'Greater Albania' Enjoys Massive Support in Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia

World | November 18, 2010, Thursday

Map of Greater Albania as claimed by Albanian nationalists. Map by WIkipedia

The majorities of the ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo, Albania, and Macedonia in favor of forming a "Greater Albania," a poll shows.

80% of the Albanians in Kosovo, 62% of those in Albania, and 51% of the Albanian minority in Macedonia back the idea for forming a Greater Albania, according to a poll of Gallup carried out in cooperation with the European Fund for the Balkans, cited by Macedonian TV Kanal 5.

An alliance between Albania and Kosovo has smaller support – 33.7% in Albania and 29.2% in Kosovo, according to the report of the Serbian media B92.

According to Albanian nationalists, a hypothetical "Greater Albania" would feature the entire territories of Albania and Kosovo, about half of Macedonia, and parts of Southern Serbia, Montenegro and Greece.

Fears that a scenario for creating a Greater Albania were on the way emerged after the Kosovo War in 1999 and the subsequent insurgency in Macedonia, which was settled through a constitutional compromise, the Ohrid Accord, in 2001.

Georgiadis: Which is the answer for the burning of crowns of the Greek heroes, in Boboshtitsa?

LAOS MP, Andonis Georgiadis, requires the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, to respond to the incident in Boboshtisa, in the Region of Korca , where "anonymous" people, burned crowns placed there by the Greek Community of Korca.

http://icorantis.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/6406/#respond

Positive Meetings with Papandreou & Sarkozy in Paris

During his visit to Paris Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou met with Nicolas Sarkozy at the Presidential palace on Monday, November 14th. The two leaders discussed various issues including the Greek initiative for the confrontation of the climate change in the Mediterranean and the institutionalization of the support mechanism. The latter according to Papandreou, is expected to facilitate the completion of the economic governance, whose absence is responsible for the imbalances and the difficulties that Greece and other countries encounter. Finally, Papandreou thanked the French President for supporting Greece during the current economic crisis. Sarkozy confirmed that France will keep encouraging Greek efforts for recovery.

The Elephant of Northern Epirus (Epirus) still sleeps!

"Do not disturb the elephant, which hides in deep sleep." This is the epithet that the great Himariot writer Petro Marko, considers Northern Epirus, a rich historic region which is recognized by international relations, as half of the Hellenic state of the Pyrros of Epirus. The paradox is that neither Greater Albania or Greater Serbia, or Greater Bulgaria, do not must disturb the "elephant" to sleep, until one day, it will be set up again giant.
Petro Marko
June 14, 1990

51.5% of Albanians in Macedonia want Greater Albania

18 November 2010 FOCUS News Agency

Skopje. 51.5% of the Albanians in Macedonia want the establishment of Greater Albania, states a poll conducted by Gallup in partnership with the European Fund for the Balkans, Macedonian Kanal 5 TV reports.

According to the poll, some 62% of the citizens of Albania back the establishment of Greater Albania, so do 81% of the citizens of Kosovo.

95% of the people inquired think that Greater Albania should cover the territory of current Albania, Kosovo and part of Macedonia.

62.7% of the Albanians want the "Greater Albania"

62.7% of the Albanians want the "Greater Albania"

Seems still the idea of "Greater Albania", which is reflected in research Balkan Monitor, which share 62.7% support this idea in Albania.

High is the percentage of Albanian supporters of the idea of "Greater Albania" in Kosovo ( 81%) and Macedonia (51.8%). The respondents, 32% in Albania, Kosovo, 29% and 6.8% in Macedonia, consider that a "Greater Albania" would result from the unification of Albania with Kosovo. In the same survey, 48.8% of respondents Albanians in Kosovo, in Macedonia 41.8% and 25.8% in Albania believe that "Greater Albania" is a vision that will not be long take shape.

Under the same survey, 29.8% of respondents do not trust the elections held in the country, 47.1% did not approve the project's prime minister, 38.8% described as very serious problem of corruption and 81.9 % do not trust the institutions of the country. Please note that end after the abolition of entry permits for citizens of Albania who travel in the Schengen zone, 38% expect a significant increase of migration.

Saranda, robbery apartment of former KLA political leader Adem Demaci

Apartment robbery of former KLA political leader, Adem Demaci in Saranda. The news was made public today afternoon, and police immediately launched investigations in Saranda for the event. It was the palace administrator, who has found an open door of apartment of Kosovar leader.

Demaci was not at home, when it has been robbed while police still did not clear what could be robbed in his apartment after he has turned down. Adem Demaci, the former political leader of the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) is one of the most prominent personalities of Kosovo, not only for his contributions as a writer but also for the role he played as a politician, in Kosovo 28 years after release from prison of Yugoslavia, sentenced to national question.

Since 1991 he lives alone in this apartment in Saranda. Otherwise known as Nelson Mandela of Europe, led Demaci Council for Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) from 1990 to 1995. In 1991 was honored by the European Parliament Sakharov Prize. During the period 1998/1999, when meetings were held in Rambouillet to the future of Kosovo, he was the political spokesman of the KLA.

Today he is committed to minority rights in Kosovo and is highly respected by locals and foreigners. It was (2005-2007) President of the Writers of Kosovo. The last interview was given by Saranda (extreme town in south of Albania, bordering with Greece) for BBC radio, in which he spoke for Greater Albania,and the island of Corfu as Albanian territory.

EPP president criticises commission's report on Albania

SVETLANA JOVANOVSKA

The European Commission came under fire on Tuesday (16 November) over its latest progress report on Albania during a meeting hosted by the European People's Party (EPP).

Joseph Daul, president of the EPP, the biggest political group in the European Parliament, said he had not seen the problems referred to in the commission's report on his own visit to Albania.

EPP president Joseph Daul has criticised the commission's report on Albania. (Photo: epp-ed.eu)

The commission published its opinion on Albania's submission to become an official candidate for EU membership on 9 November. The Brussels-based EU executive refrained from recommending Albania's candidacy and instead asked the country to continue reform efforts that could eventually lead to candidate status.

For now, the commission considers Albania to fall short of the political criteria needed to begin membership talks. The greatest problem identified by experts was the lack of dialogue between the government and opposition in Tirana.

The country has been in a political crisis since the summer of 2009 when, following general elections, Prime Minister Sali Berisha's conservative party held onto power and the socialist opposition started boycotting parliamentary work........................... more see;

http://waz.euobserver.com/887/31283

Albania, latest update

Greek Government may open Consulate in Himara

The Greek Community of Ionian Area, needs Athens to observer strongly two important processes; census population and property registration

The news is considered seriously by diplomatic sources in Washington, at the latest meetings held in New York by the Greek Prime Minister Papandreou during ONU sessions in September.

Sources said that during meetings with Greek Prime Minister, with exponents of the Greek lobby in USA, especially from abroad people of Himara with American citizenship, they proposed to George Papandreou, the opening of a Greek diplomatic representation in Himara.

According to sources, the requirements that had character as diplomatic as well as under the protection of human rights, included two primary elements that are, the registration of real property of Greek community of Ionian coastal zones, and census process, which is considered as very important geopolitical and democratic process in Albania. Both these processes will be developed to monitor the OSCE and the European Union in 2011.

However, the opening of a Greek Consulate in Himara, will significantly reduce ethnic conflicts in this region and will direct indicated one of the most beautiful areas of the Ionian Riviera, to construct a modern prospective in Mediterranean tourism.

Meanwhile, there is still an answer by the Albanian foreign ministry, even the opening of the Greek school in Himara, some years ago, has showed that the relations Athens - Tirana for "Himara Issue", is going to the European perspective of the region.

Athens, has opened two Consulates in Albania, in Prefectures of Koritsa and Argirokaster, when is seeing to open the most important Prefecture of Vlora, which including, Vlora district, Himara, Lukovo, Delvina and Saranda Municipalities.

"BAJRAM DAY" IN TIRANA AVENUE "DESHMORET E KOMBIT"

Albanians move to build integration bridges

Image Caption: Refugee children receiving lessons in Albanian language in Solothurn in 1999 (RDB)

Two major initiatives have been recently launched to help the Albanian-speaking community integrate in Switzerland and improve mutual understanding.

There are around 270,000 Albanian speakers currently living in Switzerland, of whom 100,000 are under 16. The diverse populations from Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania, and Serbia and Montenegro form the second-largest foreign community after the Italians.

“Things are definitely happening at the moment,” said Bashkim Iseni, a 39-year-old political scientist from Lausanne University.

Iseni is head of the team of journalists behind www.albinfo.ch, a new information website in Albanian, French and German for the Albanian-speaking community in Switzerland that started in mid-October.

The project, financed by the Swiss government and conceived in partnership with the media group Edipresse, offers Swiss news, Balkans politics, features on the Albanian community in Switzerland and a wealth of practical information...... see more:

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/foreign_affairs/Albanians_move_to_build_integration_bridges.html?cid=28797982

Greek Comedy “In-Laws from Tirana” Performing in Brussels November 21st!

The Greek community in Brussels welcomes the hilarious comedy: “In-Laws from Tirana”. It is created by Mixalis Reppas and Thanasis Papathanasiou and directed by Dimitris Argyropoulos.

This Greek production is a long-running and very popular theatre comedy in Greece. The story portrays Penny and Lykourgos who are a wealthy couple living in a large provincial city in central Greece. Their only daughter Lisa is studying in London. Their life appears complete since they live in luxury and have lots of money. Their dream is to see their daughter settle down with a good husband. Their neighbors Pauline, Penny’s sister and her husband Bill also live very comfortably. Shortly before Easter, Lisa comes home from London with her boyfriend, Alfred. He is a young student she met in London. The fact that their daughter has a boyfriend is a pleasant shock to the family. Alfred is charming and very polite. The families are very excited when they learn that the groom is from London. They go crazy when they learn that Alfred is not English but Albanian. Things get even worse when Alfred’s parents arrive from Tirana, Albania.

Participating actors are Tasos Filippidis, Tula Monoyiou Nikos Tsokalos, Marina Tzoti, George Muggle, David Loukos, Stefania Pantazi and many more.

The show will be at the Ten Weyngaert theater on Sunday, November 21, 2010 at 3:00 pm. All proceeds from the show will be donated to the Greek Community in Brussels

Albanian Kosovo dual citizenship after visa liberalization, now is became "De Facto" reality

Minister Beqaj: The Albanians of Kosovo can obtain passports from Albania

Kosovo government officials have not ruled out the possibility that a number of Kosovars of Albanian passports aiming device, after entry of Albania into the Schengen area.

As announced by Albanian embassy in Pristina, there are eight criteria that must be met to obtain a passport from Albania, including resident position of 5 years, 3 years respectively for the citizens of Kosovo.

Dismissed Minister of European Integration, Besim Beqaj saying history has shown that after the liberalization of visa regime with Serbia, some Kosovo Albanian and Serbian passports now the same could happen with Albania.

According to minister Beqaj, there were some cases when citizens of Kosovo are going to Serbia and have fictitious registration, taking Serbian passports to finish so in different countries of the European Union.

"This has shown that any block that is made, creates opportunities for them, to find alternative routes and this is the argument that we use every day," said Minister Beqaj.

Few days ago, European Union Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Cecilia Malmström has warned Serbia and Macedonia for "misuse of visa liberalization", citing the possibility of reviewing this process.

http://www.shekulli.com.al/2010/11/14/vizat-kosovaret-edhe-mund-te-marrin-pasaporta-te-shqiperise.html

Listen

Read phonetically

"GAZETA SHQIPTARE"

New Democratic Party urges the Albanian immigrants, to come back in Northern Epirus

the Albanian immigrants in Greece, according to Albanian newspaper «Gazeta Shpiptare", have received messages from the New Democracy party that promises a better future in Northern Epirus. This has disappointed the Albanians, who where going to vote like all the Greeks, for local candidates in the second round of municipal and regional elections.

For most of our immigrants, continues the paper, the term 'Northern Epirus' should not exist and it has a reaction to the Albanian immigrants who decided to boycott the elections, said the newspaper.

"If such a vulgar term of 'Northern Epirus' is still used, then let them tell us who is the Southern Epirus. It's a tough policy to destabilize Albania and the region, "says one of the Albanians of us who are voters in Athens.

The message, the newspaper writes, is "sensitivity to the name of Northern Epirus: Antonis Samaras the President of ND addresses to voters: "Northers Epiriotes,We support this Sunday, Bill Kikilia"

Electoral lists for local elections in Greece are written 150,000 Albanian immigrants, although the total number of migrants is much higher.

But on November 7, the election day, according to polls where registered de facto a small percentage of Albanians participated in the elections, said the Albanian newspaper.

Note: Still now, the Albanian State, considers as chauvinist slogan, the regional term of "Northern Epirus", even on International Relations and Geopolitical issues of Balkan Region, the Epirus, tells the most important History and regional develompents area including Greece and Albania.

HAS SALI BERISHA PRIVATIZED STATE INSTITUTIONS?

The International Institute for Middle-East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) in Ljubljana, Slovenia, regularly analyses events in the Middle East and the Balkans. IFIMES has prepared an analysis of the current political situation in Albania in view of the decision of the Council of Ministers of 8 November 2010 to abolish the visa regime for the citizens of Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the conclusion of unsuccessful negotiations between the Democratic Party (DP) and the Socialist Party (PS) by the intervention of the European Parliament (EP). The most interesting and relevant parts of the comprehensive analysis entitled »Has Sali Berisha privatised state institutions« are given below.

ALBANIA: The EU has corrected its mistake from 2009 when it failed to abolish the visa system for the citizens of Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, although these two countries were not in a worse position than Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia, which had the visa regime abolished less than a year ago. The freedom of movement is one of the primary human rights and the ambition of the EU is to become the leader in respecting and protecting human rights, so this decision basically fixes the injustice that has been inflicted upon the citizens of these two countries. However, the EU hasn’t abolished visas for the citizens of Kosovo yet and so Kosovars are at the moment the most isolated nation in Europe. The current government of Albania, represented by its prime minister Sali Berisha (PD), is by all means trying to take all the credits for the visa abolitions and, by doing so, to take any public attention off the unsuccessful negotiations between the Democratic Party (PD) and the Socialist Party (PS) that have been led by the intermediation of the European Parliament and Eduard Kukan, the President of the Delegation of the EP for South Eastern Europe and the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia. INCREASED CORRUPTION Crime and corruption still represent the cancer of the Albanian society. Prime Minister Sali Berisha is attacking corruption more than others, but only as regards its consequences, not its origins. According to Transparency International for 2010, Albania’s corruption level (2010 corruption perception index) was rated by the 87th place among 178 countries, together with India, Jamaica and Liberia (in 2008 it was on the 85th place). Transparency International personally addressed Prime Minister Sali Berisha in writing concerning different forms of corruption and pressures exerted by the authorities. ERE IN HANDS OF SALI BERISHA The malfunction and non-efficiency of the institutions of the Albanian state is very illustrative in the case of Energy Regulatory Authority (ERE), which obviously doesn’t carry out its responsibilities and competencies that have been entrusted to it according to the Law with the aim to promote the free competition in electric energy sector, protection of the interests of consumers and the supervision of consistent law enforcement of all the procedures for transparent electricity purchases for covering the losses of the Albanian energy system by the recently privatized public company named OSSH (Operatori i Sistemit te Shperndarjes). Regardless of the fact that it was the Energy Regulatory Authority ERE (Enti Rregullator i Energjise) that created the legislative framework and the rules in 2008 and 2009 which shall regulate the operation of OSSH after its 76% privatization of previously state distribution by the Czech company ČEZ Group, and regardless the circumstances that all five ERE commissioners were appointed by the Albanian Parliament, especially by the members of Berisha’s Democratic Party, it is nevertheless ERE’s disinterest and inefficiency in carrying out basic functions that is the obvious example of this state institution’s malfunctioning. A very obvious case is the Electricity Supply Tender from September 2010 for covering the losses in the Albanian distribution system by the OSSH sh.a. that meanwhile renamed itself into ČEZ Distribution. After the investigation of the of the best bidder selection procedure several irregularities and infringements have been determined and also some obvious violations of the accepted Rules and procedures for procurement of electricity from OSSH sh.a., which had been accepted by the ERE in May 2009 particularly with the purpose to avoid possible misuses. Despite the fact that ERE took a clear stand during the privatization of OSSH sh.a. that all the procedures by OSSH sh.a. concerning the purchase of electric power for covering the losses in the distribution system should be carried out “fairly”, “transparently” and in compliance with applicable laws and best practices, considering in particular also the fact that the costs of such purchases are fully pass-through and charged upon final consumers by increased applicable tariff. Regardless of this duty, ERE was obviously not interested in the consistent observation of such standards in practice. Despite the fact that in this case such public tender directly affects the tariffs of electric energy for final consumers in Albania, ERE didn’t deal with the transparency of the procedure and the consistency of the before mentioned rules for such purchases of electric power irrespective of the obvious violations, but it obviously tolerated even the disrespect of its own procedure rules. According to the local Albanian media (“Monitor” magazine, November 2010, p.8) ERE approved the submitted tender results by OSSH sh.a., despite established obvious and transparent procedure violations, which creates a reasonable doubt in the independence and credibility of decisions reached by this state institution and also justifiably raises questions regarding the possibility of corruption. In addition, ERE with such “paper-tiger” activity is disabling competition development on the Albanian market and is at the same time enabling the possibility for high earnings of some companies and all of this at the expense of the consumers, i.e. the Albanian citizens. The analysts are warning that the losses in the Albanian distribution network reach around 30% of the entire annual consumption and this cost is paid directly by the Albanian citizens, amounting to over 100 million € annually in absolute terms. The analysts consider, based on several negative effects on the development of Albanian electric power market, as well as consequently negative effects to the whole Albanian economy, but most of all the inadequate final consumer protection, who bear the whole financial burden because of the inefficient business activity of ERE, that a strong monitoring over ERE should be established in order to determine all the irregularities that have been present in its activity for a longer period of time. Because of the complexity of the problem and high financial funds it is crucial to assure a consistent effective fulfilment of all statutory powers and the responsibility of ERE as an independent state regulatory institution, as well as to assure a satisfactory transparency of its activities, including the fact that the impartiality and efficiency of the monitoring be controlled by the EU institutions in addition to the police and the prosecutor’s office in order to determine the responsibility of certain ERE Commissioners and the role of Prime Minister Sali Berisha. Because of the evidenced irregularities of the before mentioned Tender from September 2010, which were, as the local media reports, admitted also by ERE, it is consequently obvious that the tender should be annulled and a new one announced, which would be carried out lawfully and transparently. The Albanian parliament should be furthermore forced to initiate a procedure for the election of new ERE Commissioners. The international IFIMES institute will continue to research and analyze the work of individual institutions of the Albanian state and all further procedures which will be undertaken in ERE, and to inform the Albanian and international public on the developments. EU HAS TO INCREASE STATE INSTITUTION MONITORING At the last Parliamentary Elections the Democratic Party (PD) of Sali Berisha won most seats, promising the citizens to reduce crime and corruption, to strengthen the economy, achieve democratic development and speed up the country’s accession to the EU. However, two years after the election, the situation regarding crime and corruption is much more different. Even the analysts who are closer to the Albanian right-wing politics consider that not enough has been done. Several ministers of the Democratic Party, as well as the family members of Sali Berisha’s family were engaged in corruption affairs. If Albania wishes to become a member of the EU it is very certain that the State authorities will have to act fully lawfully, including the independent regulatory bodies being automatically excluded from the political sphere, as it is the case with ERE, which affects the reputation and position of Albania in the EU circles. LOCAL ELECTIONS CAMPAIGN HAS STARTED The current situation in Albania is connected with the announced local elections in spring 2011. The goal of the Democratic Party is to improve its position before the upcoming local elections showing the citizens its main merits for visa abolition and by that diminishing the significant contribution to the abolition of visas for the citizens of Albania that has been made by former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Vice Premiere Ilir Meta (LSI). Also, the Democratic Party will continue to confront the Socialist party in order to mobilize their electorate before the local elections. The international IFIMES institute considers that in the politically polarized Albania (between the Democratic and the Socialist Party) the Movement for the Socialist Integration (LSI) as the third largest Party plays the key role in keeping the high political level and representing the interests of Albanian citizens at home and abroad. The analysts have emphasised that the role of Ilir Meta as the Minister of Foreign Affairs was a key one in the construction of a positive and progressive image of Albania last year in the EU and in the world. Sali Berisha and Edi Rama do not have the moral nor the political rights to destroy that image. The problem of Sali Berisha and the Democratic Party is that they don’t have a full, detailed and a coherent political platform to solve problems which Albania is facing. Instead, Berisha has offered the voters phrases that incarnate communism, but in fact Berisha is doing everything to remain in power and he doesn’t hesitate to do whatever is necessary to that end. His marketing abuses are all affecting the divisions between Albanians. Berisha is acting as if he was in a fierce battle of the dilemma: communism or democracy? The IFIMES international institute considers that it is not reasonable that Sali Berisha should spend so much energy on confronting other political parties and their leaders, i.e. on topics that no longer play any role in Albania. The changes in the domestic and foreign politics are visible. Albania is changing, only Sali Berisha (PD) and Edi Rama (PS) have stayed the same. The local elections in May 2011 will show if the Albanian citizens are tired of divisions and confrontations and if they are going to pursue their future with the political parties that offer consistent and progressive politics that can leads Albania forward, not backward. Ljubljana, 12 November 2010 http://www.ifimes.org/default.cfm?Jezik=En&Kat=10&ID=562

Commissioner Malstrom visits Tirana

Visa Liberalization: Fears of asylum invasion from Albania and Bosnia in European Union countries

November 12, 2010. "The European Union fears invasion of Albania and Bosnia, which would seek asylum in European countries, after the facilitation of visa waiver" Just noted noted today, the Internal Affairs Commissioner of the EU, Cecilia Malstrom, who visited Tirana. Michele Cercone, in addition, said today in an interview on «Gazeta Shqiptare", it has removed this fear:

"The EU has set up a special monitoring mechanism is to keep the situation under control to prevent misuse of the possibility of free movement," notes the newspaper. During the meeting today with PM Berisha and other member of cabinet, Malstrom calls Tirana to monitor this process and if it will be observed distortion will submit timely report to the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. According to Malstrom, EU will take all necessary measures to prevent the influx of Albanians and Bosnian asylum-seekers without any real reason.

"The previous process of liberalization of visas for the countries of Western Balkans, we observed an increase in the flow of asylum seekers from the countries concerned. This is a major problem for all EU member countries and there is an alarming trend even now"

Update: Greece and Albania, continue without any "official" border

Gazeta Shqip "Missing" the agreement of the border land with Greece

After cancellation of naval agreement, now land border, "is lost" the protocol Albanian jurists of international law, stated that this agreement can not be discussed, as was declared null by the Constitutional Court

After two weeks, the Albanian diplomacy through a delegation to be headed by the secretary general of Foreign Ministry Gazmend Turdiu,who will negotiate with the Greek side agreement on delimitation of the waters, and some other issues related to border issues between the two countries.

Diplomats with knowledge of the old Greek-Albanian relations and especially experts in border issues, said that this time, the negotiation is extremely difficult. This becomes even more difficult by the current context of the allegations by media, following the collapse of the Constitutional Court of the agreement reached about a year ago between the two parties, which agreement was appealed and caused a tremendous public response.

While Albanian jurists of international law, stated that this agreement can not be discussed, as was declared null by the Constitutional Court.

Sources from the Foreign Ministry, to announce that preparations for this confrontation with the Greek side are launched. While diplomats have expressed their reservation, that in this case of Albania, has trouble finding a professional expert on the issue of sea shelf, as in the first rounds of negotiations between Athens and Tirana, the Greek side rejected the booking from side of Italian experts specialists.

Lack of information about the existence in the ministry a copy of the agreement gave the Greek side, has caused serious concern, raised in the form of an alarm within the staff close to the line departments. Likewise, it is known that along with this copy of the draft, a copy of the response required from the Greek for official Albanian question "whether Albania and Greece are at war or not, the answer, according to diplomats, even from a former Foreign Minister of Albania, was affirmative. However, concern about finding or not this draft, is not yet officially present writes today "Gazeta Shqip".

www.gazeta-shqip.com

Former head of the OSCE: "Yeah, I support "Greater Albania"

Walker in Prishtina to support Albin Kurti

The Skopje media today, the Albanian-speaking and Slavophones, have a prominent place to the statements of William Walker, former head of the OSCE mission in Kosovo in 1999, to support the union of Kosovo with Albania.

According to William Walker, the people of Kosovo and Albania have to jointly face the future.

"Sometimes I think the idea of consolidation is good, other times I'm not too sure. However, I believe that people on both sides have reasons to address this issue. A large portion of the people of Kosovo and Albania are thinking about a common future.

If you believe people are that such a step would be for their own good, then why do not they? "Said Walker, during an interview to "Top Channel TV".

The former head of the OSCE was in Pristina, in Kosovo to support the party of "Self Determination" of Albin Kurti, which promotes the idea of union of Kosovo with the Albanian state.

The Skopje in talking about the proposals of the designer idea of the Natural Albanian, Koço Danaj, proposing the federalism of FYROM and the annexation of the ethnic Albanian part of the Albanian state.

According to a report of the Skopje 'Sitel', the Danai proposes changing the current form of the Skopje state "by passing a Federation under the Ohrid Agreement, which is still in power, while the state of Skopje is finished.

"So first step is to federalism and the subsequent merger with Albania Koco Danaj has proclaimed.

Did Albania breach NATO security?

11/11/2010

The majority coalition in Albania's parliament is upset at the opposition for going public with information suggesting Albania sold secret NATO information.

By Erl Murati for Southeast European Times in Tirana

Mark Ndreca of Albania's Department of Security of Classified Information. [Erl Murati/SETimes]

Recent claims by Albania's opposition that the government sold classified NATO information to Russia and Serbia have put authorities in Tirana in an unenviable position.

"The Albanian secret service (SHISH) head Bahri Shaqiri reportedly told a closed-door parliament meeting that NATO is alarmed".

While SHISH didn't publicly deny that characterisation, the parliamentary majority coalition began blaming the opposition for making the issue of Shaqiri's testimony public.

NATO's office in Tirana did not issue a comment, but former US Ambassador to Albania John Withers described situation as "complex".

Albania has been a member of NATO since April 2008, and the institution responsible for maintaining the security of Alliance information is the Department of Security of Classified Information (DSIK).

SETimes sought an explanation from DSIK's Director for Vetting and Central Registration Mark Ndreca.

SETimes: How is NATO classified information received, administrated and distributed? How do you ensure information is not leaked?

Mark Ndreca: The mutual exchange of information between Albania and NATO has been an ongoing process. It is based on specific and well-defined legal standards. Of course, in order to ensure the security of this information, it has been necessary to have in place a legal framework on classified information. All our legislation is based on the standards of the document of NATO security policy.

SETimes: Who has a right to access NATO classified information, and what procedures govern the process?

Ndreca: A person needs to fulfill certain criteria, and one of these is being equipped with adequate security certificates. Everyone who needs to know classified secret information needs to receive a security certificate. Naturally, the certification of the public administration is a dynamic process, conditioned by the need of the institutions to have access to information at a certain point of time.

There are a number of people who have already had access to NATO classified information due to the nature of their work. Our department gives out the certificates.......... continues.......

http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2010/11/10/feature-04

Romania’s Hungarians Cautious About Dual Citizenship

The 1.5-million-strong Hungarian minority obtained new rights to obtain Hungarian passports this week – but so far few have taken the plunge.

Marian Chiriac

Bucharest

Members of Romania's ethnic Hungarian minority started registering for dual Hungarian citizenship this week – but the pick-up rate for applications has been slow.

Starting on Monday, the three Hungarian consulates in Romania have received applications from members of the 1.5-million-strong minority, but only about a thousand had applied by Thursday.

Most were from Miercurea Ciuc, in southeast Transylvania, where around 1,000 Szeklers - another name for the Hungarians - showed interest in obtaining dual citizenship.

But in Transylvania’s main city of Cluj, which Hungarians call Koloszvar, there were only around 50 applications and in the capital, Bucharest, only two.

Hungary adopted legislation in May making it easier for the 3.5 million ethnic Hungarians outside the country to obtain dual citizenship. Most live in Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine.

"The issue of dual citizenship is not yet of major interest for most Hungarians,” Zoltan Sipos, 30, a journalist at a Hungarian newspaper in Cluj told Balkan Insight.

“But more people will apply for dual citizenship in future if they find a good reason to do so,” he added.

Sipos, who obtained Hungarian citizenship in the early 1990s, said he never used his extra passport to settle or work in Hungary.

“It wasn’t of interest for me. I would still be Hungarian even without the Hungarian citizenship,” he said.

For many ethnic Hungarians in Romania, possessing Hungarian citizenship is a matter mainly of symbolic importance. Both Romania and Hungary are members of the European Union and NATO.

“There are some advantages associated with Hungarian citizenship,” said an ethnic Hungarian artist in Romania who did not want to be named.

“Hungarians can more easily obtain a US visa than Romanians and their youngsters have better access to research grants and study opportunities.

“People who have worked in Hungary are also entitled to better pensions compared to those from Romania,” the artist added.

About 7 per cent of Romania's 22 million citizens are ethnic Hungarian.

Some parts of the community, especially the 600,000 Szeklers, have long campaigned for an autonomous region in Transylvania, which became part of Romania after Austria-Hungary lost World War I.

Romanians seem indifferent to the issue of dual citizenship for Hungarians. “It’s their right,” says Viorel Popa, 38, a graduate in history in Bucharest.

“We gave ethnic Romanians in Moldova the same rights a few years ago; it’s the right of kin-states to offer those rights to people of the same origin.”

Bucharest officials also have no issue. “We have no objections to the Hungarian law making it easier to grant Hungarian citizenship to ethnic Hungarians living abroad," President Traian Basescu said.