Νέο Ελληνομνήμονα», θα ήταν ελλιπέστατο. Άλλωστε και τα ιστορικά στοιχεία που αναφέραμε παραπάνω, αντλήθηκαν στη συντριπτική τους πλειοψηφία από το περιοδικό αυτό.

Να δούμε, λοιπόν, με βάση ποιες Συνθήκες η Σάσων ανήκει στα Επτάνησα.
i)  Συνθήκη του Καμποφόρμιο (1797) (τα Ιόνια νησιά στη Γαλλία)
ii) Συνθήκη της Κωνσταντινούπολης (1800) (Ρώσοι και Τούρκοι διώχνουν τους Γάλλους από τα Ιόνια Νησιά και συγκροτείται η αυτόνομη Επτάνησος Πολιτεία)
iii)  Συνθήκη της Αμιένης (1802) (τα Επτάνησα περνούν ξανά στην κατοχή της Γαλλίας)
iv) Συνθήκη του Παρισιού (1815) (τα Ιόνια Νησιά συγκροτούν «ιδίαν Πολιτείαν και ανετέθησαν εις την αγγλικήν προστασίαν»)
v)  Έγγραφο της Υψηλής Πύλης (12/4/1819), με το οποίο αναγνωρίζεται η επί των Ιονίων Νήσων προστασία της Αγγλίας και παραχωρείται στην οθωμανική αυτοκρατορία η Πάργα.
  Αναλυτικότερα, με το πέμπτο άρθρο της Συνθήκης του Καμποφόρμιο η Γαλλία αποκτά «...απάσας τας κτήσεις τας πρότερον βενετικάς εν Αλβανία τας κειμένας νοτιότερον του κόλπου του Δρίνου».



  Στη Συνθήκη της Κων/πολης γίνεται λόγος για όλα τα νησιά, κατοικημένα και μη, που βρίσκονται απέναντι από τα παράλια της Πελοποννήσου και της Αλβανίας.
  Σε καμία Συνθήκη δεν αναφέρεται ονομαστικά η Σάσων, όπως και τα υπόλοιπα νησιά του Ιονίου (εκτός από την Κέρκυρα, τη Ζάκυνθο, την Κεφαλλονιά, τη Λευκάδα, τους Παξούς, την Ιθάκη και τα Κύθηρα). Γίνεται λόγος για «εξαρτήματα των νήσων». Πριν 200 και πλέον χρόνια, δεν υπήρχαν ούτε ΑΟΖ, ούτε υφαλοκρηπίδα, ούτε Διεθνές Δίκαιο της Θάλασσας κλπ.
  Στο Σύνταγμα των Επτανήσων (1817), το άρθρο 1 αναφέρει : «Το Ηνωμένον Κράτος των Ιονίων Νήσων σύγκειται εκ της Κερκύρας, της Κεφαλληνίας, της Ζακύνθου, της Λευκάδος, της Ιθάκης, των Κυθήρων, των Παξών και εκ των αλλων νησιδίων των παρά τας ακτάς της Αλβανίας και της Πελοποννήσου κειμένων, άτινα πρότερον υπέκειντο εν τη εξουσία των Ενετών».

  Κομβικής σημασίας είναι η φράση «νοτιότερον του ποταμού Δρίνου», της Συνθήκης του Καμποφόρμιο, που αναφέραμε και παραπάνω, Αν ΔΕΝ περιλαμβανόταν η Σάσων στα «εξαρτήματα» της Επτανήσου, θα γινόταν μνεία του Κόλπου της Αυλώνας και όχι των «προς νότον εκβολών του Δρίνου».

  Στον Νέο Άτλαντα, που είχε συνταχθεί από τον συνταγματάρχη Boryde Saint-Vincent, η Σάσων συμπεριλαμβάνεται στα Ιόνια νησιά (έκδ, 1823, Παρίσι). Έγγραφο της 22ας Ιανουαρίου 1804, που συνέταξε η επιτροπή που είχε οριστεί για τη σύνταξη νομοσχεδίων και το έστειλε στη Γερουσία της Επτανησιακής Πολιτείας, αναγράφονται τα εξής : «Αppartengono e son moralmente e civilmente incorporate all’ Isola di Corfu, le isole piccolo abitate e disabitate di Fano, Merlere, Sazeno, Samothrachio, Sivota, e tutte le alter situate e nell’ interno e desterno del canale fino al Capo Formaggio» 

(Ανήκουν και είναι ηθικά και πολιτικά ενσωματωμένα στο νησί της Κέρκυρας τα μικρά νησιά, κατοικημένα και ακατοίκητα, των Οθωνών, της Ερείκουσας, της Σάσωνος, του Μαθρακίου, των Συβότων και όλα τα άλλα που βρίσκονται στο εσωτερικό και το εξωτερικό του καναλιού, μέχρι το ακρωτήριο Formaggio).

(Ευχαριστώ θερμά τον φίλο Άκη Πουτακίδη, για την πολύτιμη βοήθειά του στη μετάφραση του κειμένου).
  Γίνεται, λοιπόν, σαφής αναφορά στη Σάσωνα (Sazeno), στους Οθωνούς (Fano), Μαθράκι (Samothrachio), Eρείκουσα (Merlere, μάλλον πρόκειται για τυπογραφικό λάθος, Merlera ονομάζεται η Ερείκουσα στα ιταλικά) και Σύβοτα (νησίδες στον ομώνυμο οικισμό της Θεσπρωτίας σήμερα), ως «εξαρτημάτων» της Κέρκυρας. Αυτός ήταν ο όρος που αναγραφόταν στις Συνθήκες της εποχής.

  Το ίδιο κείμενο χρησιμοποιούσαν και οι Άγγλοι για να αποδείξουν ότι η Σάσων ανήκε στα Ιόνια νησιά. Σχετικό είναι το έγγραφο που απέστειλε ο Άγγλος αρμοστής των Επτανήσων Francis Adam, προς τον υπουργό των αποικιών,George Murray (4/12/1829) :

  «Το τελευταίον τούτο έγγραφον αποδεικνύει διά σαφεστάτου τρόπου ότι άπασαι αι νήσοι από της Σάσωνος προς βορράν της Κερκύρας μέχρι της Ελαφονήσου προς ανατολάς των Κυθήρων, αποτελούσι μέρος αναπόσπαστον της Ηνωμένης Πολιτείας των Ιονίων Νήσων».
  Μάλιστα, όταν οι Τούρκοι το 1859 κατέλαβαν προσωρινά τη Σάσωνα, αποβιβάζοντας στρατιωτικό απόσπασμα, οι Άγγλοι τους εκδίωξαν ανυψώνοντας και πάλι τη σημαία της Ιονίου Πολιτείας.
  Τέλος, σε έγγραφο του Άγγλου αρμοστή H. G. Howard προς τον κόμη Grey (1849), Αναφέρεται ότι : «(στα Ιόνια νησιά, εκτός από τα 7 μεγάλα, ανήκουν και) «όλα τα άλλα νησιά, μεγάλα και μικρά, κατοικημένα και ακατοίκητα, κατά μήκος των ακτών του Μοριά και της Αλβανίας, που ανήκαν προηγουμένως στην Βενετία».
1864 : ΤΑ ΕΠΤΑΝΗΣΑ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ – ΤΑ ΔΙΑΠΟΝΤΙΑ ΝΗΣΙΑ
  Στις 21 Μαΐου 1864, ο τελευταίος Άγγλος αρμοστής Έρικ Στορκς, παρέδωσε τα Επτάνησα στον απεσταλμένο της ελληνικής κυβέρνησης, Θρασύβουλο Ζαΐμη. Είχαν προηγηθεί, το ψήφισμα της Ενώσεως των Επτανήσων με την Ελλάδα, που διατύπωσε στη Βουλή της Επτανήσου ο Αριστοτέλης Βαλαωρίτης και διαβάστηκε στην πανηγυρική συνεδρίαση της 5ης Οκτωβρίου 1863 της ΙΓ’ Βουλής και η Συνθήκη παραχωρήσεως της «Ηνωμένης Πολιτείας των Ιονίων Νήσων» στο ελληνικό κράτος (29 Μαρτίου 1864), που υπογράφτηκε στο Λονδίνο.Βασικός διαπραγματευτής της Συνθήκης, από ελληνικής πλευράς, ήταν ο Χαρίλαος Τρικούπης.

  Με το ψήφισμα της Ιονίου Βουλής, «Αι νήσοι Κέρκυρα, Κεφαλληνία, Λευκάς, Ζάκυνθος, Ιθάκη, Κύθηρα, Παξοί και τα εξαρτήματα αυτών ενούνται αναποσπάστως μετά του βασιλείου της Ελλάδος», ενώ με τη Συνθήκη του Λονδίνου γίνεται σαφές ότι τα νησιά που παραχωρούνται στην Ελλάδα είναι όσα ορίζονται από τη Συνθήκη του Παρισιού (1815).

  Καθώς, λοιπόν, δεν γίνεται ονομαστική αναφορά όχι μόνο στη Σάσωνα, αλλά σε κανένα άλλο νησί του Ιονίου, εκτός από τα 7 «μεγάλα», θεωρούμε ότι με βάση και τα όσα προαναφέραμε, η Σάσων ως «εξάρτημα» της Κέρκυρας, ανήκει στα Διαπόντια Νησιά. Ποια είναι αυτά (για όσους δεν γνωρίζουν);

Οθωνοί (ή Φανός), Μαθράκι και Ερείκουσα, που είναι τα τρία πιο μεγάλα και τα μικρότερα Διάκοπο, Διάπλο, Τραχ(ε)ιά, Καράβι, Καστρινό, Λειψλω (ή Βάρκα), Όστρακο, Πλάκα (ή Άγκυρα) και Πλατειά.

  Η Ερείκουσα (ή Ερεικούσσα) είναι το βορειότερο, πλέον, νησί των Επτανήσων και οι Οθωνοί (ή Φανός) και συγκεκριμένα το ακρωτήριο Μπόκα, το δυτικότερο σημείο της ελληνικής επικράτειας. Δυο λόγια για την ετυμολογία των ονομάτων του νησιού.
  Το «Φανός» θεωρούν πολλοί ότι προέρχεται από τον φάρο που χτίστηκε στο νησί των Οθωνών το 1872. Είδαμε, όμως, ότι ήδη από ο 1804 το νησί ονομάζεται στα ιταλικά Fano. Επικρατέστερη είναι η άποψη ότι προέρχεται από το μεσαιωνικό (12ος αιώνας) Thano του Άραβα γεωγράφου Μοχάμεντ αλ Ιντρίσι. Την άποψη αυτή διατύπωσε ο Δημήτριος Λουκάτος και πιθανότατα είναι η ορθή.

  Για το «Οθωνοί» μείναμε έκπληκτοι όταν στην πιο πρόσφατη έκδοση (2012) του «Λεξικού της Νέας Ελληνικής Γλώσσας» του Γεωργίου Μπαμπινιώτη διαβάσαμε ότι «Η ονομασία οφείλεται στον βασιλιά Όθωνα (!)». Πώς και γιατί να δοθεί το όνομα του, διωγμένου κακήν κακώς το 1862 Όθωνα, σε ένα νησί που ενσωματώθηκε στην Ελλάδα το 1864;Ειδικά όταν είναι γνωστό ότι οι Μεγάλες Δυνάμεις επέβαλαν τον Γεώργιο Α’ ως βασιλιά, για να μας παραχωρήσουν τα Επτάνησα. Το όνομα «Οθωνοί» είναι αρχαιότατο. Ως Οθρωνός αναφέρεται στο έργο «Αλεξάνδρα» του Χαλκιδαίου ποιητή Λυκόφρονα (πέθανε το 325 π.Χ.), στον Ησύχιο (3ος π.Χ. αι.) και ως Οθωνοί (ή Οθονοί) στον Προκόπιο (6ος μ.Χ. αι.).
  Όπως γράφει στον Νέο Ελληνομνήμονα του 1914 ο Σπυρίδων Λάμπρος : «Η δ’ Ελλάς, παραλαβούσα τας Ιονίους Νήσους, εξ ακατανοήτου μυωπίας και αβλεψίας δεν συμπεριέλαβε και την Σάσωνα...» .Φαίνεται ότι απόλυτη ελληνική κυριαρχία στο νησί δεν ασκήθηκε από το 1864 ως το 1912. Θεωρήθηκε ότι βρίσκεται μακριά (από πού αλήθεια); Ότι είναι άγονη και ορεινή; Άγνωστο.
  Όμως, στις 8 Νοεμβρίου 1912 η χώρα μας, στα πλαίσια του Α’ Βαλκανικού Πολέμου, κατέλαβε ή μάλλον, καλύτερα, άσκησε την κυριαρχία της στη Σάσωνα. Άγημα του πλοίου «Πηνειός», με επικεφαλής τον αντιπλοίαρχο Κωνσταντίνο Γεωργαντά, αποβιβάστηκε στη Σάσωνα και ύψωσε την ελληνική σημαία.
  Αμέσως διευθετήθηκε και το ζήτημα της λειτουργίας του φάρου, που είχε διακοπεί προσωρινά λόγω μη καταβολής των μισθών (από ποιους ; ) στους 4 Χειμαρριώτες φαροφύλακες.

Η ΕΞΩΦΡΕΝΙΚΗ ΑΠΑΙΤΗΣΗ ΑΥΣΤΡΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΙΤΑΛΙΑΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΗ ΣΑΣΩΝΑ – Η ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΕΝΔΟΤΙΚΟΤΗΤΑ ΧΑΡΙΖΕΙ ΜΕ ΝΟΜΟ (!) ΤΟ ΝΗΣΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΛΒΑΝΙΑ (1914)

  Είναι γνωστές οι διεργασίες για το βορειοηπειρωτικό ζήτημα και οι διαρκείς διαπραγματεύσεις μετά την απελευθέρωση των Ιωαννίνων (21/2/1913). Είναι επίσης γνωστό ότι Ιταλία, πρωτίστως, και Αυστρία, δευτερευόντως, αγωνίστηκαν λυσσαλέα για να μη δοθεί στην Ελλάδα η Βόρειος Ήπειρος, ενώ με δική τους πρωτοβουλία ιδρύθηκε από το πουθενά το αλβανικό κράτος. Και σαν να μην έφτανε αυτό, απαιτήθηκε (18 Ιανουαρίου 1914 και 11 Μαρτίου 1914) η παραχώρηση της Σάσωνος στην Αλβανία. Αυτό έγινε από όλες τις, λεγόμενες, Μεγάλες Δυνάμεις, καθώς το νησί «επιδικάστηκε» (από ποιους; ) στην Αλβανία. 

  Η ελληνική κυβέρνηση δέχτηκε τελικά το παράλογο αυτό αίτημα. Γιατί όμως;.. Άγνωστο... Η χώρα προερχόταν από 2 νικηφόρους (Βαλκανικούς) πολέμους. Δεν είχε ηττηθεί, όπως έγινε 8 χρόνια αργότερα στη Μικρά Ασία. Δόθηκαν υποσχέσεις στον τότε πρωθυπουργό Ελευθέριο Βενιζέλο, ότι θα υπάρχουν εδαφικά ανταλλάγματα στη Βόρεια Ήπειρο ; Κάτι τέτοιο δεν έγινε. Τα ελληνοαλβανικά σύνορα είχαν σχεδόν οριστικοποιηθεί με το Πρωτόκολλο της Φλωρεντίας (17/12/1913). Και στην απίθανη περίπτωση που κάποιοι είχαν υποσχεθεί ανταλλάγματα, πιστεύουμε ότι επ’ ουδενί δεν θα έπρεπε να υποκύψουμε στις πιέσεις για τη Σάσωνα. Υπήρχαν φόβοι ότι η Ιταλία θα κηρύξει πόλεμο εναντίον της χώρας μας; Ίσως. Ήταν η πρώτη φορά που, μετά το «μαύρο 1897», παραχωρήσαμε εθνικό έδαφος και μάλιστα αυτή τη φορά χωρίς πόλεμο!
  Έτσι, η κυβέρνηση Βενιζέλου έφερε στις 5 Μαΐου 1914 νομοσχέδιο με δύο άρθρα, σύμφωνα με τα οποία :

Άρθρον 1 : Eπιτρέπεται εις την Κυβέρνησιν η εις την αλβανικήν επικράτειαν παραχώρησις της νησίδος Σάσωνος, ανηκούσης του Ελληνικού Βασιλείου, δυνάμει του 2ου άρθρου της περί παραχωρήσεως των Ιονίων νήσων Συνθήκης του Λονδίνου της 17/29 Μαρτίου 1864
Άρθρον 2: Η ισχύς του παρόντος νόμου έρχεται από της εις την Εφημερίδαν της Κυβερνήσεως δημοσιεύσεως αυτού,

ΕΝ Αθήναις της 5ης Μαΐου 1914
Το Υπουργικόν Συμβούλιον
Ο Πρόεδρος : Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος
Τα μέλη : Γ. Στρέιτ, Α. Διομήδης, Κ. Ρακτιβάν, Κ. Δεμερτζής, Ε. Ρέπουλης, Α. Μιχαλακόπουλος, Ι. Τσιριμώκος



Η ΣΥΖΗΤΗΣΗ ΣΤΗ ΒΟΥΛΗ ΓΙΑ ΤΗ ΣΑΣΩΝΑ
  Αποσπάσματα της θυελλώδους συζήτησης στη Βουλή για την παραχώρηση της Σάσωνας, εξασφαλίσαμε χάρη και πάλι στην πολύτιμη βοήθεια του Δρος Ιωάννη Παπαφλωράτου, τον οποίο ευχαριστούμε ξανά!
  Από το Άρθρο 1 βλέπουμε ότι η ελληνική κυβέρνηση αναγνώριζε ότι η Σάσων ανήκε στη χώρα μας από το 1864. Υπήρχαν αρχικά κάποιες αμφιβολίες για το πού ανήκε η Σάσων. Ο βουλευτής Δ. Ράλλης εξαπέλυσε σφοδρότατη επίθεση στον Ελευθέριο Βενιζέλο προσωπικά και στην κυβέρνηση για την όλη στάση της στο βορειοηπειρωτικό ζήτημα. Ανέφερε ότι αν η Ιταλία κήρυττε πόλεμο ενάντια στη χώρα μας, θα υπήρχαν αλυσιδωτές αντιδράσεις και ότι στην Αλβανία επικρατούσε (πράγματι είχε δίκιο) εκείνη την εποχή απόλυτο χάος. 



  Ο Υπουργός Εξωτερικών Γ. Στρέιτ πρόβαλε το απαράδεκτο επιχείρημα ότι όντως η Σάσων έχει στρατηγική σημασία για όποιον κατέχει την Αυλώνα (!) Διαφορετικά, η κατοχή της αποτελεί μάλλον μειονέκτημα (!!!). Επίθεση δέχτηκε η κυβέρνηση και από τους Ν. Στράτο, Γ. Θεοτόκη, Δ. Γούναρη και Κ. Κουμουνδούρο (κάποιοι από αυτούς εκτελέστηκαν στο Γουδή το 1922). 
  Ο Ε. Βενιζέλος έδωσε κάποιες, ανεπαρκείς κατά την ταπεινή μας άποψη, εξηγήσεις. Είπε χαρακτηριστικά ότι «η Σάσων ουδέποτε υπήρξε ελληνική» (!). Μα την ίδια ώρα, στο νομοσχέδιο γινόταν λόγος για νησί που ανήκε στην Ελλάδα από το 1864! Πώς συμβιβάζονται αυτά τα δύο; Σίγουρα, ο μεγάλος εθνάρχης, στο βορειοηπειρωτικό ζήτημα θα μπορούσε να είχε κάνει πολύ καλύτερους χειρισμούς. Δεν εκφράζουμε προσωπική, αλλά χιλιοειπωμένη και χιλιογραμμένη άποψη.
Το νομοσχέδιο ψηφίστηκε στις 9/5/1914, κυρώθηκε με τον υπ’ αριθμ. 272 νόμο την 5/6/1914, την 7/6/1914 δημοσιεύθηκε στο υπ’ αριθμ.151 ΦΕΚ και στις 10/6/1914 κοινοποιήθηκε στις πρεσβείες των Μεγάλων Δυνάμεων στην Αθήνα.



Η ΣΑΣΩΝ ΕΓΚΑΤΑΛΕΙΠΕΤΑΙ ΑΠΟ ΤΟΝ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟ ΣΤΡΑΤΟ – Η ΤΥΧΗ ΤΩΝ ΚΑΤΟΙΚΩΝ ΤΗΣ – Η ΣΑΣΩΝ ΜΕΤΑ ΤΟ 1914

  Στις 2 Ιουλίου 1915 αποχώρησαν από τη Σάσωνα 25 Έλληνες στρατιώτες που είχαν επικεφαλής επιλοχία και 8 ναύτες με επικεφαλής υποκελευστή, χωρίς να την παραδώσουν σε εκπρόσωπο των Αλβανών.
  Στο νησί παρέμειναν 15 οικογένειες βλαχόφωνων Ελλήνων βοσκών, οι οποίοι κλαίγοντας, κατά την αποχώρηση των στρατιωτών μας, φιλούσαν την ελληνική σημαία και εκλιπαρούσαν τους στρατιώτες μας να μην τους εγκαταλείψουν. «Οι δυστυχείς αυτοί ομόφυλοί μας, στις 16 Ιουλίου 1914 δολοφονήθηκαν άγρια από άτακτα στίφη αλβανικά, που αποβιβάστηκαν για να εγκαθιδρύσουν στο νησί την «αλβανική διοίκηση» (Β.Γεωργίου, ΒΟΡΕΙΟΣ ΗΠΕΙΡΟΣ, Η συνεχιζόμενη ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΤΡΑΓΩΔΙΑ, ΕΚΔΟΣΕΙΣ Ε.ΡΗΓΑ).



  Στις 2 Σεπτεμβρίου 1919, η Αλβανία παραχώρησε τη Σάσωνα στην Ιταλία, η οποία εγκατέστησε εκεί ναυτική βάση το 1939. Η αλβανική κυριαρχία στη Σάσωνα αποκαταστάθηκε στις 2 Φεβρουαρίου 1947 και από το 1951 ως το 1961 αποτελούσε προκεχωρημένη ναυτική βάση τής τέως ΕΣΣΔ στη Μεσόγειο, μετά από συμφωνία της κυβέρνησης Χότζα με τους Σοβιετικούς. Από το 1998, η Ιταλία φέρεται να έχει αποκτήσει δικαιώματα χρήσης στη Σάσωνα, με καταβολή υψηλού χρηματικού ποσού στην Αλβανία, ενώ το νησί αποτελεί ( ; ) τόπο εκπαίδευσης ανδρών των ειδικών δυνάμεων της Μ. Βρετανίας και άλλων χωρών του ΝΑΤΟ.
  Νομίζουμε ότι είναι ατράνταχτα πλέον τα στοιχεία που μαρτυρούν ότι η Σάσων παραχωρήθηκε στην Ελλάδα το 1864, ΚΑΚΙΣΤΑ δόθηκε στην Αλβανία, και μάλιστα με ειδικό νόμο που ψήφισε η Βουλή το 1914. Ανεξάρτητα από το τι έγινε ή θα γινόταν με την Αυλώνα, Vlore κατά τους Αλβανούς, η Σάσων ΕΠΡΕΠΕ να παραμείνει στην Ελλάδα. Μάλλον μόνο οι Έλληνες αγνοούσαμε και αγνοούμε ακόμα τη μεγάλη στρατηγική της σημασία, πιθανότατα και την ίδια την ύπαρξή της...


Donald Trump orders 9,500 US troops to leave Germany

SManalysis

White House says move due to more Nato defence spending, not tensions with Angela Merkel


Sat 6 Jun 2020 02.31 BSTFirst published on Fri 5 Jun 2020 
President Trump and Angela Merkel
President Trump and Angela Merkel

 President Trump with chancellor Angela Merkel, who recently thwarted the former’s plan for a G7 meeting. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters
Donald Trump has ordered the US military to remove nearly 9,500 troops from Germany in a move likely to raise concerns in Europe about the US commitment to the region.

The move would reduce US troop numbers in Germany to 25,000, compared with the 34,500 currently there, a senior US official said.


'Regrettable': Germany reacts to Trump plan to withdraw US troops
 Read more
The official said the move was the result of months of work by America’s top military officer, General Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and had nothing to do with tensions between Trump and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who thwarted Trump’s plan to host a G7 meeting this month.

A second senior administration official said the 9,500 troops would be sent elsewhere: some to Poland, some to other allied countries, and the rest would return home. The official said there was less need for the large contingent in Germany because of overall increased defence spending by the US-led Nato military alliance.

The second official said the change was ordered in a memorandum signed recently by Trump’s national security adviser, Robert O’Brien. The official said the United States started working on the plan last September and had just now got the pieces in place.

The move is the latest twist in relations between Berlin and Washington, which have often been strained during Trump’s presidency. Trump has pressed Germany to raise defence spending and accused Berlin of being a captive of Russia due to its energy reliance.

About 17,000 US civilian employees support the US troops in Germany. It is believed the United States also has nuclear warheads there.

In May, the then US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, accused Berlin of undermining Nato’s nuclear deterrent, taking aim at Merkel’s junior coalition partners after some of their leaders called for nuclear disarmament. 

Αμερικανός εμπειρογνώμονας ασφάλειας: Η Μεγάλη Αλβανία είναι πραγματικότητα

SManalysis

Behind The Project Of A Greater Albania – OrientalReview.org

Ιούνιος 6, 2020. Echedoros

Η αλβανική ιστοσελίδα Nje Komb παρουσιάζει τακτικά το ιδεολόγημα της Μεγάλης Αλβανίας, σημειώνοντας με δικά της λόγια, συχνά, παλαιότερα άρθρα που αναφέρονται στις σκληρές σχέσεις μεταξύ των βαλκανικών λαών και στις προτεινόμενες θεωρητικές λύσεις.



Ένα από αυτά τα άρθρα είναι του Τζον Σίντλερ (John Schindler), που δημοσιεύθηκε, όπως ψάξαμε και διαπιστώσαμε, πριν από τριάμισι χρόνια, στις 5 Ιανουαρίου του 2017, στον Observer.


Ας δούμε πως παρουσιάζεται αυτό το άρθρο που ο Αλβανός συντάκτης έβαλε τον τίτλο «Αμερικανός εμπειρογνώμονας ασφάλειας: Η Μεγάλη Αλβανία είναι πραγματικότητα»:


Η Δύση πρέπει να εγκαταλείψει τη λογική ότι η μακροχρόνια ειρήνη στα Βαλκάνια μπορεί να επιτευχθεί με την απομόνωση της Σερβίας, και πως το Βελιγράδι θα συμβιβαστεί και θα αναγνωρίσει το Κοσσυφοπέδιο ως κράτος, δήλωσε στον ‘Παρατηρητή’ ο Αμερικανός εμπειρογνώμονας ασφαλείας και πρώην αναλυτής της Εθνικής Υπηρεσίας για Ασφάλεια (NSA)  Τζον Σίντλερ, σημειώνει η αλβανική Nje Kombe, επικαλούμενη την επίσης αλβανική «Koha». 


Σύμφωνα με τον Σίντλερ, «Η Μεγάλη Αλβανία έρχεται ούτως ή άλλως και είναι καλύτερα να έρθει με ειρηνικές συνθήκες».


Πιστεύει ότι το Κοσσυφοπέδιο πρέπει να ενωθεί με την Αλβανία, ενώ η Σερβία πρέπει να λάβει στην περιοχή της Μιτρόβιτσας και στο Κοσσυφοπέδιο να δοθεί η Κοιλάδα του Πρέσεβο. 


Ο συγγραφέας προσθέτει ότι οι σερβικές θρησκευτικές τοποθεσίες πρέπει να τεθούν υπό προστασία του ΟΗΕ και να δηλωθούν  ως ‘εξωεδαφικές’. 


Ο συγγραφέας λέει ότι από τη διόρθωση του χάρτη στα Βαλκάνια, η Βόρεια Μακεδονία θα είναι πολύ χαμένη και ότι τα Σκόπια, σε αντάλλαγμα για την απώλεια του βορειοδυτικού τμήματος της χώρας, το οποίο κατοικείται κυρίως από Αλβανούς, πρέπει να λάβουν την πρόσκληση για ένταξη πριν από όλους τους άλλους στην ΕΕ και να λάβει βοήθεια από τη Δύση.


 Περιέγραψε τη Βοσνία/Ερζεγοβίνη ως «ψευδο-κράτος που δεν έχει ανακάμψει ποτέ από την καταστροφή του 1992-1995» και πρόσθεσε ότι «χάθηκαν δισεκατομμύρια δολάρια της  Δύσης που δόθηκαν ως βοήθεια και σπαταλήθηκαν  στην εγκληματικότητα και τη διαφθορά».

 


«Αφήστε τη Δημοκρατία Σέρπσκα να ενταχθεί στη Σερβία», έγραψε ο Σίντλερ, προσθέτοντας ότι κανείς δεν  θα μπορούσε να εξηγήσει ορθολογικά γιατί τα σύνορα της Σερβίας θα μπορούσαν να αλλάξουν από την κομμουνιστική εποχή και τα σύνορα της Βοσνίας δεν θα μπορούσαν. 


Ο συγγραφέας του κειμένου αναφέρει ότι «οι Κροάτες από τη δυτική Ερζεγοβίνη πρέπει να έχουν τη δυνατότητα να ενταχθούν στην Κροατία και υπενθυμίζει ότι οι περισσότεροι Κροάτες εκεί έχουν ήδη κροατικά διαβατήρια.


Πιστεύει ότι πρέπει να επιτραπεί στους υπόλοιπους της Βοσνίας/Ερζεγοβίνης να πάνε με τον δικό τους τρόπο και να γίνουν δεκτοί στο ΝΑΤΟ και στην ΕΕ σε μια ταχεία διαδικασία.


«Μόνο αφού η Δύση αναγνωρίσει ότι οι λαοί της Νοτιοανατολικής Ευρώπης μπορούν να επιτύχουν ειρήνη ζώντας σε συνεκτικά έθνη – κράτη, όπως η Γερμανία, η Πολωνία ή η Δανία - μπορούμε να περιμένουμε από τα Βαλκάνια να ηρεμήσουν και να αρχίσουν να επιλύουν σοβαρά τα προβλήματα φτώχειας, εγκλήματος και διαφθοράς», λέει ο Σίντλερ .

Putin-Proofing the Balkans: A How-To Guide

SManalysis
Greater Albania – EURACTIV.com

The West needs to accept its mistakes in Southeastern Europe and correct them—before the Kremlin does

By John R. Schindler • 05/01/17 
   

In my last column, I explained how rising tumult in the Balkans threatens to bring chaos and war to that troubled region again, in a repeat of the violent 1990s—and perhaps even worse. Russian meddling in the region promises to push fragile and impoverished societies over the edge, a prospect which threatens all Southeastern Europe. As I concluded:

It is therefore in the West’s interest to tamp down festering crises in the Balkans—above all in Macedonia—before they get out of hand. That will require keeping Russian malfeasance in the region to a tolerable level, yet it will also require NATO and the EU to confront the reality that the solutions they imposed on the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s are no longer functioning. Indeed, they constitute a big part of the problems imperiling Southeastern Europe today.


But how to Putin-proof the Balkans before something awful happens? Blunting Kremlin spy-games is the first task at hand, and here NATO security services can assist local partners in unmasking Russian espionage, propaganda and subversion. The Atlantic Alliance must help Southeastern Europe resist aggressive moves like the violent coup plotted by Putin’s spies against Montenegro a few months ago.

That’s the easy part, however. The real challenge facing the West is undoing the damage we inadvertently wrought on the wreckage of Yugoslavia nearly a generation ago. NATO, led by Washington, deserves credit for entering the Bosnian war in earnest in 1995 and putting an end to that fratricidal nightmare. We did better in Kosovo four years later, stopping that ugly ethnic war before outright genocide materialized.

That said, Western political aims were trickier to realize than military ones. Across the former Yugoslavia, NATO and the EU insisted on preserving the internal borders of the collapsed Communist regime, even though these represented the bureaucratic whim of Red functionaries rather than ethnic realities.


It was obvious that this approach was bound to fail. Lessons of the recent past were blithely ignored. The only reason Central Europe is at peace now is that vast numbers of Germans were expelled from Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the rest of the region after the defeat of the Third Reich. This was a horrific crime perpetrated by Stalinists—more than 12 million Germans, nearly all civilians, were evicted at gunpoint, with as many as two million of them dying in the process—yet it purchased long-term tranquility.

Even in the Balkans, that boundaries produce ethnic peace was glaringly obvious yet ignored. Croatia’s victory offensive in August 1995—Operation Storm, Europe’s biggest military operation since the Second World War—resulted in the expulsion of most of the country’s Serbian minority. As many as a quarter-million Serbs fled before the advancing Croatian military, and few of them have returned in the two decades since, despite incentives to do so. To most Croats, this was fitting punishment for the Serbian uprising in 1991 that plunged their country into war in the first place, as well as a guarantee that it can’t happen again.

This was deeply distressing to Western advisers, however, who have consistently sought to put Humpty Dumpty back together in the Balkans, overturning the verdicts of the messy wars of the 1990s. Across the region, NATO and EU mandarins have pushed fantasies of ethnic coexistence and harmony, insisting that Communist-era “brotherhood and unity” among the diverse peoples of the former Yugoslavia can be recreated, given enough stern lectures and aid money.


The painful truth is that Marshal Tito kept Yugoslavia together with a combination of charisma, political talent, and a very unpleasant secret police force—none of which are possessed by NATO or the EU. Rather than accept this unwelcome reality, the West has tried to keep Communist-drawn boundaries in place, and everywhere it’s failed. In both Bosnia and Kosovo, minorities who fled or were expelled during the fighting have overwhelmingly refused to go home. Whether this is motivated more by fear or ethnic particularism is debatable—but the fact that refugees don’t want to return is not.

It’s therefore past time for the West to admit its failure and give Southeastern Europe what it actually needs—normal nation-states with coherent boundaries. This will require a redrawing of Tito’s map, which will bring wins and losses for all ethnic groups. If this change is executed justly, however, long-term results will be more edifying than the hazardous mess which currently exists under NATO and EU auspices.

First, Bosnia. This ramshackle pseudo-state has never recovered from its 1992-95 catastrophe, while billions of Western aid dollars have disappeared thanks to rampant corruption and crime. Awkwardly divided between the Muslim-Croat Federation and the Serbian Republic or Republika Srpska, Bosnia as created by the Americans in Dayton, Ohio at the end of 1995 isn’t a functional polity, and never will be. Dayton was meant to be a short-term remedy for Bosnia’s bleeding wounds, yet it’s become permanent and unreformable—even though hardly anybody in the country wants it, as-is, any longer.


Therefore, it’s time to end it, not mend it. Let the Republika Srpska join Serbia, as they have long wanted. Since nobody can rationally explain why the Communist-era borders of Serbia can be altered – as they were after the Kosovo war—but Bosnia’s cannot be, NATO and the EU need to halt this hypocrisy which only makes Serbs dislike the West even more. Ethnically Croatian parts of the country, particularly western Hercegovina, should be permitted to join neighboring Croatia; most locals have Croatian passports already.

The rest of Bosnia, which is now overwhelmingly Muslim – its capital Sarajevo, before 1992 a multicultural jewel, now has few Christians left—should be permitted to go its own way, as a fast-tracked member of both NATO and the EU. This small country will be closely linked to Croatia in economic and political terms, while bringing rump Bosnia into Western political and security structures can only enhance regional stability. This will help stifle Bosnia’s unpleasant jihadist problem to boot.

The West must abandon its fantasy that long-term peace in the Balkans can be achieved by isolating Serbia, the region’s preeminent country. However, Serbia must make compromises too. That will come in Kosovo, which Belgrade must accept is an independent country and stop meddling with spies and provocateurs. Greater Albania is coming, one way or the other, and it’s best to achieve it under peaceful auspices. Allow Kosovo to unite with Albania, which is already a NATO and EU member. An added benefit will be bringing Albania’s notably effective methods of countering jihadism to Kosovo, where the problem is rising fast.


In exchange, Serbia should receive Kosovo’s north Mitrovica region, which is heavily Serbian and borders Serbia. Serbian religious sites in Kosovo—ancient monasteries which are priceless to Serbian Orthodoxy—should be declared extraterritorial and placed under UN protection, with free movement for Serbs who wish to visit or reside there.

In exchange for losing north Mitrovica, Kosovo should gain the Preševo valley, which is largely Albanian and borders Kosovo. Local Albanians staged a brief armed uprising in 2001, which panicked Belgrade. It’s best to give the valley to Kosovo—in other words Greater Albania—before the next outburst of violence.


Serbia’s minorities deserve attention too. In the north, ethnically mixed Vojvodina has enjoyed a degree of political autonomy since 2008, including its own regional assembly. In the southwest, Serbia’s heavily Muslim Sandžak region has no such arrangement, although some sort of autonomy may be wise, given persistent restlessness among some Sandžak Muslims. That is an internal matter for Serbia and any remedy should be suggested by the West, not mandated. If Serbia wishes to enter NATO and the EU, however, some autonomy for Sandžak, akin to Vojvodina’s arrangement, may be required.

The big loser in redrawing the Balkan map will be Macedonia, which is currently the focus of instability which could easily imperil the whole of Southeastern Europe. Creating Greater Albania will mean significant losses for Macedonia, basically the country’s northwest, which is overwhelmingly Albanian by ethnicity. In exchange, Skopje should be first in line to receive invitations to join NATO and the EU, plus generous helpings of Western aid to salve the wounds of territorial loss.

This scheme, whatever its shortcomings, will resolve nearly all the outstanding ethno-territorial flashpoints in the former Yugoslavia while bringing every country except Serbia into Western political and security structures. This will be the foundation of lasting peace in a region which sorely needs it. It is to be hoped that Belgrade, finding itself surrounded by NATO and EU members, will seek admission as well—but if it does not, the West can easily contain Putin’s Serbian client state.


Moscow is the wild card here, particularly since Putin is clearly seeking to stir up trouble in the Balkans right now. However, if we treat the Kremlin as a full partner in any territorial changes in Southeastern Europe—precisely as Putin feels his country was not in the 1990s—we can expect a degree of cooperation. Particularly because Moscow’s “little brother” Serbia will have gains, not just losses, to show this time.

This will resemble an updated version of 1878’s Congress of Berlin, but with input from the locals this time. All major stakeholders must be involved—NATO, the EU, the Russians, and all the Balkan countries that will be impacted. But Washington must take the lead, just as we did with Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s. The Europeans can’t sort this out themselves, given their constant internecine squabbling, and we really don’t want Moscow to take the lead here.

There’s also a moral obligation. One hundred years ago, America entered the First World War with President Woodrow Wilson proclaiming the new age of nation-states to replace decrepit multinational empires. Failing to achieve that in a just fashion after 1918 predestined the next, far worse world war. Then, in the 1990s, Americans and their European partners tried to fix the war-torn Balkans, yet botched the job precisely because they failed to implement Wilsonian nation-state principles.


Only when the West accepts that the peoples of Southeastern Europe will achieve peace when they’re living in more-or-less coherent nation-states—just like Germany or Poland or Denmark—can we expect the Balkans to calm down and start addressing their very grave problems of poverty, crime, and corruption which still linger from Yugoslavia and its violent collapse.

Russian meddling in the Balkans has a bad track record of leading to far bigger problems, so it’s imperative that the West starts trying to undo the damage it wrought on Southeastern Europe, however inadvertently, in the 1990s. Nobody sensible wants to revisit the Sarajevo crisis of 1914, this time with nuclear weapons. Although the Trump administration has its hands full with a host of foreign policy challenges around the globe, ignoring the Balkans promises to lead to a great power crisis which can and should be averted.

John Schindler is a security expert and former National Security Agency analyst and counterintelligence officer. A specialist in espionage and terrorism, he’s also been a Navy officer and a War College professor. He’s published four books and is on Twitter at @20committee. 



Albanian Parties Reach Consensus on Electoral Reform

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Win for Albanian Socialists in municipal elections
June 5, 2020

TIRANA, Albania — Albanian political parties on Friday reached a long-sought consensus on electoral reform aimed at guaranteeing free and fair elections and considered a key condition to start accession negotiations with the European Union.

The new agreement focuses on the electronic identification of the voters, depoliticizing the election administration and other technicalities in line with recommendations from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which has monitored the post-communist country’s elections.

Albania’s post-communist elections have continually been marred by irregularities, like vote buying or manipulation in baloot counting.

After failing to conclude an agreement by the May 31 deadline that had been set by the political parties, two days of meetings of the main political actors were held at the residence of U.S. Ambassador Yuri Kim, facilitating the dialogue together with her EU and British counterparts.


“They address a key condition to start EU accession negotiations, as stated in the Council conclusions of March 2020, thereby moving Albania one step closer to its EU future. This bodes well for future progress on reforms needed on Albania’s EU path,” said a joint statement of EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi.


In March Albania and North Macedonia were given the green light by the European Union to begin membership talks, though a starting date has yet to be set.


A U.S. Embassy statement said, “This important milestone was reached because Albania’s leaders put their differences aside and worked to deliver a tangible result to the Albanian people.”

The OSCE, which assisted in drafting the reform, urged that “all the proposed and agreed changes (are) voted" on in the parliament soon so they can be applied in next year's elections.

Friday, June 5, 2020

"NATO guarantees peace in the Western Balkans, we will continue with our efforts"

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EPA-EFE/ STEPHANIE LECOCQ
NATO continues to contribute to security in Kosovo and Metohija, through its mission, KFOR, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said

SOURCE: TANJUG FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2020 | 12:10

He added that NATO also helps through the Alliance's support for the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, under the auspices of the EU.

"This is crucial for Belgrade and Pristina, but also for regional peace and security. It is important that the agreements reached in this framework are fully implemented. In this regard, we count on both sides to show commitment and temperance", Stoltenberg said in an extensive interview for Podgorica's "Vijesti", on the occasion of three years since Montenegro joined that military alliance.

Speaking about the security situation in the Western Balkans, Stoltenberg says that security and stability in that region are important for NATO, and they are key factor to peace and stability in Europe.

"This region has achieved a lot in recent years, but we are, of course, fully aware of the remaining challenges, including organized crime, unemployment, illegal economic activities and risks associated with harmful examples of certain rhetoric, which emphasize ethnic differences," NATO Secretary General said.

He emphasizes that democracy, the rule of law, internal reforms and good neighborly relations are vital for the progress of everyone in the region.

"Since the late 1990s, our forces have helped maintain peace and stability in the Western Balkans. Our offices in Sarajevo, Belgrade and Skopje promote political dialogue and conduct practical cooperation with our partners," the NATO Chief concluded.

He points out that the Alliance's policies in the region - including open door policies - aim to strengthen stability and build greater co-operation.

"We are determined to continue to help the countries of the region implement reforms. Their citizens, interstate cooperation, regional stability and the entire Euro-Atlantic family will benefit from this," Stoltenberg said.

He added that they would continue to play their role in contributing to security in the Western Balkans through the UN-mandated KFOR mission, which guarantees a safe and secure environment and freedom of movement for all communities in Kosovo.

NATO will continue to play its role by supporting the EU-sponsored dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, and through the existing partnership framework of political dialogue and practical cooperation, which the Alliance has developed in recent years with important partners in the region, including Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia, in accordance with the requirements of those countries.

Eliot Engel of Albanian Lobby, heard on hot mic: 'If I didn't have a primary, I wouldn’t care'

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Eliot Engel is a great friend, who deserves our respect and ...
His remarks come just weeks before New York’s primary elections on June 23.

By SARAH FERRIS

06/02/2020 Politico
Rep. Eliot Engel became engulfed in yet another controversy on Tuesday after he was overheard on a “hot mic” saying he only sought press attention at a local event on the unrest over police brutality because of his upcoming primary threat.

“If I didn't have a primary, I wouldn’t care,” the New York Democrat told Ruben Diaz Jr., the Bronx borough president, as he asked for time to speak at a news conference on local vandalism.

The comments — which Engel didn’t know were being recorded by a local television station — quickly went viral. The 12-second clip was viewed more than 700,000 times by Tuesday afternoon. In a statement issued later, Engel clarified that he asked to speak because he wanted to convey that “I care deeply about what's happening in this country.”


“In the context of running for reelection, I thought it was important for people to know where I stand, that's why I asked to speak,” Engel said in his statement. “I would not have tried to impose on the Borough President if I didn't think it was important.”

Engel's remarks come just weeks before New York’s primary elections on June 23, when the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman will face his most serious threat from within his own party since 2000. His challenger is Jamaal Bowman, a public school principal who has gained significant momentum in his bid to unseat Engel this month.

Engel has represented New York since 1989, and his district now includes parts of the Bronx and Westchester County. It has become a top target for progressive groups like Justice Democrats, who have rallied behind Bowman, arguing that he would better represent the rapidly diversifying district.

The senior Democrat had already come under fire in recent weeks after a report revealed that Engel had not spent any time in his New York district — which has been ravaged by the coronavirus outbreak — since late March.

Engel’s fate seemed to be further in question this week, after another of his rivals from the left, Andom Ghebreghiorgis, dropped out of the primary race and endorsed Bowman in an apparent show of solidarity.

Bowman said Tuesday that he wasn’t surprised by the flub.

“It’s disgusting, it’s abhorrent, it’s unfortunate, and it’s disappointing, but it’s not surprising,” Bowman told POLITICO.

“It just exemplifies and shows everything we already knew,” he said of the hot mic comment. “To say if I didn’t have a primary I wouldn’t care, it captures everything not just wrong with him but the political system.”

Erin Durkin contributed to this report.

Thursday, June 4, 2020

U.S. Embassy in Athens firebombed during protest over the death of George Floyd

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U.S. Embassy in Athens firebombed during protest over the death of George Floyd (VIDEO) 6

U.S. Embassy in Athens firebombed during protest over the death of George Floyd (VIDEO) 6

Demonstrators in the Greek capital attacked the U.S. Embassy with molotov cocktails.

The firebombs were hurled during a protest on Wednesday over the killing of African-American George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.

Reuters journalists saw demonstrators throw several flaming objects which erupted into flames on the street towards the heavily-guarded embassy in central Athens. Police responded with rounds of teargas.

The embassy itself was cordoned off with rows of blue police buses.

Demonstrators were holding banners and placards reading “Black Lives Matter” and “I can’t breathe”.

Police sources estimated the number of protesters were more than 3,000.

U.S. Embassy in Athens firebombed during protest over the death of George Floyd (VIDEO) 7

U.S. Embassy in Athens firebombed during protest over the death of George Floyd (VIDEO) 8


U.S. Embassy in Athens firebombed during protest over the death of George Floyd (VIDEO) 9

U.S. Embassy in Athens firebombed during protest over the death of George Floyd (VIDEO) 10

Meanwhile, Greek-American Las Vegas police officer Shay Mikalonis remains on life support at the University Medical Center after being shot in the head late on Monday night in the midst of riots gripping many American cities, as reported by Greek City Times.

The shooting against the 29-year-old Greek-American happened approximately 11:30 p.m. as a group of rioters were throwing rocks and bottles at officers.

A local Black Lives Matter group, responsible for organising many of the protests in the casino city, has been urging people to protest peacefully.

In a bid to quell the violence, U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich and U.S. Marshal Gary Schofield said “federal law enforcement will investigate, apprehend, and charge violent criminal instigators and organisers who have taken over peaceful protests and violated federal law.”

Trutanich specifically referenced the shooting of Mikalonis as an example of the type of crimes that could result in much harsher federal charges.

“Last night, violence in Las Vegas resulted in the senseless shooting of a police officer while he was protecting our community,” said Trutanich. “Our thoughts are with the officer and his family. The right to peacefully protest and demonstrate is among the most fundamental rights held by all Americans. Violence and looting not only interferes with that right, bu they also put lives at risk. Defying those peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights, and diverting focus away from the legitimate outrage over Mr. (George) Floyd’s death are unacceptable.”

Thaci refuses to go to Brussels because of Lajcak

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Foto: EPA/Petrit Prenaj
The President of the so-called Kosovo Hashim Thaci said today that he won't cooperate with the EU Special Envoy for Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak.

SOURCE: TANJUG THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2020 | 10:37

As he said, he made this decision because Lajcak does not recognize the independence of Kosovo.

"I hope to establish good coordination with Hoti as Prime Minister. I will fulfill my constitutional and legal role, I do not want meetings with Serbian leaders. I have made it known that I will not go to Brussels for talks, because Lajcak has made it clear that he does not recognize Kosovo and I will not take part it in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina", Thaci told T7 television, as Kosovo online portal reports.

He added that former EU Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini made it known that "Kosovo is an independent state" and that she did not refer to the Kosovo delegation as "Pristina".

"I personally told Lajcak, you will do a good job only if you recognize Kosovo as an independent and sovereign state, Kosovo must first get visa liberalization, in order to restore trust in European institutions", Thaci said.

According to him, Albin Kurti should submit a report to the new Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti about the issues he discussed during these three months with Lajcak and Borrell.

Serbia will be exposed to strong pressure

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Screenshot/TV B92
President Vucic said that he won't deal with relations within the Albanian community, it is important for us to get guarantees for Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.

SOURCE: B92, BETA THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2020 | 15:58

"We are open for talks. Thaci did all this with the help of the United States and will always ask to talk in their presence. Serbia will always talk, but all those measures that destroyed the possibility of free access to goods and capital must be removed. When that has been done, we will be ready to talk", Vucic pointed out.

"I am not sure whether there will be different political aspirations, often pressures, I hear 100 times that we stop the derecognition campaign - we will do that when you stop the campaign of access to international organizations."

He said that he offered this from year to year, in order to protect the people in Kosovo and Metohija.

"It's easy for us in Loznica or Belgrade, we don't live in Gorazdevac… We don't know how Albanians will treat them."

I do not know how Pristina aspires to be on the European path, yet, on the other hand, it will not talk to European representatives, he pointed out.

"You have to keep in mind that neither Germany nor France will change their position on the issue of Kosovo. The question is what are we going to do. We have to bear the brunt that we betrayed Kosovo, and we returned Kosovo to the table with a smart policy, but at the same time keeping the peace, bringing investors…"

"I don't think it will be easy to deal with the Kosovo issue. There are those who say it will be easy, let them think again. He pointed out that he expects great pressures regarding Kosovo and Metohija, and that is why it is important that we get a strong government after the elections.

"It won't be easy for Serbia," Vucic added, and reiterated that Serbia's voice will have be important in that process.
"We have no objections to the talks we had in the EU, as well as in the talks with Grenell. I always tried to get as much as possible in a peaceful way. If they stop with the requests for admission to Interpol and other organizations, we will stop with derecognition campaign", Vucic said.

President Aleksandar Vucic stated today that Russia is a friendly country to Serbia and that the appointment of Yevgeny Primakov to the position of director of the "Russian Cooperation" Agency will not affect that cooperation.

"Russia is a friendly country to us, that's how it was and it will be such in the future. And none of the irresponsible politicians in Serbia can change that, nor anyone else," Vucic said when asked how he commented on Primakov's appointment, due to the alleged connection with the representatives of Serbian opposition. He said that Russia is much bigger than Serbia, both in terms of population and territory, and that it can appoint whoever it wants.

"They take care of their interests and we have nothing against anything or anyone, Vucic said, adding that it would be "crazy" for Serbia to influence Moscow's decisions. The media in Serbia state that in March last year, in the midst of anti government demonstrations in Belgrade, Primakov offered Vucic to form a technical government with the leaders of the "Alliance for Serbia".

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Kosovo Government elected

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Lajme - Bota Sot
Kosovo Parliament voted with 61 votes in favor, 24 against and one abstention, led by Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2020

The new Kosovo Government consists of four vice presidents and 16 ministers.

Besnik Tahiri will be the first Deputy Prime Minister, and the Vice Presidents are Driton Selmanaj and Albulena Balaj.

Furthermore, Goran Rakic will also assume the role of the Deputy Prime Minister, but also the Minister of Local Self-Government.

Greece is making three-pronged diplomatic reactions to Turkish provocations

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DENDIAS

Step by step, the Greek Prime Minister’s office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are planning reactions against the new phase of Turkish escalation and provocation, after Ankara announced plans to conduct oil and gas explorations in areas of Greek maritime space.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias had back to back meetings on Sunday night and Monday afternoon, where he “locked” the plan for the Greek counterattack against Turkish aggression on three levels, namely the United Nations, NATO and the European Union.

The Foreign Ministry had ready-made twin letters which were sent on Monday to the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, and the General Assembly of the Organization.

Greece, together with Cyprus and Armenia, are putting up diplomatic obstacles for the election of Volkan Bozkir, a Turkish diplomat, to the presidency of the UN General Assembly. While there was initially no reaction when Turkey put up its candidacy in November 2019, Athens is now analysing in detail the reasons for the reversal of the Greek stance through a letter by the head of its Permanent Mission to the UN, Maria Theofili.

In particular, these letters describe the licensing process for Turkey’s energy research in Greece’s maritime space as illegal, while referring to endless Turkish violations of Greek airspace and territorial waters.

In addition, it is recalled that Turkey attempted to weaponise thousands of illegal immigrants on the Greek-Turkish border in Evros in March. At the same time as using illegal immigrants to asymmetrically pressure Greece, Turkey conducted a fake news campaign to defame and discredit Greece, accusing Athens of violating international law and human rights. According to the letter, Turkey’s provocative and aggressive actions against Greece have reached unprecedented levels.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also notified member states of the United Nations Security Council on Turkish delinquency. Dendias intends to inform NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about Turkish actions, possibly in a letter, while on June 15 he will brief his European counterparts on the latest developments at a meeting of the Council’s Foreign Ministers.

It is more than clear that the Greek government is on high alert and is closely monitoring the progress of the new phase of Turkish provocations.

Pentagon chief Esper opposes Trump plan: 'I do not support invoking the Insurrection Act'

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In this March 18, 2020, photo, Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks as President Donald Trump listens during a press briefing with the coronavirus task force, at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) **FILE**

In this March 18, 2020, photo, Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks as President Donald Trump listens during a press briefing with the coronavirus task force, at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) 

By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times - Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday he opposes using the Insurrection Act to deploy active-duty troops to American cities to quell riots and protests, and he sought to distance both himself personally and the military as a whole from controversial events Monday night outside the White House.

In a hastily arranged press conference at the Pentagon, Mr. Esper said the use of active-duty troops should be a “last resort” for the country, and he does not believe such a course is necessary or appropriate right now.

President Trump earlier this week threatened to invoke the 1807 law if governors do not activate National Guard forces to control crowds and stop widespread looting. Protests have gripped much of the country following last week’s death of George Floyd, a black man, during a confrontation with Minneapolis police.

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

Ποιους χρηματοδοτεί το ίδρυμα του Σόρος -Και το δήμο Αθηναίων μεταξύ άλλων

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Ο μεγαλοεπενδυτής Τζώρτζ Σόρος -Φωτογραφία: AP Photo/Francois Mori
ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ26|10|2018 

Ο μεγαλοεπενδυτής Τζώρτζ Σόρος -Φωτογραφία: AP Photo/Francois Mori

NEWSROOM IEFIMERIDA.GR

Χιλιάδες, ίσως και εκατομμύρια δολάρια ξοδεύει κάθε χρόνο το ίδρυμα του επιχειρηματία Τζορτζ Σόρος στα Βαλκάνια.

Ο μεγαλοεπενδυτής - που ήρθε ξανά στην επικαιρότητα μετά τις καταγγελίες Καμμένου στο υπουργικό συμβούλιο - με το Ίδρυμα του «Open Society Foundations» προσφέρει χορηγίες και υποτροφίες καθ’ όλη τη διάρκεια του χρόνου σε οργανώσεις και άτομα που μοιράζονται τις ίδιες αξίες με το Ίδρυμα.

Το «Open Society Foundations» περιγράφει την αποστολή του ως εξής: «Εργάζεται για την οικοδόμηση ενεργών και ανεκτικών κοινωνικών που οι κυβερνήσεις τους είναι υπόλογες και ανοιχτές στην συμμετοχή όλων των πολιτών».
Στην Ελλάδα ο Δήμος Θεσσαλονίκης, αρκετές οργανώσεις που λειτουργούν για την προστασία των προσφύγων και των αιτούντων άσυλο αλλά και η ελληνική κοινότητα LBGTQ έχουν λάβει ως χορηγίες χιλιάδες δολάρια. Το ίδιο συνέβη και με οργανώσεις υπέρ των ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων και της προστασίας των προσφύγων στα Σκόπια.

Νικήτας Κακλαμάνης: Και με το δήμο Αθήνας συνεργάζεται ο Σόρος

Παράλληλα ο αντιπρόεδρος της Βουλής και βουλευτής της ΝΔ Νικήτας Κακλαμάνης, δήλωσε πως «όλη η προπαγάνδα των Σκοπιανών στο εξωτερικό χρηματοδοτείται από τον Τζορτζ Σόρος», ενώ αποκάλυψε δε πως το ίδρυμα του μεγαλοεπιχειρηματία έχει συνεργασία και με τον δήμο Αθηναίων.

«Ξοδεύει όχι χιλιάδες, εκατομμύρια δολάρια» είπε και πρόσθεσε: «Και με το δήμο της Αθήνας έχει συνεργασία το ίδρυμα Σόρος».

Οπως δήλωσε ο αντιπρόεδρος της Βουλής και βουλευτής της ΝΔ σε ραδιοφωνική του συνέντευξη στον Xfm 9,43: «Δεν το έχει κρύψει ο συγκεκριμένος τύπος ποτέ ούτε την φιλοσκοπιανή του διάθεση, ούτε ότι θέλει να ελέγξει μέσω του άφθονου χρήματος που ρέει από την τσέπη του -το οποίο δεν ξέρουμε και πώς το απέκτησε - και να προσπαθεί με διαφόρους τρόπους να επηρεάσει» είπε χαρακτηριστικά και πρόσθεσε: «Ολη προπαγάνδα των σκοπιανών στο εξωτερικό χρηματοδοτείται από Σόρος. Δηλαδή, τι πιστεύετε, ότι ξαφνικά τον έπιασε ο πόνος τον κ. Σόρος για τους φτωχούς του δήμου της Αθήνας και της Θεσσαλονίκης;» διερωτήθηκε ειρωνικά.

Ερωτηθείς για το πώς συνεργάζεται το ίδρυμα Σόρος με τον δήμο Αθηναίων απάντησε: «Αυτό που υποτίθεται είναι τα συσσίτια».

Ποιοί πήραν χορηγίες στην Ελλάδα για το 2016

Ο Δήμος Θεσσαλονίκης έλαβε 224,581 δολάρια για ένα διάστημα 8 μηνών προκειμένου να κάνει ενέργειες για την φιλοξενία και την στήριξη προσφύγων.
Το «Ελληνικό Συμβούλιο για τους Πρόσφυγες» έλαβε 300.000 δολάρια προκειμένου για ένα διάστημα 20 μηνών να παρακολουθεί την διαδικασία ασύλου και την κατάσταση της υποδοχής στα σημεία εισόδου-εξόδου των μεταναστών.
Το «Ελληνικό Κέντρο Ανθρωπίνων Δικαιωμάτων» εισέπραξε 394.514 δολάρια προκειμένου να παρέχει νομικές και άλλες ουσιαστικές πληροφορίες στους πρόσφυγες για μία περίοδο 20 μηνών.
Το «Ελληνικό Φόρουμ για τους Πρόσφυγες» έλαβε 100.000 δολάρια προκειμένου μέσα σε 13 μήνες να αναπτύξει συστήματα όπου οι πρόσφυγες θα αλληλοβοηθούνται.
Ο «Σύνδεσμος της Ουκρανικής Διασποράς στην Ελλάδα – Ουκρανική Ελληνική Σκέψη» έλαβε 24.927 δολάρια για την επικοινωνιακή στρατηγική του.
Η ελληνική κοινότητα LBGTQ Αthens εισέπραξε χορηγία 54,996 δολαρίων για έναν χρόνο και το Κέντρο Δημοκρατίας και Επανασυμφιλίωσης για την Νοτιοανατολική Ευρώπη έλαβε 26.000 δολάρια για 11 μήνες.
Το 2016 το «Ινστιτούτο Χρηματοπιστωτικής Σκέψης και Οικονομικής Έρευνας και Πολιτικής» στα Σκόπια έλαβε 99.641 δολάρια για τρία χρόνια.
Η «Επιτροπή του Ελσίνκι για τα Ανθρώπινη Δικαιώματα στην Δημοκρατίας της Μακεδονίας» πήρε 67.885 δολάρια για την βελτίωση της διαφύλαξης των δικαιωμάτων των μεταναστών και των αιτούντων άσυλων στην πΓΔΜ.
Πηγή: iefimerida.gr

Turkish claims are increasingly moving west – From Kastellorizo ​​to Crete

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Turkish claims are increasingly moving west - From Kastellorizo ​​to Crete 2
by PAUL ANTONOPOULOS



The fact that Turkey is taking advantage of turmoil as an opportunity either to invade foreign lands, creating perfectly expanded Turkish influence, or to blackmail, should now be obvious.


When Erdoğan visited Somalia in 2011, as Prime Minister at the time, he was the first foreign leader to set foot in the war-torn African country in decades, and he also became the first NATO leader involved so overtly in the Libyan conflict.

In 2020, Ankara is trying to escalate tensions on a number of external fronts with the ultimate goal of not fully controlling them (which would be virtually impossible) but being able to adequately control them through proxy governments for the benefit of its own interests.

Even in the current “turmoil” in the energy market amid the coronavirus pandemic (falling oil prices, uncertainty about the economic viability of a series of energy projects, etc), Turkey has rushed to use it as an opportunity by threshing alone – with its floating drilling rigs – in the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean in the temporary absence of other competing interests.

Turkish “interest”, however, is finally moving further west, leaving behind the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone and now has its eyes set on Rhodes, Karpathos, Kasos and the southeastern coast of Crete.

For years Ankara appeared to be stretching claims between the 32nd (32 ° 16’18 “E) and 28th meridian (28 ° 00’00” E), i.e. from Cyprus to Rhodes, thus erasing the impact that Kastellorizo would have in the case of a jointly agreed drafting of maritime demarcations in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In fact, starting in the summer of 2008 (July 30) and until 2012, Turkey would proceed with a series of pirate moves, assigning unilaterally much of the Eastern Mediterranean to the Turkish State Oil Company (TPAO) for research, while in September of 2011 it would also sign its own, illegal, maritime zone demarcation agreement with the pseudo-state of the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” that is not recognised by a single country in the world, besides of course Turkey.

By 2020, the data seems to have changed. The TPAO appeared a few days ago to have divided a large part of the Greek continental shelf and to claim (from Turkey, not Greece) the required “permits” to conduct seismic surveys. They would be conducted in Greek territorial waters off Crete, Kasos, Karpathos and Rhodes, thus reflecting in practice the Turkish position that the Greek islands (even the large and inhabited ones) do not have a continental shelf as confirmed by the United Nations Charter Law of the Sea..

Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez himself had said he would prepare the ground, saying on May 29 that TPAO might begin exploring for hydrocarbons within the next three to four months in Greek maritime space. It should be noted that TPAO has reportedly submitted a request to the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood Government of National Accord (GNA). Six months after last November’s Turkish-Tripoli memorandum, Ankara is now determined to strengthen its presence both in Libyan territory (with weapons systems, mercenaries, military advisers, military vehicles, drones, etc.) and around the Libyan coast (with frigates, etc.).

Πύρρος Δήμας: Οι χρυσές αναμνήσεις, οι οδυνηρές απώλειες και η καινούργια ζωή στο Σικάγο

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PyrrosDimas2

01/06/2020, 
Κορυφαίες λύσεις απολύμανσης και απόλυτης υγιεινής

01/06/2020, 08:30
Ο χρυσός Ολυμπιονίκης ανοίγει την καρδιά του στην Έλενα Κατρίτση, στην εκπομπή «Προσωπικά» την ερχόμενη Κυριακή 7 Ιουνίου, στις 16.00 στην ΕΡΤ1

Ο Πύρρος Δήμας καλεσμένος της Έλενας Κατρίτση, περιγράφει «Προσωπικά» μια ζωή γεμάτη θριάμβους, επιτυχίες, αποθέωση αλλά και αγωνίες, απογοητεύσεις και μεγάλες απώλειες. Ειλικρινής, αυθόρμητος και συναισθηματικός, ξαναζεί εικόνες που ξεχώρισε, στιγμές που τον καθόρισαν και μιλά για τους ανθρώπους χάρη στους οποίους έγινε αυτό που είναι σήμερα.

Θυμάται τον πατέρα του, Βίκτωρα, που τον στήριζε σε κάθε του απόφαση: «Ήταν πάντα δίπλα μου. Μου έστελνε το γραμματάκι του κάθε μήνα, τη σοκολάτα του, γλυκά, καραμέλες… Είχα αγώνα στην Κορυτσά; Ερχόταν και προσπαθούσε να βρει το καλύτερο κρέας, την καλύτερη μπριζόλα. Να φάει το παιδί που κάνει πρωταθλητισμό… Στα όνειρά μου ήταν πάντα δίπλα. Και όταν του είπα «κοίταξε να δεις, θα στείλω τον Οδυσσέα στην Ελλάδα πρώτα και μετά θα φύγω κι εγώ. Μπορεί να γίνει οτιδήποτε με εσάς εδώ». Εκείνος μου απάντησε: «Να μην σας νοιάζει, να φύγετε! Εκείνο το τρίμηνο δεν κοιμόμουν. Πεταγόμουν στον ύπνο μου».


Δύο χρόνια συμπληρώνονται από την ημέρα που η σύντροφος και μητέρα των παιδιών του, Αναστασία, έφυγε χτυπημένη από τον καρκίνο. Μια αρρώστια που την πολέμησε ως το τέλος, δίνοντας δύναμη, όπως έκανε πάντα, σε όλη την οικογένεια. Μόνο κάποια στιγμή λύγισε: «Είχε γίνει το χειρουργείο και κάθε βράδυ έκλαιγε. Ξύπνησα ένα βράδυ και της είπα: “Αυτό δεν μπορούμε να το συνεχίσουμε άλλο”. Μα, μου λέει, θα πεθάνω. Λέω, κανένας δεν ξέρει πότε θα πεθάνουμε. Έχουμε τέσσερα παιδιά. Πες μου, τι κάνουμε. Και εκείνη την ώρα μου απαντά “θα το παλέψουμε”. Και από τότε, μέχρι το τέλος, ήταν παλικάρι. Τώρα που βρίσκομαι σπίτι, θυμάμαι μόνο τις καλές στιγμές. Πολλές φορές νομίζω ότι θα τη δω μπροστά μου»


Ακόμη, ξαναζεί τις σπουδαίες στιγμές του ως αθλητής και στην ερώτηση αν υπάρχει περίπτωση να ξαναδούμε μετάλλια και επιτυχίες όπως στο παρελθόν, απαντά: «Έχουμε τη δυνατότητα να ζήσουμε ξανά αυτές τις στιγμές, όμως ας μην ξεχνάμε ότι η κινητήρια δύναμη του αθλητισμού είναι το χρήμα. Παλαιότερα υπήρχε προϋπολογισμός 3 εκατομμύρια σε μια ομοσπονδία, τώρα είναι 300.000 ευρώ. Ούτε το ένα δέκατο…»

Ο Πύρρος Δήμας μοιράζει πλέον τη ζωή του ανάμεσα στο Σικάγο -όπου εργάζεται ως τεχνικός διευθυντής της Ομοσπονδίας Άρσης Βαρών των ΗΠΑ- και στην Ελλάδα, καθώς είναι πρόεδρος της Ελληνικής Ομοσπονδίας Άρσης Βαρών.

Σήμερα, όλη η ζωή του είναι τα τέσσερα παιδιά του. Η Ελένη, ο Βίκτωρας, η Μαρία και ο Νικόλας: «Όλα αυτά που περάσαμε, τα περάσαμε μαζί, σαν μια γροθιά, και έτσι έχουμε μείνει. Μέρα παρά μέρα, έχουμε συνάντηση στο Skype. Βλεπόμαστε και τα λέμε, όπως θα ήταν μια οικογένεια στο ίδιο σπίτι. Κι ας είμαστε μακριά».
 

Monday, June 1, 2020

White House: Antifa will be declared a terrorist group

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EPA-EFE/ SHAWN THEW
The American Ministry of Justice has decided to treat the Antifa organization as a domestic terrorist group, the White House announced tonight

SOURCE: TANJUG MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2020 | 23:07

White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said at a press briefing that there was enough evidence that the Antifa organization was responsible for the violence during protests in cities across the United States, which erupted after the murder of African-American George Floyd during a police action.

McEnany said that additional federal forces would be deployed throughout the United States in response to the protests, "Voice of America" reports.

She pointed out that US President Donald Trump met today with the Ministers of Defense and Justice, Mark Esper and William Barr, with whom he discussed the engagement of additional security forces.

Trump stated on Twitter yesterday that the United States will mark Antifa as a terrorist organization.

As the Voice of America explains, Antifa is an acronym for the political movement of antifascists whose political beliefs are based on the idea of the left, sometimes even the extreme left.

Their political activities include supporting the population they consider disenfranchised and opposing the enrichment of corporations.

Some organizations that belong to that corpus of ideas use militant tactics to spread their beliefs.

George Soros is 89 years old, but by gosh, before he dies, he’s going to see to the internal destruction of America.

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George Soros, Founder and Chairman of the Open Society Foundations, looks before the Joseph A. Schumpeter award ceremony in Vienna, Austria.  (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, File)
George Soros, Founder and Chairman of the Open Society Foundations, looks before the Joseph A. Schumpeter award ceremony in Vienna, Austria.  (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, File)



By Cheryl K. Chumley - The Washington Times - Saturday, January 25, 2020
ANALYSIS/OPINION:



At least that’s how it seems.

How else can we listen to his words in Davos, Switzerland, track his funding of American political races and pay attention to what he says about President Donald Trump, capitalism, and the leftist causes he backs and the leftist Open Society Foundations he runs, and come to any other conclusion?


In the last few years, Soros has taken to trying to take over local law enforcement agencies by pumping massive amounts of money into candidates he favors in key district attorney races.

“George Soros’ quiet overhaul of the US justice system,” Politico reported, way back in August of 2016.


It continues in present day.

“PAC funded by George Soros pumps nearly $1 million into local races for prosecutor,” The Washington Post reported in June, about the money from the Justice and Public Safety PAC that went to the left-leaners of both Arlington County, Virginia, and Fairfax County, Virginia, commonwealth’s attorney races.’

General Floros’ message in Turkey: We are ready to crush anyone who underestimates us

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General Floros' message in Turkey: We are ready to crush anyone who underestimates us 2
by PAUL ANTONOPOULOS
 

General Floros' message in Turkey: We are ready to crush anyone who underestimates us 2

General Konstantinos Floros sent a strong message to Ankara during a Commemorative Prayer for Fallen Paratroopers, which took place at Vouliagmeni, saying that those who “underestimate us are making a mistake.”

Specifically, the Chief of General Staff, referring to the special forces, stated that “the ties of those who serve or have served in the Special Forces are indestructible and are never broken. We are the descendants of easy and brave warriors. Our glorious heroic tradition must continue. Especially at this time of year, when the clouds in our neighbourhood are getting thicker and the geopolitical chessboard is on fire, we are moving forward with unbeatable will, inspired by their example and the ultimate sacrifice of our heroes, ready to crush any fatal crash that will happen and who underestimate us.”

In the report he made to the special forces and their contribution to the homeland, the Chief of General Staff noted that the Special Forces were and remain the sharpened spearhead of our Armed Forces.

The General also explained the changes he has made to the Greek military since being put in charge.

“Feeling the importance of the mission that will be called to fulfil in a complex and highly demanding business theatre, from the first moment I took over the duties of Chief of General Staff, I set as a priority their modernisation based on autonomy in means and staff and speed in decision making and execution. In this context, the Council of Leaders of the General Staffs has already approved the establishment of an interdisciplinary Special Warfare Command, the strike force of which will continue the continuation of the tradition of the fighters we honour today, the most selected of the three Branches,” he explained.

The ceremony was also attended by the Minister of National Defence Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, Deputy Minister of National Defence Alkiviadis Stefanis, the Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Haralambos Lalousis and representatives from political parties, local government and the church.

The Paratroopers fought both inside and outside the borders of Greece and fell heroically fighting defending the values, the ideals, the traditions and especially the freedom of Greece.

The Minister of National Defence said “with today’s modest ceremony we pay our due respects and bow to the Greek Paratroopers who added with their blood their own page in the glorious and long-standing Greek history.”

“It is the duty of all of us to fight for the ideals, security and independence of the Country, so that their sacrifices become even more valuable,” he added.

Sunday, May 31, 2020

“Διεθνείς Αλλαγές, οι ελληνοτουρκικές σχέσεις και η υπόθεση του Έβρου”- Άρθρο του Ν.Κοτζιά

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Από Militaire News -31/05/2020 | 16:33

Το κείμενο του πρώην ΥΠΕΞ Νίκου Κοτζιά που ακολουθεί δημοσιεύτηκε στα ΝΕΑ . Συμπληρώθηκε με ένα υστερόγραφο κριτικής της λάθος σύγκρισης της πολεμικής της δεξιάς στη Συμφωνία των Πρεσπών με την κριτική στη κυβέρνηση της ΝΔ.

Η απόσυρση των ΗΠΑ από τη διεθνή πολιτική σκηνή, σημαίνει ότι ο «παραδοσιακός παίκτης» στην περιοχή «απουσιάζει». Το ΗΒ ασχολούμενο με το Brexit και την υγειονομική κρίση συμβαδίζει προς μια ιδιόμορφη προσωρινή απομόνωση. Η ανερχόμενη μεγάλη δύναμη, η Λ.Δ. της Κίνας, δεν έχει προς το παρόν ισχυρά συμφέροντα στην περιοχή. Και πλην του πεδίου της Οικονομίας δεν προβλέπω να αποκτά την επόμενη δεκαετία. Η ΕΕ είναι παράλυτη από την ανικανότητα και ανεπάρκειά της να διαχειριστεί παραγωγικά τις πολλαπλές κρίσεις της. Τέλος η Ρωσία έχει ως κύρια επιδίωξη να αποσπάσει την Τουρκία από το ΝΑΤΟ, χωρίς, όμως, να μπορεί να αποκτήσει μια ουσιαστική φιλία μαζί της.
Η σύντομη σκιαγράφηση της στάσης των σημαντικότερων παικτών παγκοσμίως, οδηγεί στο απλό συμπέρασμα ότι στη διεθνή σκηνή και στην περιοχή μας υπάρχουν κενά ηγεμονίας και ηγεσίας. Κενά που προσπαθούν να καλύψουν και να αξιοποιήσουν περιφερειακές δυνάμεις, όπως είναι η Τουρκία.
Στις μεταβατικές εποχές που προκύπτουν από τέτοια «κενά», ενισχύεται ο ρόλος της γεωπολιτικής. Σημειώνω ότι σήμερα η γεωπολιτική δεν αναφέρεται μόνο σε ζητήματα όπως το έδαφος, οι πρώτες ύλες, ο έλεγχος τρίτων. Αναφέρεται και ως προς τις ροές, ιδιαίτερα των νέων τεχνολογιών, κύρια της ψηφιακής, όπως πλατφόρμες και δίκτυα. Ακόμα και οι πόλεμοι ακολουθούν «νέους κανόνες» με σημαντικότερο εκείνον που διεξάγεται στον κυβερνοχώρο.
Από τα πιο πάνω, εξάγω δύο συμπεράσματα για την Ελλάδα: πρώτον, η αναβάθμιση της γεωπολιτικής σήμερα, γίνεται με διαφορετικό περιεχόμενο και τρόπο από ότι στο παρελθόν. Δεύτερο, όποιος μένει κολλημένος σε ορθά σχήματα της δεκαετίας του ενενήντα, αδυνατεί να αντιληφθεί τη σημασία της τροποποιημένης γεωπολιτικής και δεν μπορεί να κατανοήσει επιθετικούς παίκτες, όπως την Τουρκία, που επιδιώκουν την γεωπολιτική τους αναβάθμιση.
Προκειμένου η Τουρκία να πετύχει τους στόχους της, αναλύει προσεκτικά τις αδυναμίες των κυρίαρχων ελίτ της χώρας μας. Την ανικανότητα και τους ερασιτεχνισμούς της κυβέρνησης της ΝΔ. Παρατηρεί με ενδιαφέρον την προκλητική αποστασιοποίησή της από τα «κυπριακά προβλήματα». Η ΝΔ θυμίζει σήμερα την ΕΡΕ της δεκαετίας του πενήντα, όπως την περιγράφει ο Σεφέρης σε κείμενα αναφοράς του στο Κυπριακό. Η Τουρκία εντυπωσιάζεται από την αδυναμία των σημερινών υπευθύνων της ελληνικής εξωτερικής πολιτικής να κατανοήσουν την μέθοδο και την πολιτική των Τούρκων σε Αιγαίο και Ανατολική Μεσόγειο. Καταγράφει με αυξανόμενη ικανοποίηση την προσπάθεια της Αθήνας να υποβαθμίζει τις προκλήσεις της Τουρκίας, ακόμα και να τις δικαιολογεί.
Η τουρκική πολιτική, αναθεωρητική, νευρική, και επιθετική, έχει ορισμένα γεωπολιτικά χαρακτηριστικά που φαίνεται να αγνοεί η σημερινή κυβέρνηση. Πρώτον, η Τουρκία ακολουθεί εδώ και δεκαετίες ένα σταθερό σενάριο: αμφισβητεί τα δικαιώματα της Ελλάδας σε συγκεκριμένες περιοχές. Κατόπιν τις γκριζάρει. Αμφισβητεί την ελληνικότητά τους και στη συνέχεια λαμβάνει μέτρα αποτροπής εξάσκησης από την Ελλάδα των διεθνών δικαιωμάτων της που απορρέουν από το Διεθνές Δίκαιο. Στη συνέχεια, τρίτον, εμφανίζει τα γκριζαρισμένα «μέρη» ως δικά της. Ταυτόχρονα, φορτώνει την ατζέντα των διμερών σχέσεων με όλο και περισσότερες αμφισβητήσεις και προκλήσεις. Τώρα πρόσθεσε και τον Έβρο.
Εκείνο που ενδιαφέρει την Τουρκία είναι να δημιουργεί τετελεσμένα με την εφαρμογή τριών κανόνων: α) Επίκληση του διεθνούς δικαίου με τρόπο στρεβλό και αποσπασματικό. β) Προώθηση των επιλογών της μόλις διαπιστώσει κενά στη διεθνή πολιτική σκηνή. γ) Επίσπευση υλοποίησης των σχεδίων της όταν αντιμετωπίζει στην Ελλάδα μια φοβισμένη, υποχωρητική και ανίκανη κυβέρνηση όπως αυτή της ΝΔ. Οι αυξανόμενες προκλήσεις της μόνο τυχαίες δεν είναι.
Με βάση τα πιο πάνω πλαίσια κινείται η Τουρκία στον Έβρο. Αμφισβήτησε έμπρακτα τα ελληνικά σύνορα και το ξέρουν όλοι οι εμπλεκόμενοι. Τόσο στον αέρα, όσο και επί εδάφους. Σε αυτές τις παραβιάσεις η Ελλάδα δεν αντιστάθηκε ως όφειλε. Επέτρεψε χασκογελώντας να προστεθεί μια ακόμα αμφισβήτηση, άλλο ένα γκριζάρισμα. Η κυβέρνηση έχει την τάση να ενδίδει και αποδείχτηκε πολύ μπερδεμένη και σε σύγχυση. Έτσι, μετά την Κύπρο και το Αιγαίο αποκτήσαμε προβλήματα και στα ηπειρωτικά εδάφη μας. Στο σχέδιο της Τουρκίας, στη συγκεκριμένη εποχή, η ελληνική κυβέρνηση απάντησε μόνο με επικοινωνιακά τεχνάσματα προκειμένου να μη χαλάσει η εικόνα της, όχι, όμως, με πραγματική πολιτική.
Προσωπικά θα συνιστούσα στην κυβέρνηση να προσπαθήσει, επιτέλους, να κατανοήσει τον τρόπο που σχεδιάζει η Τουρκία την πολιτική της και πώς μεθοδεύει την υλοποίησή της. Να αποκτήσει ένα στρατήγημα για την αντιμετώπιση αυτών των μεθοδεύσεων. Πυρήνας του πρέπει να είναι οι σαφείς κόκκινες γραμμές και η πρόβλεψη αντιμετώπισης τουρκικών παραβιάσεών τους. Να ενημερώσει για αυτές τις «γραμμές» την ίδια την Τουρκία και τη διεθνή κοινότητα. Οι καλές εξηγήσεις ίσως να γίνουν κάποτε φιλίες. Οι υποχωρήσεις γίνονται δουλεία.
Να πάψουν οι αρμόδιοι κυβερνητικοί να μιλούν τόσο πολύ. Να μελετούν και να σκέφτονται περισσότερο καθότι δεν γνωρίζουν το αντικείμενο. Στην εξωτερική πολιτική μιλά κανείς λίγο, προκειμένου να ακούγεται, και να έχει χρόνο να αναστοχάζεται και να προωθεί συγκροτημένα μία στρατηγική.
Να πει η Κυβέρνηση στον ελληνικό λαό με σαφήνεια, α) το περιεχόμενο των δύο διαβημάτων όπως ζήτησα εδώ και δέκα μέρες, β) να γνωστοποιήσει τις συντεταγμένες στον Έβρο όπως τις καθορίζει το διεθνές δίκαιο από το 1926 και να τις υπερασπιστεί. γ) Να κάνει ουσιαστική αυτοκριτική για τις ανευθυνότητές της. δ) Να μεταβεί Επιτροπή της Βουλής των Ελλήνων στο σημείο όπου έγιναν τα επεισόδια και να διατυπώσει τα συμπεράσματά της σε επίσημη έκθεση. Στόχο της να μάθει η ελληνική κοινωνία όλη την αλήθεια. Τότε θα δούμε και ποιος παράγει fake-news.



ΥΓ1 Ουδέποτε η αριστερά θα μπορούσε να κάνει σε κυβέρνηση της ΝΔ ανάλογη κριτική όπως έκανε η δεξιά στις Πρέσπες. Όποιος πιστεύει κάτι τέτοιο και κάνει ανάλογες συγκρίσεις είναι λάθος. Όπως λάθος είναι και η γενικότερη φράση «εμείς δεν κάνουμε κριτική όπως μας κάνατε». Διότι πολλές πλευρές της δεξιάς δεν έκαναν «απλά» κριτική στις «Πρέσπες». Εκαναν πολεμική. Διατυπώσανε απειλές, εκβιασμούς, προσπάθησαν να εξασκήσουν σωματική βία, να κάψουν κατοικίες, έστελναν αίματα, σφαίρες κάθε μεγέθους. Να προσπαθεί κανείς να συγκρίνει την αριστερά με όλα αυτά, πέρα που δεν γνωρίζει από ήθος της αριστεράς, σημαίνει, ακόμα, ότι δεν πήρε χαμπάρι ή δεν τον ενδιέφεραν το τι πραγματικά γινόταν στην εποχή των «Πρεσπών». Για αυτό επαναλαμβάνω το νέο μοτίβο ορισμένων, ότι το να κάνουμε κριτική στην ασχετοσύνη της ΝΔ και στην ενδοτικότητά της οδηγεί σε ανάλογες συμπεριφορές με όσα έκαναν τμήματα της δεξιάς σε βάρος της εξωτερική πολιτικής μας, μπορούν να ειπωθούν μόνο από εκείνους που και τότε ήταν ενάντια στην εξωτερική πολιτική μας και συμβάδιζαν με τη διαπλοκή.

Lake Skadar, Montenegro and Albania

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Lake Skadar, Montenegro and Albania

February 21, 2020

Dark and light sediments swirl around in the center of Lake Skadar, the largest lake on the Balkan Peninsula. This pattern captured the attention of an astronaut onboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Lake Skadar is a karst lake that straddles the border of Montenegro and Albania. It is an example of a cryptodepression, where parts of the lakebed extend below sea level. The curved, spine-like ridges running parallel with the southern shore are part of the Dinaric Alps, which are comprised mostly of easily erodible rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and other carbonates.

The swirling plume in the center of the lake is likely the mixing of sediment that has been transported downstream from higher elevations via snow-melt water and other mountain runoff. A major source of this sediment inflow comes from the Moraca River; its wide delta occupies much of the Montenegro shoreline. Smaller river deltas along the northern edges of the lake also contribute sediment. The Drin River and the Bojana River converge just south of the ancient lake-front city of Shkodër, which lies on the small delta of the Kir River. The lake and these rivers all ultimately drain into the Adriatic Sea.

As with many large freshwater lakes near cities, many of the native plants and animals in Lake Skadar became endangered due to human activity. Montenegro has since made the western portion of the lake a national park, and Albania declared its section as a nature reserve. Both efforts were made to protect many species of birds, microorganisms, and aquatic life, including eels, snails, and endemic fish species.

Astronaut photograph ISS062-E-40353 was acquired on February 21, 2020, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a 400 millimeter lens and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 62 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by Sara Schmidt, GeoControl Systems, JETS Contract at NASA-JSC.

Germany: U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell’s Legacy of Success

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Richard Grenell arguably has done more than any other American official, with the possible exception of U.S. President Donald J. Trump, to call out the duplicity, hypocrisy and recklessness of Germany’s foreign policy establishment.

Closely related to the defense spending issue is Germany’s increasing energy dependency on Russia…. while the United States is spending billions of dollars annually to defend Europe against growing threats from Russia, German energy policies are increasing Russia’s grip over Europe.
Grenell’s greatest achievement during his roughly two years as ambassador was his tireless pursuit of the American interest and his unwillingness to appease Germany’s anti-American establishment.
On April 30, 2020, after years of equivocating, the German government announced a compromise measure between German lawmakers who want to take a harder line against Iran and those who do not. The ban falls far short of a complete prohibition on Hezbollah and appears aimed at providing the German government with political cover that allows Berlin to claim that it has banned the group even if it has not.
“With @RichardGrenell, Germany is losing one of the best US Ambassadors to our country ever. Whether it was pressure to stop NordStream2, rethink German-Iranian regime (love) affairs or increase our defense expenditure – he was always on point and acting in the best interest of the United States and Germany. THANKS SO MUCH!” — Julian Röpke, political editor of Bild, Germany’s largest newspaper


Richard Grenell is stepping down from his role as U.S. ambassador to Germany. The move ends one of the most effective American ambassadorships to Berlin in recent memory.

Grenell arguably has done more than any other American official, with the possible exception of U.S. President Donald J. Trump, to call out the duplicity, hypocrisy and recklessness of Germany’s foreign policy establishment.

On a wide range of geopolitical issues — from relations with China, Iran and Russia to anti-Semitism, climate change, defense spending (NATO), energy dependence (Nord Stream), globalism, Hezbollah, Huawei and mass migration — Grenell embarrassed German leaders by showing that their words and actions do not match.

The greatest point of contention in U.S. relations with Germany is Berlin’s refusal to honor its pledge to spend 2% of its GDP on defense. Germany, the largest and wealthiest country in the European Union, currently lacks a functioning Air Force and Navy and is completely dependent on U.S. security guarantees. Germany’s unwillingness to pay for its own defense has led to charges that it is “free-riding” on American security. Grenell consistently drew attention to this untenable arrangement, much to the anger of German elites.

Closely related to the defense spending issue is Germany’s increasing energy dependency on Russia. Despite opposition from the United States and 15 European countries, Germany is determined to complete the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which will further increase Russia’s leverage as an energy supplier to Europe. Grenell placed a spotlight on the inherent contradiction that while the United States is spending billions of dollars annually to defend Europe against growing threats from Russia, German energy policies are increasing Russia’s grip over Europe.

Grenell’s skillful use of Twitter enabled him to bypass Germany’s mainstream media and offer an alternative to the official narratives parroted by Germany’s political and media establishment. German elites frequently responded with ad hominem attacks; Grenell remained above the fray and stayed focused on the policy issues.

Grenell’s greatest achievement during his roughly two years as ambassador was his tireless pursuit of the American interest and his unwillingness to appease Germany’s anti-American establishment.

Cliff Sims, a former advisor to President Trump, encapsulated the essence of Grenell’s diplomatic style:

“The mandate of a diplomat is usually to be diplomatic. Trumpian foreign policy is obviously more confrontational. Ric is willing to be publicly confrontational with his host country if it’s in America’s national interest in a way that is not typical historically but directly reflects the way Trump operates.”

Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist at the University of Cologne, said that Grenell has had an important impact on shaping the public debate in Germany:

“He had no qualms about putting the German government under pressure in public, which might not have always been the smartest thing to do. But everyone knew Trump listened closely to him. I think they could have used that connection a lot better. In any case, Grenell has been highly effective in getting Germany to talk more about defense spending and about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The public opinion on those two issues has changed, and Grenell certainly had a role in that.”

Following is a brief selection of Grenell’s tweets, statements and interactions with Germany’s political establishment on a variety of issues:

Iran
On May 8, 2018, Grenell’s first day as U.S. Ambassador to Germany, he made a splash with a tweet that the Trump administration was serious about enforcing sanctions against Iran: “As @realDonaldTrump said, US sanctions will target critical sectors of Iran’s economy. German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.”

The tweet, which came after President Trump announced that he was pulling the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal, was greeted with indignation:

Former German Ambassador to the United States, Wolfgang Ischinger, tweeted: “Ric: my advice, after a long ambassadorial career: explain your own country’s policies, and lobby the host country – but never tell the host country what to do, if you want to stay out of trouble. Germans are eager to listen, but they will resent instructions.”
Green Party lawmaker Omid Nouripour said: “Good cooperation means that one does not drive a highly aggressive, ruthless policy towards our security interests and before you even arrive here, you threaten the German economy. It’s simply not a tone of cooperation and we have to say so very clearly.”
The then leader of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, Andrea Nahles, added: “It’s not my task to teach people about the fine art of diplomacy, especially not the U.S. ambassador. But he does appear to need some tutoring.”
Grenell responded by tweeting that what he wrote was “the exact language sent out from the White House talking points & fact sheet.”

After former German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel insinuated that the United States was no a friend of Germany, Grenell tweeted:

“Gabriel is now in Iran meeting with the regime to talk about doing more trade deals…. this after an Iranian ‘diplomat’ was arrested in Germany for giving an explosive device to 2 people on their way to blow up a convention in Paris.”

Grenell also said that months of pressure from the United States led Germany finally to ban Iran’s Mahan Air, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF). German officials countered that they took the initiative on their own.

Hezbollah
Grenell was tireless in his efforts to pressure the German government to outlaw Hezbollah — Arabic for “The Party of Allah” — in Germany. On December 19, 2019, the German parliament, known as the Bundestag, approved a three-page resolution — “Effective Action against Hezbollah” — that called on the German government to ban the activities of the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group on German territory. According to the Bundestag, a complete organizational ban of Hezbollah is (supposedly) impossible because the group’s structures in Germany are “not currently ascertainable.”

On April 30, 2020, after years of equivocating, the German government announced a compromise measure between German lawmakers who want to take a harder line against Iran and those who do not. The ban falls far short of a complete prohibition on Hezbollah and appears aimed at providing the German government with political cover that allows Berlin to claim that it has banned the group even if it has not.

The ban does not require the closure of Hezbollah mosques or cultural centers, nor does it require that members of the group be deported. The ban also does not prohibit Hezbollah operatives from travelling to Germany.

Israel
Grenell has been an indefatigable supporter of Israel. Germany claims that the security of Israel is a fundamental element of its Staatsräson, or “reason of state.” German foreign policy, however, is decidedly anti-Israel. Grenell frequently reminded German leaders that their words and actions regarding Israel do not match.

In recent years, Germany has approved scores of anti-Israel UN resolutions. In May 2016, Germany voted in favor of an especially disgraceful UN resolution, co-sponsored by the Arab group of states and the Palestinian delegation, that singled out Israel at the annual assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) as the world’s only violator of “mental, physical and environmental health.”

Much of Germany’s political establishment appears to be fundamentally anti-Israel. In March 2019, for instance, the Bundestag overwhelmingly rejected a resolution by the Free Democratic Party (FDP) to urge Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to reverse its anti-Israel voting record at the United Nations.

In February 2019, on the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier congratulated, “also in the name of my compatriots,” the Iranian regime, which openly seeks Israel’s destruction. The move was defended by much of the German establishment as “diplomatic custom.”

In February 2020, Grenell rebuked the German government for its plans to celebrate the founding of the Islamic Republic of Iran:

“Germany has a moral responsibility to say to Iran very firmly and clearly that it is unacceptable to deny basic human rights to your people, or kill protesters in the streets or push gay people off buildings. Celebrating the regime’s ongoing existence sends the opposite message.”

In response, Steinmeier’s office announced that it would not send the Iranian regime a congratulatory email on the anniversary of the revolution — but then “accidentally” sent it anyway.

President Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan
On January 28, 2020, the Trump administration unveiled its Middle East peace plan. The proposal was widely criticized in Germany. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said: “Only a negotiated two-state solution, acceptable to both sides, can lead to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”

Bundestag member Norbert Röttgen tweeted: “The so-called #PeacePlan is to the detriment of #Palestine and presented as an ultimatum depicts a setback in the conflict. It is primarily a contribution to the ongoing election campaigns in the #USA & #Israel and a welcome diversion from domestic crises in both states.”Grenell replied: “Abbas is in his 15th year of a 4 year term. The US didn’t cause this conflict but we are trying to solve it. Maybe some help?”
The director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Volker Perthes, tweeted: “#Trump’s ‘deal of the century’ is essentially a reflection of Netanyahu’s ideas for #Israel’s relation with Palestinians, packaged as a US ‘peace plan’. Don’t take it lightly though. It will shape developments on the ground, as well as international law debates and practice.”Grenell replied: “Europeans who criticize this good initiative from the sidelines, while failing to offer any ideas of their own should be dismissed and ignored for wanting the failing status quo. Less talk, more action.”
Conservatism
In June 2018, a month after assuming his ambassadorship, Grenell, in an interview with Breitbart, said that he wanted to empower European conservatives:

“I absolutely want to empower other conservatives throughout Europe, other leaders. I think there is a groundswell of conservative policies that are taking hold because of the failed policies of the left.

“There’s no question about that and it’s an exciting time for me. I look across the landscape and we’ve got a lot of work to do but I think the election of Donald Trump has empowered individuals and people to say that they can’t just allow the political class to determine before an election takes place, who’s going to win and who should run.

“That’s a very powerful moment when you can grasp the ability to see past the group-think of a very small elitist crowd telling you you have no chance to win or you’ll never win, or they mock you early on.”

Grenell’s seemingly innocuous comments stoked hyperbolic outrage:

Martin Schulz, a former leader of Germany’s Social Democratic Party, said: “Grenell does not behave like a diplomat, but like a far-right colonial officer.”
Left Party lawmaker Sahra Wagenknecht called for Grenell’s expulsion: “Anyone who, like US Ambassador Richard Grenell, thinks that he can determine who governs Europe, can no longer remain in Germany as a diplomat.”
A parliamentarian for the Social Democrats, Johannes Kahrs, tweeted: “If this is how it was said, then this man should leave the country.”
Sevim Dagdelen of the opposition Left party described Grenell as Trump’s “regime change envoy.”
Huawei
The Trump administration has repeatedly urged Germany against allowing the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei to participate in its next-generation mobile network. The U.S. government has warned that Beijing could use Huawei technology to conduct espionage or cyber sabotage.

The President of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, Bruno Kahl, also advised against a role for Huawei. “Infrastructure is not a suitable area for a group that cannot be trusted fully,” he said.

In February 2020, after China threatened to retaliate against German carmakers, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling conservatives announced a compromise measure that stopped short of banning Huawei.

In response, Grenell tweeted:

“@realDonaldTrump just called me from AF1 and instructed me to make clear that any nation who chooses to use an untrustworthy 5G vendor will jeopardize our ability to share Intelligence and information at the highest level.”

The tweet elicited a series of responses:

Left Party lawmaker Steffen Bockhahn tweeted: “Mister Ambassador, you should know, that parliamentarians are free in mind and in decision. In old Europe we want it like that and we like diplomatic diplomats. It makes real and open-minded conversation much easier. Regards!”Grenell replied: “You want a US that doesn’t pressure you to pay your NATO obligation, looks the other way when you buy too much Russian gas, doesn’t demand you take back your Nazi prison guard living in NYC, accepts your higher car tariffs and still sends 50,000 troops to your country.”
Bundestag member Alexander Graf Lambsdorff tweeted: “Is there a US vendor the President would care to recommend instead? Does he have a list of ‘trustworthy vendors’? Which criteria does he apply to determine ‘trustworthiness’?”Grenell replied: “It’s odd that you don’t think about European solutions. Do you take any responsibility or just blame the US?”
A director of the French search engine Qwant, Guillaume Champeau, tweeted: “According to the U.S. ambassador to Germany, the U.S. is threatening to withhold [intelligence] information from states that have Huawei in their 5G infrastructure.”Grenell replied: “According to this guy, the US doesn’t get to react to policies we find dangerous. I find it offensive that you think the US cooperation must stay the same no matter what you do. We call that taking us for granted.”
German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, a close confident of Chancellor Angela Merkel, created a false equivalency between the United States, which guarantees Germany’s security, and China. On a television talk show, he suggested that American telecommunications companies posed just as much of a security threat as ones from China.Grenell responded that Altmaier’s comparison was “an insult to the thousands of American troops who help ensure Germany’s security and to the millions of Americans committed to a strong Western alliance. These claims are likewise an insult to the millions of Chinese citizens denied basic freedoms and unjustly imprisoned by the CCP [Communist Party of China].”
Defense Spending
At a NATO summit in Wales in 2014, members agreed to meet a goal of spending at least 2% of their GDP on defense within the next decade.

On March 18, 2019, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz announced that Germany would not be spending two percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense. He said that the share of defense expenditure in GDP would rise to 1.37% in the short term, but decrease to 1.25% by 2023. Chancellor Angela Merkel had pledged to increase spending to 1.5% by 2024.

Grenell responded:

“NATO members have clearly committed to moving towards two percent by 2024 and not moving away from it. The fact that the Federal Government is even considering reducing its already unacceptable contributions to military readiness is a worrying signal from Germany to its 28 NATO allies.”

The deputy speaker of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Kubicki, called for Grenell to be expelled from Germany:

“If a U.S. diplomat acts like a high commissioner of an occupying power, he will have to learn that our tolerance has its limits. It is no longer tolerable that the US ambassador intervenes again in political questions of the sovereign Federal Republic. Germany should not tolerate this improper behavior for reasons of self-respect.”

The SPD parliamentary director, Carsten Schneider, also rejected Grenell’s criticism: “Mr. Grenell is a total diplomatic failure. With his repeated clumsy provocations, Mr. Grenell damages the transatlantic relationship.”

In November 2019, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said that Germany would not meet its NATO defense spending target until 2031.

Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline
Grenell worked tirelessly to stop the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline directly linking Russia to Germany. The €9.5 billion ($10.5 billion) pipeline would double shipments of Russian natural gas to Germany by transporting the gas under the Baltic Sea. Opponents of the pipeline warn that it will give Russia a stranglehold over Germany’s energy supply.

On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual defense spending bill, which included Nord Stream 2 sanctions language. The measure previously cleared the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate by overwhelming margins. The American sanctions forced Switzerland’s Allseas Group SA, which was laying the sub-sea pipes, to abandon work, throwing the project into disarray.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas tweeted: “European energy policy is decided in Europe, not in the US. We reject external interference and extraterritorial sanctions.”

Grenell, in an interview with Bild, the largest-circulation newspaper in Germany, responded:

“This is a longstanding US policy that goes back to the Obama administration. The goal has always been for diversification of Europe’s energy sources and to ensure that not one country or source can build up too much influence on Europe through energy….

“Fifteen European countries, the European Commission and the European Parliament have all expressed their concerns about the project. We have been hearing from our European partners that the United States should support them in their efforts. That is why the sanctions are a very pro-European decision. Currently, there is a lot of talk in Germany about being more for Europe and we believe that when it comes to Nord Stream 2, we have taken an extremely pro-European position. I’ve been hearing all day from European diplomats thanking me for taking this action.”

Richard Herzinger, political correspondent for Die Welt, wrote in support of Grenell:

“U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell said that the Washington sanction decision against the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was ‘a very pro-European decision.’

“American interest in the European gas market is certainly not entirely selfless. In principle, however, Grenell is absolutely right when he rejects the accusation that the sanctions are directed against Europe.

“The German government, most recently in the person of Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, incorrectly presents the U.S. punitive measures as an attack on pan-European energy sovereignty. In truth, it is more Berlin itself that isolates itself in Europe with its stubborn adherence to Nord Stream 2.

“A number of EU governments, especially Poland and the Baltic States, welcome U.S. intervention as a long-awaited step against the expansion of German-Russian energy cooperation, which they see as an eminent threat to their security. The German energy special route has also been met with great skepticism from the EU Commission and the European Parliament, which has spoken out explicitly against the construction of Nord Stream 2.

“Incidentally, the U.S. sanctions are by no means a further outflow of anti-European affectations from Donald Trump. Rather, they were imposed by the U.S. Congress — with an overwhelming majority that includes both Democratic and Republican members. Such punitive measures had already been considered at the time of Obama’s presidency.

“Today, many Europeans believe Washington’s intervention is the last hope of stopping the pipeline project that would dramatically increase Europe’s dependence on Putin’s Russia.”

On May 26, Grenell announced that the United States was preparing additional sanctions to prevent completion of the pipeline. “Germany must stop feeding the beast while at the same time it does not pay enough for NATO,” he said. The German financial newspaper Handelsblatt described the new sanctions as Grenell’s “farewell greeting” (Abschiedsgruß).

Nazi War Criminals
In August 2018, Jakiw Palij, a 95-year-old Nazi collaborator who had lived in New York City for decades, was deported to Germany. Despite a court ordering his deportation in 2004, past American administrations were unsuccessful in removing him. Under orders from President Trump, Grenell secured Palij’s deportation to Germany. Palij died six months later.

On January 10, 2019, Grenell tweeted:

“Former Nazi prison guard Jakiw Palij has died in Germany. I am so thankful to @realDonaldTrump for making the case a priority. Removing the former Nazi prison guard from the US was something multiple Presidents just talked about – but President Trump made it happen.”

In an interview, Welt am Sonntag asked Grenell: “You have introduced a very direct way of communicating with your German audience. Are you surprised by the critical reception?” Grenell replied:

“I’m not surprised at all. I think that the American style has always been different from the European one. And it’s OK to have different styles. I’ve always thought that I would be judged by the political class on the progress I make. For too long, we have ignored some problems.

“One example of this is over the Nazi prison guard Jakiw Palij, who had been living in the US and who we wanted to be returned to Germany for a very long time. I was told that the Germans simply didn’t want to make this happen, which I didn’t find to be true — after pushing harder on this topic and after raising it at every meeting across all levels of government. So, is my style more pushy? I believe it is. But it also helps to reform our relationship and make it deeper and stronger.”

In March 2020, a US immigration judge ordered Tennessee resident Friedrich Karl Berger, who served as an armed guard at a Nazi concentration camp during World War II, to be deported to Germany. With Grenell no longer ambassador, it remains unclear if Germany will take Berger back.

North Korea
Grenell was instrumental in closing a hostel in Berlin that is owned by the government of North Korea. The Cityhostel Berlin funneled approximately €450,000 ($500,000) a year into the coffers of the regime of Kim Jong Un in violation of UN Security Council sanctions.

On January 28, 2020, a Berlin Administrative Court ordered the hostel to be shut down. Grenell tweeted:

“US Embassy Berlin has been hard at work getting this hotel shut down. It seems like a no-brainer to us. North Korea is under UN sanctions and the Germans are the Chair of the UN enforcement committee.”

Farewell to Germany
On February 20, 2020, President Trump installed Grenell as the acting director of national intelligence. Grenell was to fulfill his new duties while continuing in his role as ambassador. Almost immediately, German leaders complained that the lack of a full-time ambassador signalled that the United States was downgrading its relationship with Germany.

Bundestag member Alexander Graf Lambsdorff said that the additional post was an “upgrade” for Grenell, but a “downgrade” for Germany: “Even with the greatest effort, it is not possible to coordinate 17 intelligence agencies while maintaining German-American relations.”

Johann Wadephul, Bundestag member for the Christian Democrats, added: “Especially in these times, the transatlantic relationship needs a full-time ambassador.”

A foreign policy spokesman for the Social Democrats, Nils Schmid, said that the fact that Grenell would continue the post of ambassador from Washington was “an expression of a disdain for Germany.” He added: “U.S. President Donald Trump should appoint a successor who does not make one-sided propaganda, but also campaigns for German positions in Washington.”

On May 24, the German newspaper Die Welt, citing the German Press Agency, reported that Grenell would be stepping down. The announcement generated a range of responses, including:

A fellow at the German Marshall Fund, Noah Barkin, tweeted that Germany would breathe a “sigh of relief” at Grenell’s departure. Grenell replied: “You make a big mistake if you think the American pressure is off. You don’t know Americans.”
German Bundestag member Andreas Nick, tweeted: “For a generation, each and every US Ambassador I got to know personally – career diplomat or political appointee alike – used to leave his post as a highly respected figure and trusted friend of Germany. Now someone leaves issuing threats as if he were representing a hostile power.”Grenell responded: “You always wanted me to stop asking you publicly to pay your NATO obligations and calling for an end to Nord Stream 2. But these are US policies. And I work for the American people.”
Bundestag member Alexander Graf Lambsdorff admitted that Grenell will be missed because of his authenticity and closeness to President Trump: “In Ambassador Grenell, you knew what the American government thinks and how it acts.”
Julian Röpke, political editor of Bild, Germany’s largest newspaper, tweeted: “With @RichardGrenell, Germany is losing one of the best US Ambassadors to our country ever. Whether it was pressure to stop NordStream2, rethink German-Iranian regime (love) affairs or increase our defense expenditure – he was always on point and acting in the best interest of the United States and Germany. THANKS SO MUCH!”
Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute.