AMNA- A Parliament majority gave a vote of confidence to Prime Minister George Papandreou's government in the early hours of Saturday, following a three-day debate. The government received 153 votes in favour, while 145 voted against -- out of 298 deputies participating in the roll call vote in the 300-member legislature. On his part, main opposition New Democracy (ND) party leader Antonis Samaras reiterated just after midnight that the "only solution" in the country today is early general elections. Commenting on Papandreou's speech during a debate on a vote of confidence for his government, Samaras said: "The masks have fallen. George Papandreou has rejected our proposal in its entirety. His responsibilities are tremendous; elections are the only solution." Conversely, Papandreou said the vote of confidence for the government is a mandate for a national cooperation government. (AMNA text) He announced that he would meet on Saturday with President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias to initiate consultations with all political parties for the formation of a new government, as he said, with a broad support, and one that will not exclude even a change in the head of government. "There is only one solution, which is to provide bipartisan support for the good of the country ... I am tonight asking for a vote of confidence in order to secure the country's smooth course, without a power vacuum or by being dragged to elections," Papandreou added. In clarifying statements, FinMin Evangelos Venizelos said such a government would last until late February, in order to see through lending agreements and debt reduction agreed to with the EC-ECB-IMF "troika" and Eurozone partners.

Travels in the Albanian Riviera

By S. Adam Cardais

“… I had never been there before and I knew nothing about it, and neither did anyone else,” Paul Theroux wrote of Albania in 1995 in The Pillars of Hercules. “… here on the most heavily beaten path in the world, the shore of the Mediterranean, it was still possible to travel into the unknown.” Still remote, Albania – for 40 years the most isolated country in communist Europe – is blooming. Tourism is flourishing, and Frommer’s just rated the Albanian Riviera the Top Value Destination 2012:

Unsung, undeveloped and eminently affordable, the Albanian Riviera has all the natural attractions of its Croatian counterpart further north but without the crowds and considerable expenses. Here you have white-sand beaches, crystal-clear waters, and Mediterranean villages barely changed since long before King Zog.

That’s a stretch. Albania is no Croatia. Nevertheless, its southern Ionian coast is both affordable and spectacular. Pristine Dhermi is the jewel, a favorite summer destination for Albanians and Kosovars. The village sits between high mountains and the turquoise Ionian Sea, with a long beach. Though new hotels are going up, Dhermi has little by way of accommodation and entertainment, but that’s its charm: A private beach is a short coastal hike away.

Dhermi

Farther south, Saranda is a developed town with better hotels, dining and nightlife. Its beach is modest, but the nearby Butrint Roman ruins more than compensate. Even farther south, Ksamil is a tiny but beautiful stretch of beach and islands just north of the Greek border. Popular with families, Ksamil overcrowds despite its remoteness, but it’s worth a visit, if only for the beachside cafes, which serve the best fresh fish on the coast and Greek specialties like tzatziki.

http://eastofcenter.tol.org/2011/11/travels-in-the-albanian-riviera/

GREECE, PAPANDREOU, AND THE REFERENDUM Q & A

Where did this come from?

Seemingly, out of nowhere -- but of course it came out of somewhere, primarily Papandreou’s realization that he is literally home (politically) alone as well as his well-known fixation with “democratic models” he keeps attributing to his living in Scandinavia when he and his family were pushed out of Greece by the military dictatorship.

These “democratic models” of course exist only in his imagination as Greece lies light years away, culturally, socially, and politically, from Sweden and her immediate neighbors. The last referendum in Greece was held in 1974, when the Greeks rejected constitutional monarchy in favor of the presidential republic form of government. Referenda, therefore, constitute largely uncharted territory for Greece, an idea that always attracted Papandreou’s attention given its “non-Greek” content and as an opportunity to break new ground and take the (generally backward) Greeks one step further on the road to Papandreou’s ideal vision of gadget democracy, a connected tomorrow, and a multicultural paradise where Greece’s “outdated” traditions and practices have been duly deposited into the dustbin of history.

Why this particular timing?

The Papandreou regime is isolated and thoroughly reviled by the overwhelming majority of the Greek electorate. Unpublished opinion surveys suggest that if a general election would be held tomorrow, Pasok, Papandreou’s party, “socialist” in name only, would suffer the most humiliating defeat in its 37-year long history, with its current parliamentary caucus of 152 reduced by 60 percent or more. With the entire opposition demanding elections now; with popular unrest growing by the day; with grass roots non-compliance movements billowing into nationwide campaigns of disobedience; and with Pasok ministers and parliamentarians not daring to show their faces in public for fear of physical attacks, Papandreou is well aware that both his political party and himself are practically finished.

So here comes the referendum as the regime’s Hail Mary attempt to avoid a complete and utter rout at the ballot box and, possibly, smear the opposition with some of the guilt for Greece’s collapse into an economic, social, and political Armageddon caused by bankruptcy and the country’s entanglement with an IMF-EU-ECB “bailout” that has proved itself the equivalent of a poison chalice..................................................

more; http://www.rieas.gr/component/content/article/29-first-page/1624-greece-papandreou-and-the-referendum-q-a-a.html

Λιάνα Κανέλλη - δελτίο ειδήσεων βρετανικού CHΑΝΝΕL 4

Greek PM of the Komunist Party, Liana Kanelli, speaking for the British media for the Crisis in Greece

Greek communist MP Liana Kanelli appeared Thursday on Channel 4 News in the UK and made quite an impression on everyone just as she does on Greek TV programmes.

Kanelli’s opening lines were, “We Greeks are bold and beautiful”. The Greek MP said Greece’s referendum vote was fake and akin to being asked “Do you want to die or do you want to be killed?”

Her habit of calling presenter Jon Snow with the friendly “my dear” also caused a lot of amusement on Twitter, since the British did not apparently know the Greek MP and her way of expressing.

In fact a certain Guardian blogger wrote “Can someone get her on Newsnight to cross swords with Jeremy Paxman?…”

Real State companies in Albania, are more interested than the inhabitants of area for the "future of Narta Region"

Narta, Tourist City Plan Approved with out asked local population

The Council of Property Regulation of the Vlora district has approved the design of a new project. On a 315 Ha parcel, a residential area and tourist complex, consisting of apartments, villas, golf course, marina, as well as luxury hotels, will be built. The parcel is located in Narta village, about 7 km northwest of Vlora, with an American – Albanian company, expected to lead the project. The Council of Property Regulation of the Vlora district has recently approved recently for transforming this property into a tourist/residential area.

This approval will be followed by the development of a detailed project plan that has to be submitted within 1 month to continue with legal procedures and the next steps of the approval process, before actual construction can begin. Expected investment in the Narta shore has been specified in a meeting of KKRT of the district for outside developers in this area, in accordance with current standards of construction and tourism in Albania.

Germany warns Greece over rescue

Comments (433)

France and Germany are both determined to implement the plan

Continue reading the main story

The eurozone plan to save Greece from bankruptcy is not up for renegotiation, Germany has warned, ahead of emergency talks with Greece and France.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would make it clear in talks with the Greek PM that the plan was needed.

French PM Francois Fillon said Greece had to say "without ambiguity" whether it wanted to stay in the eurozone.

Greek PM George Papandreou is to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Mrs Merkel later on Wednesday.

Mr Papandreou announced a referendum on the eurozone rescue plan on Tuesday. Overnight, Greece's cabinet gave unanimous backing to the vote, which could take place in December.

He told an emergency cabinet meeting a referendum would offer "a clear mandate" for austerity measures demanded by eurozone partners.

Earlier, stock markets recorded big drops amid shocked reactions in eurozone capitals to the referendum announcement.

Meanwhile Italy's cabinet will meet at 19:00 GMT to discuss emergency measures to deal with its own debt crisis.

Albanian Holidays Independence: Black & Red Alliance, must Anti-political divide

But Black & Red Alliance, fears a deep to national divisions in Albanian, just in Vlora, four years ago, the national flag, is archived on a hearse


TIRANA Red-Black Alliance Movement has taken another action today in the city of Vlora. CA has set up a committee to organize the celebration of November, which are joined by dozens of other organizations. As stated this movement, the national organization did not accept those festive political division.

Albanian politics in the past has shared celebrating "28 November" and the Feast of Liberation. Representatives of the right with the Independence holiday commemorating the Feast of Liberation of Albania, while to the left of these two parties are separated.

Red and Black Alliance said today against these divisions, while the Albanian people invited to meet entirely the Flag Square in Vlora, on 26 November to celebrate.

"I do appeal to citizens to be on November 26 across the street of the Flag. A giant flag Red and Black will cover the whole square. This is the feast of the Patriots, not the politicians. Let's unite Red and Black Flag all the factors, "CA said in a statement

But Black & Red Alliance, fears a deep fo national divisions in Albanian, just in Vlora, four years ago, the national flag, is archived on a hearse

Bulgarian MEPs : FYROM’s film spreads hate and attempts to manipulate Balkan history

November 2, 2011

A film from FYROM that depicts wartime Bulgarians as fascists has outraged Bulgarian MEPs who are calling on Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle to confront FYROM over the issue, according to EurActiv.

A couple of weeks ago, we witnessed the cynical confession of the leader from a Slavic Ultra-Nationalistic Diaspora Organization of FYROM, that he was promoting their pitiful propaganda against Greece through cinema.

Now, MEPs Andrey Kovachev (EPP), Evgeni Kirilov (S&D) and Stanimir Ilchev (ALDE) have signed a letter, in which they blast FYROM, stating their concern over the “attempt to manipulate Balkan history” and “spread hate” on the FYROM’s part against its neighbours.

The film from FYROM that enraged the Bulgarians is called, ”Third Halftime” and depicts a football match played in 1942. The match was between two teams of the Bulgarian football league, a Slavomacedonian and a Bulgarian. In the film the Bulgarians who are depicted as fascists, are plotting allegedly to kill the coach of the SlavoMacedonian team, who is of Jewish descent.

Kirilov told EurActiv that the Gruevski government had “overdone it” with nationalist activities, while in the MEPs letter to Fule, they state that ”FYROM policy is running counter to our European values” and show FYROM is breaching European acquis, citing various texts from European Parliament resolutions.

Shocking Forbes Article: What Greece Really Needs is a Military Coup

November 2, 2011

“Instead of pouring euros down the drain, it would be much wiser for Germany to sponsor a military coup and solve the problem that way.” No, this extract is not from a fascist blog. It is from Forbes magazine and it’s just another one of the provocative articles that follow this insane ongoing anti-Greece campaign of international media.

The article circulates a joke going around the financial markets at the moment that Greece’s only chance to be saved is a junta. “What’s so sad, or bitter if you prefer, about the joke is that, if we ignore the little problem of it being a military dictatorship, this would in fact be a good solution to Greek woes.” This “little problem” Mr. Worstall so cynically refers to, doesn’t sound very funny to Greek people who have already been through one dictatorship, from 1969 to 1974 during which Greek people suffered enormously.

In fact in two weeks time Greeks will be celebrating the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising in 1973, an open anti-junta, revolt that ended in bloodshed in the early morning of November 17 after a tank crashed through the gates of the Technical University of Athens. This revolt was the beginning of the junta’s collapse. What’s really ironic is that the junta was in fact the result of foreign interference and oppression by right-wing governments that simply didn’t care about their people’s fate. Thirty seven years on, Greeks experience a new junta, this time financial while the prejudice against them has taken absurd proportions.

Ever since September of 2009, the propaganda machine has been running at full speed. The mainstream media provides Europe and America with a convenient scapegoat to exploit. Greeks are an easy target. “They are cash junkies”, “They are lazy”, “They are useless”. All these stereotypes of Greeks being lazy couldn’t be farther from the truth. Most Greeks are struggling just to survive. Yes, there are Greeks benefiting from high and early retirement. Yes there are civil servants making 4,000 euros a month without actually showing up to work and yes some of them are getting bribed. But they are an exception, not the rule.

Numbers don’t lie. The national blues literally kill Greeks. Suicide rates have doubled since last year. Private sector employees work endless hours for 400 euros a month. Young couples don’t have children simply because they can’t afford to while thousands want to emigrate. The majority of Greeks are not, in other words, chilling on the beach drinking frappe and ouzo.

But none of this matters to the leaders of the European “Union”. For them it seems that the question is always about getting their money back with maximum profit when it really should be about helping a country to recover since they are also largely responsible for its troubles.

Why don’t Brussels technocrats push the government to take money from those who are actually responsible for this tragedy? Why don’t they hunt down the country’s elite, the tax evaders, the corrupted politicians, the businessmen and the ship owners who made trillions at the expense of ordinary Greeks? Why is it logical that the already deprived pensioners and workers have to pay for something they have no share of responsibility in whatsoever, when those who caused it still live in Athens exclusive suburbs, drive Porsche Cayennes, have their kids in expensive private schools and when they are sick they don’t run to overcrowded public hospitals but prefer private clinics that look like five star hotels?

It is the same people who now have hundreds of millions of Euros in off-shores and bank deposits in Switzerland and couldn’t care less if this country is going to burn down. In fact, they would probably prefer Greece to go bankrupt and return to the drachma as they would buy everything off for peanuts!

It is as if the EU’s only goal is to turn the Greek middle-class to a new underclass and to be fair they’ve done an excellent job! And what exactly is the goal of this “rescue plan” and the “task force” that from now on will be permanently placed in Athens?

Will the “task force” actually force all these people who will not be able to pay their mortgages out of their homes and make them homeless? Will they cut defaulters’ water and electricity and force them to die of cold and thirst? Will kids in villages be forced out of school simply because it’s too expensive?

Maybe the Europeans should rename this plan to the “Elite Rescue Plan” because when it comes to pensioners and workers it sounds more like an “execution plan”.

Is Greece, near "coup d'etat"? Hellenic Cheifs of Armed Forces ALL REPLACED! November 1 2011		)
November 1, 2011 | Filed under: Army,Featured News In a surprise move, the defence minister proposed on Tuesday evening the complete replacement of the countrys top brass. At an extraordinary meeting of the Government Council of Foreign Affairs and Defence (Kysea), which comprises the prime minister and other key cabinet members, Defence Minister Panos Beglitis proposed the following changes to the army, navy and air force and the general staff: General Ioannis Giagkos, chief of the Greek National Defence General Staff, to be replaced by Lieutenant General Michalis Kostarakos (until now commander of the 3rd army corps) Lieutenant General Fragkos Fragkoulis, chief of the Greek Army General Staff, to be replaced by lieutenant general Konstantinos Zazias (until now commander of the 4th army corps) Lieutenant General Vasilios Klokozas, chief of the Greek Air Force, to be replaced by air marshal Antonis Tsantirakis (until now commander of the Tactical Air Force) Vice-Admiral Dimitrios Elefsiniotis, chief of the Greek Navy General Staff, to be replaced by Rear-Admiral Kosmas Christidis (untiTop brass replaced November 1, 2011 | Filed under: Army,Featured News In a surprise move, the defence minister proposed on Tuesday evening the complete replacement of the countrys top brass. History will repeat itself: On 21 April 1967, (just weeks before the scheduled elections), a group of right-wing army officers led by Brigadier Stylianos Pattakos and Colonels George Papadopoulos and Nikolaos Makarezos seized power in a coup d'etat.[13] The colonels were able to quickly seize power by using surprise and confusion. Pattakos was commander of the Armour Training Centre (Greek: , ), based in Athens. The coup leaders placed tanks in strategic positions in Athens, effectively gaining complete control of the city. At the same time, a large number of small mobile units were dispatched to arrest leading politicians and authority figures, as well as many ordinary citizens suspected of left-wing sympathies, according to lists prepared in advance. One of the first to be arrested was Lieutenant General Grigorios Spandidakis, Commander-in-Chief of the Greek Army. The conspirators were known to Spandidakis. Indeed, he was instrumental in bringing some of them to Athens, to use in a coup he and other leading Army generals had been planning, in an attempt to prevent George Papandreou's victory in the upcoming election and the Communist takeover that would, supposedly, follow it. The colonels succeeded in persuading Spandidakis to join them and he issued orders activating an action plan (the "Prometheus" plan) that had been previously drafted as a response for a hypothetical Communist uprising (see Operation Gladio). Under the command of paratrooper Lieutenant Colonel Kostas Aslanides, the LOK (see above) took control of the Greek Defence Ministry while Brigadier General Stylianos Pattakos gained control over communication centers, the parliament, the royal palace, and according to detailed lists, arrested over 10,000 people.[14] By the early morning hours the whole of Greece was in the hands of the colonels. All leading politicians, including acting Prime Minister Panagiotis Kanellopoulos, had been arrested and were held incommunicado by the conspirators. At 6 a.m. on the day of the coup Papadopoulos announced that eleven articles of the Greek constitution were suspended.[14] One of the consequences was that anyone could be arrested without warrant at any time and brought before a miltary court to be tried. Yannis Ladas the then director of ESA in an interview referring to the coup said: "Within twenty minutes every politician, every man, every anarchist who was listed could be rounded up... It was a simple, diabolical plan".[14] Georgios Papandreou was arrested after a nightime raid at his villa in Kastri. Andreas Papandreou was arrested at around the same time after seven soldiers with fixed bayonets and one with a machine gun forcibly entered his home. Andreas Papandreou escaped to the roof of his house but surrendered after one of the soldiers held a gun to the head of his then 14-year old son George Papandreou.[14] U.S. critics of the coup included then senator Lee Metcalf who criticised the Johson administration for providing aid to a "military regime of collaborators and Nazi sympathisers". Phillips Talbot, the US ambassador in Athens, disapproved of the military coup, complaining that it represented "A rape of democracy", to which Jack Maury, the CIA chief of station in Athens, answered, "How can you rape a whore?"[14] The Papadopoulos' junta attempted to re-engineer the Greek political landscape by coup.

Albania: Prosecutors seek life in jail for blast

Associated Press 2011-11-01

Albania prosecutors are asking a court to sentence a former top Defense Ministry official and two other people to a life in prison for their alleged role in a deadly blasts at an ammunition disposal factory three years ago.

The prosecutors on Tuesday also asked for prison terms of one to 23 years for 25 other defendants that include the former army chief of staff.

All those charged in the 2008 blast that killed 26 people have denied responsibility. They are expected to address the court on Tuesday before a panel of judges, who are likely to deliver their verdict by the end of this year.

Albanian, a former communist country, has pledged to dispose of all excess arms and ammunition by 2014, with U.S. and NATO help. The country joined NATO in 2009.

Greek PM Papandreou faces party revolt over bailout

Comments (69)

Mr Papandreou's decision took everyone by surprise

governing Pasok party have called on Prime Minister George Papandreou to resign, the day after he called a referendum on the proposed EU bailout.

One MP has defected from Pasok, cutting Mr Papandreou's parliamentary majority to two seats - 152 out of 300 - ahead of a confidence vote on Friday.

The opposition has called for early elections, saying the referendum jeopardises Greece's EU membership.

European markets have fallen sharply.

Last week, eurozone leaders agreed on a 100bn-euro loan (£86bn; $140bn) to Athens and a 50% debt write-off.

In return, Greece must make deep cuts in public spending, slashing pensions and wages and making thousands of civil servants redundant.

'Blackmail'

Earlier on Tuesday, Pasok MP Milena Apostolaki quit the parliamentary group but said she would keep her seat to fight the referendum as an independent.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

France and Germany are convinced that this agreement will allow Greece to return to sustainable growth”

End Quote French-German joint statement

• Peston: Price of Greek democracy

"I have an obligation to resist this erroneous political choice that divides the nation," she said.

Shortly afterwards, another MP from Mr Papandreou's centre-left Pasok party, Vasso Papandreou (no relation) called for a government of national unity, to be followed by snap elections.

"I call on the president to convene the council of political leaders with the goal of forming a government of national salvation in view of safeguarding the EU package agreed on 27 October, and then to immediately hold elections," said Ms Papandreou, who chairs the parliamentary committee on economic affairs........................................................ more

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15538809

The corruption process in Albania

Ilir Meta inquiring proces, experts unable to verify video

As expected, the three Albanian experts read their conclusions in front of the Penal College regarding the forensic tests they made to the Meta-Prifti recorded video. The test should answer to the 18 questions raised more than one month ago by the Judge Panel that is conducting the trial of the former Deputy Prime Minister, Ilir Meta.

As regards the objects they had to verity, the experts said that the clock is produced for registering audio and video, but they couldn’t verify if it was the one that had recorded the Meta-Prifti video, because they had found prints on it.

The experts said that they found another video while retrieving the deleted data of the camera memory, but it was not object of this inspection. They declared that with the tools they had, it was impossible to determine if the video file was downloaded from this micro camera and that technically, they could not make other experimental records through it.

The experts said that the only information source for the Meta-Prifti video is a file in a laptop which has been taken as evidence. According to them, they were unable to find the original file that should had been inside the camera-clock memory.

They added that they had noticed a displacement of the clock timing in some sequences, which, according to the experts, there might have been interferences, but without arguing with concrete examples.

However, the experts gave no declaration about the voice and the conversation between Meta and Prifti, but only for the timing. When asked if they could understand the conversation, the experts declared that the noise was too high and the words could not be understood.

Reactions

Ex Minister Prifti: Judges to hire foreign experts

The MP Dritan Prifti declared that there is no intervention in the video file that has recorded the conversation between him and Ilir Meta. He invited the Supreme Court to demand a new expertise that could be made by the scientific police of an EU country.

“This forensic report can be taken for granted only by Meta’s reasoning. If there are other proofs and facts that the video is mounted, I am ready to resign from all my duties and submit to justice”, Prifti declared in a press conference, commenting the experts’ conclusions given by the Supreme Court.

Prifti considered the declarations of the three Albanian experts as discrediting for the Albanian Judicial System.

“I didn’t expect a different result from these experts. I expected them to work for protecting Ilir Meta”, Prifti declared. According to him, the battle this time is much stronger, because it is between the mafia and the rule of law, between justice and injustice, between the criminalized state and the state that should make justice.

Kosovo Calling, For New Ideas

• By Goran Mijuk

For years, Europe and the U.S. have been reluctant to consider redrawing Balkan borders, fearing that such a policy may trigger more ethnic confusion and bloodshed in this war-torn region and shake global political stability.

But the current dispute between Kosovo’s Serbs and Albanians, which have been at loggerheads since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 following the war in the late 1990s, seems to have helped mellow international resistance to the idea.

The hope may be to avoid a further escalation in this Southeastern European country after violence erupted this summer when Kosovo’s government moved officials to its northern border with Serbia to enforce an import ban. Kosovo’s Serbs, which dominate the region, reacted by blocking roads, sparking clashes with Kosovo police and later with NATO-led troops. Most of the barricades and roadblocks have since been removed but the tension in the region remains high.

One of the first Westerners to flag the disputed border-change concept was Erhard Busek, the former coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, who this autumn said a partition of Kosovo may be a viable solution to solve the Kosovo standoff.

“I don’t see why the international community would not agree on the division if Belgrade and Pristina reached an agreement on the issue,” he told the Serbian press.

Following up on Busek is U.S congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who is proposing a land swap between Albanians and Serbs, basing his argument on the right for self-determination for both ethnic groups.

“One option that would be consistent with the right to self-determination and that would bolster long-term stability would be for an honorable transfer between Serbia and Kosovo of roughly equal pieces of territory and population,” Mr. Rohrabacher wrote in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal.

According to his proposal Kosovo’s ethnic Serbs could join Serbia if they want, while Albanians in Serbia’s southern Presevo valley could seek a tie-up with Kosovo should they vote so. Both ethnic groups, who have pressed for long to join their respective homelands, would most likely back such a step in a potential referendum.

But while floating such ideas may indicate that a broader international policy change may be under way, redrawing Kosovo’s border risks opening the Balkan’s Pandora’s box, as it could provoke fresh calls for land swaps and border changes elsewhere in the region.

For exactly this reason, Kosovo’s prime minister Hashim Thaci told Swiss media this week that there will “be neither a border change nor land swap” in Kosovo. In the same interview he also refuted the idea that Kosovo’s Serbs should be granted a special status or autonomy.

But while redrawing borders may seem dangerous, upholding the status quo seems equally difficult and it is most likely that Belgrade and Pristina, which both are backing continued talks to solve the issue in northern Kosovo, may have to produce new solutions.

One such idea, which has been floated by Ivica Dacic, Serbia’s interior minister, who is currently on a working visit in the U.S., is that of a federation. The concept, he told the Serbian press, originated during a lunch talk with German chancellor Angela Merkel, who thought the idea “interesting”, according to Dacic.

While the concept of a federation may neither fully please Belgrade nor Pristina and may look difficult to execute as the case of Bosnia Herzegovina and the collapse of Yugolsavia show, a federal state, under the watchful eye of the European Union, would force both sides to drop extreme positions and continually search for creative compromises, building up the region’s fragile track record of peaceful negotiations.

KFOR commander, EULEX official stopped at barricades

Source: Tanjug

NORTHERN KOSOVO -- The night went peacefully in northern Kosovo, without any movement of KFOR troops, while local Serbs continued to man the barricades they put up in the area.

(Beta)

There is no traffic across the two administrative checkpoints in the north, while alternative, smaller roads are being used in order to reach Raška, Ribarić and Novi Pazar.

The new barricade near the Brnjak checkpoint - which the Serbs put up last weekend after another was removed by KFOR - is now over two meters high.

The NATO troops in the meanwhile continue to bring their supplies via helicopters.

Last week Serbs decided to open one lane on major roads in the north of the province, allowing KFOR to supply their outposts in a regular manner, but the force's commander said they would "not use this possibility until other international organizations also enjoy freedom of movement".

Serbs, on the other hand, do not wish to allow members and vehicles of the EU mission, EULEX, to pass through, as they have been transporting customs and police workers of the Kosovo Albanian authorities in Priština to the administrative line.

Serbs, who are a majority north of the Ibar River, recognize neither the authority of the government in Priština, nor the unilateral declaration of independence made by ethnic Albanians three and a half years ago.

Commander turned back

On Monday morning, KFOR Commander Erhard Drews tried to pass through the village of Zupče and get to Brnjak administrative crossing, as part of a convoy accompanied by one EULEX vehicle, but he was forced to go back to southern Kosovska Mitrovica because Serbs on the barricades did not let the EULEX SUV pass.

The KFOR commander was accompanied by EULEX deputy chief and former British ambassador to Priština Andy Sparkes, and the convoy consisted of several KFOR vehicles and one EULEX car.

Serbs were willing to let KFOR vehicles pass, but they denied passage to the vehicle of the EU mission.

Drews had brief talks with deputy mayor of Zubin Potok Srđan Đurović in an attempt to convince the local population to allow passage both to KFOR and EULEX staff.

Đurović said that the EULEX vehicle was denied passage because the EU mission has not distanced itself from the Kosovo interim institutions and started working in a neutral manner.

Đurović told Tanjug that the KFOR commander reiterated his request regarding freedom of movement for all representatives of international missions in Kosovo.

This is a goal we want to see achieved as well, but without the presence of Priština institutions in northern Kosovo, Đurović noted.

Serbs granted passage to three KFOR SUVs in Zupče some time around noon on Monday, but they detained two EULEX vehicles which were then forced to return to southern Kosovska Mitrovica.

Serbs on the barricades decided to grant freedom of movement for KFOR members several days ago and earmarked one lane for their vehicles.

According to previous announcements, KFOR does not want to use this possibility until freedom of movement is granted to all representatives of international mission in Kosovo, including EULEX.

In Albania, at 20 years post-dictatorship, 8 000 murders, for the issue of property

The shocking data, are given by the Prosecutor General, to the Albanian press Shocking facts which, in the wake of Albania rank Civil War, the high level of killings, including the year 1997

Through the Albanian press, Attorney General, has published shocking facts about the increasing number of murders in Albania, especially for issues of ownership.

In an analysis published in the newspaper "Shqip", with author Andrea Stefani (http://www.gazeta-shqip.com/search?str=%22Andrea%20Stefani%22&rub[]=*#/opinion/a7c876a5446888f940280bd5f04aade5.html), has accused the Albanian politics as the main responsible of this tragedy, for which, he comments that about one murder per day in Albania, is classified as from prosecution for murder as issue property.

Blocking the legal parameters of private property protection and enforcement of the Constitution not to the absolute right of ownership, has led the Albanian courts, and accountable institutions of property protection, have failed up to that point, that the Albanian Mafia and international, especially throughout the coast, to control most of the properties.

This is why the European Union, has asked Tirana, to implement one of 12 points, for which private property is devoted, to open a free path to the EU.

No country in Europe, can not imagine about 8 000 killed in 20 years for the issue of property, a figure that is classified as a civil war, a country aspiring to join Europe.

A decision of the Municipal Council of Himare, sparks controversy on matters of lands in the region of Himara

Himara non-governmental organizations, see the decision, of the new Land Registration Law 7501, as an order to facilitate the Albanian Mafia, which cares for the looting of the lands in the region of Himara

On 21 October, the Municipality Council of Himara , took place for the Albanian government asked them, setting up land distribution committees, with the 7501 law, in contrast to full property restitution efforts of Himara population, turning once again, the chance to lose opportunities to resolve the land in the region.

This decision was opposed by all non-governmental associations Himara that the next days, will intensify their efforts to stop the implementation of Law 7501, the Region of Himara and Lukovo.

In this plan, the Albanian government has proposed a law, in which, claims commissions organize the division of land in those regions as Himara, including the 7501 law, and not according to the inherited property.

Also, strangely, the municipal council of Himara, adopted the Master Plan priorities and registration of properties, which are blocked by the OSCE, until a legal and fair solution to the question of ownership.

According to the last electoral municipal campaign, all the candidates, including ex Mayor Vassil Bollano and actually in Head Jorgo Goro, supported the registration process under the Law 7501, as all programs of Albanian Parties in controversy of the rights of the people of Himara.

Albania-Kosovo agreement rekindles old suspicions

31/10/2011

A deal to unify consular services abroad, to be followed by similar moves in all other sectors, is a source of concern for some about potential Albanian territorial aggression.

By Svetla Dimitrova for Southeast European Times in Sofia -- 31/10/11

"Albanians should feel themselves the same in Tirana and in Pristina," Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said. [Reuters]

An agreement to merge the Albanian and Kosovo consular services abroad has sparked concerns in parts of the Balkans that the deal is a step towards realising "Greater Albania ".

The accord was approved by Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha's cabinet on October 20th. It would halve the two countries' consular costs, the government said.

"Albanians should feel the same in Tirana and in Pristina," Berisha said, calling also for similar deals in the fields of customs and taxes, as well as in the education, social, cultural and environmental sectors "and everything else".

"We have to strengthen co-operation within the same legal framework and practices in order to reduce bureaucratic barriers between citizens of Albania and Kosovo," he said.

Kosovo analyst Seb Bytyci heading the Pristina-based Balkan Policy Institute echoed Tirana's arguments.

"Kosovo and Albania are small countries without resources to have consulates everywhere," he told SETimes. "This deal enables them to provide better services to their citizens. Similar deals are common even among richer countries, who still feel the need to cut costs."

The foreign ministries of Macedonia -- which signed an agreement for joint consular representation with Slovenia -- and Montenegro told SETimes they respect every country's right to conduct its external and internal affairs.

"We welcome every initiative targeted at improving the regional co-operation," the Macedonian foreign ministry said, but added it "would not comment the statements and the relations between Kosovo and Albania".

"I don't see why should this disturb Montenegro," Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Milic told SETimes.

Macedonian diplomacy expert Lazar Lazarov cautioned there is more to this kind of agreements than meets the eye.

"In the first phase you have rapprochement, joint customs and economy, but the second phase in this process usually is unification," Lazarov told SETimes. "It will be difficult for Kosovo to maintain its statehood in these circumstances. Both Albania and Kosovo seem to work on the 'Greater Albania' project, mentioned first in 1878."

Lazarov referred to the plan promoted by Albanian political organisation Prizren League, which aimed to unify in one state Albanians scattered across Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Greece in the 19th century.,...........................

more see: http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/10/31/feature-03

Albania Opposition MPs Pay Dearly for Slander

Three Socialist MPs were fined for slander last week for political accusations, ordered to pay thousands of euros to their colleagues from the ruling Democratic Party.

Besar Likmeta

Tirana

Socialist MP Taulabt Balla speaking during a parliamentary session | Photo courtesy of www.parlament.al

On Tuesday the Tirana district court fined with 3.3 million lek (€23,000) junior opposition MP Samir Tahir for accusation made against Democratic Party MP Albana Vokshi for an alleged conflict of interest in an oil contract obtained by her living-partner’s company.

Meanwhile on Friday the curt fined with two million lek, (€14,000) Artan Gaci, yet another Socialist MP who had also accused Vokshi of conflict of interests and corruption.

The same day Socialist MP Taulant Balla was also fined for slander for 700,000 lek, (€4930), for accusations made against the deputy director of police Agron Kuliçaj, allegedly that the police chief was involved in an oil contraband scheme.

Two other Socialist MPs, Eduard Shalsi and Ermonela Felaj, have been fined earlier for slander by the district court based on lawsuits brought up by Vokshi.

The Socialist MPs have denied any wrongdoing and panned the rulings as politically motivated and disproportionate.

At least three other Socialist MPs have been sued by Vokshi for the same allegations and are currently on trial in Tirana’s district court.

In Albania’s charged and tense political climate accusation of corruption and abuse of power are common from both sides of the political spectrum.

Opposition leader Edi Rama had launched a series of similar slander suits earlier these year against Democratic Party MPs, and Prime Minister Sali Berisha, but they were all dismissed by the court.

Syrian president warns Western powers

Source: Deutsche Welle

DAMASCUS -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned the West on Sunday it would foment an "earthquake" if it intervened in his country's affairs.

Protests in Syria (Beta,file)

He said such a maneuver would also risk fanning the flames of anti-Western fervor in the wider region.

In an interview to British newspaper the Sunday Telegraph, Assad warned of "another Afghanistan" if foreign forces engaged in the seven-month-long civil unrest and resultant government crackdown on dissent in Syria.

"Syria is the hub now in this region," the paper quoted Assad as telling one of its journalists in Damascus.

"It is the fault line, and if you play with the ground you will cause an earthquake - do you want to see another Afghanistan, or tens of Afghanistans?,” he stressed.

"Any problem in Syria will burn the whole region. If the plan is to divide Syria, that is [sic] to divide the whole region."

Demonstrators demanding greater freedoms and an end to the Assad regime have most recently taken to the streets calling on the United Nations to impose a no-fly zone over their country, as it did over Libya.

Assad's comments came amid reports that at least 20 soldiers were killed in clashes with army dissenters late Saturday in the hotbed city of Homs. More than 50 people were said to have been injured in the fighting.

On Friday, 37 people were believed killed in clashes in Homs and the governorate of Hama. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths occurred when forces pounded the area with heavy machine gun fire.

Homs has risen as one of the focal points of opposition to Assad's 11-year reign. His father, Hafez, had ruled Syria for 29 years until his death.

More than 3,000 people, including at least 187 children, have been killed in the government crackdown, according to UN estimates.

Assad has repeatedly said he was using legitimate means to confront foreign-backed militants bent on fomenting sectarian strife.