Marinopoulos Expands in the Balkans, Enters Albania

Business | March 30, 2013



Greece's Marinopoulos became Carrefour exclusive franchisee in Southeast Europe in the summer last year. Photo by EPA/BGNES
Marinopoulos Group, which operates seventeen stores in Bulgaria, has announced the acquisition of a local super market chain Euromax from Balfin Group in Albania.

"The agreement strengthens the presence of the Marinopoulos Group SA in Albania and is part of the overall expansion strategy in the Balkan market," Marinopoulos said in a statement.

The Euromax chain owns 23 stores, 17 of which operate in the capital Tirana.

Marinopoulos expects a combined annual turnover of its entities in Albania of around EUR 40 M in 2013.

In the Balkans, Marinopoulos operates 860 stores, 800 of which in Greece, 16 in Cyprus, 24 in Albania, 17 in Bulgaria, and one in Skopje.

In the middle of June last year, just days ahead of Greece's crucial elections, French supermarket retailer Carrefour said it would abandon the country, its only unprofitable market.

Carrefour, France's largest supermarket retailer by sales, sold its 50% stake in its supermarket chain in Greece to its local partner, the Marinopoulos family.

The price of the deal was not disclosed, but the French group said it would take a mostly noncash charge of EUR 220 M.

Carrefour said the sale would allow the joint venture, which also operates in Cyprus, Bulgaria, Albania and other Balkan countries, "to meet the challenges of Greece's prevailing economic environment."

Carrefour Marinopoulos, formed in 1999, continues to operate as a franchisee of Carrefour in Bulgaria and the French company provides products in exchange for a fee.

Carrefour SA opened its first Sofia store at The Mall, the country's largest shopping center, in April 2010, five years after abandoning the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Paris-based company, Europe's biggest retailer, said it wants to shore up flagging sales at home by expanding in Bulgaria, where investors enjoy lower wages and costs.

In Bulgaria Carrefour competes with German chains Metro AG and Rewe Handelsgruppe, which runs the Metro hypermarkets and Billa supermarkets, as well as Ljubljana, Slovenia-based Mercator, the largest supermarket chain in the Balkans, which opened its first superstore here in 2009.


Tags: Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Carrefour, Lidl, Mercator, Assos Capital, The Mall, retail, Marinopoulos, greece, CMB

Details of Ashton’s proposal on Serb municipalities

Source: B92, Tanjug

BELGRADE -- EU High Representative Catherine Ashton offered a concept of a community of Serb municipalities without executive powers during the seventh round of the talks.

Hashim Thaci, Catherine Ashton and Ivica Dačić (Beta, file)

According to her proposal, the community of Serb municipalities could only have executive powers if Priština allowed it.
However, Belgrade rejected the proposal.

Ashton allegedly offered the eight-point document to Serbian PM Ivica Dačić during the last round of the negotiations on March 20 in Brussels. In the document, the community of Serb municipalities is called “association”.

The alleged proposal, that has been released by the Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), is identical to a document that was released by daily Blic on Tuesday. It is stated that Belgrade was offered “superficial principles that only paraphrase the Ahtisaari plan”.

Daily Politika also released the document on Saturday, stating that an unacceptable paper was on the table in Brussels on March 20.

The daily wrote that the “association” of municipalities with majority Serb population would be formed and that it would have its own statute and structure based on a modality contained in the existing statute of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities.

Belgrade rejected the offer and First Deputy PM Aleksandar Vučić stated at a government session on Thursday, a day after the seventh round of the dialogue, that the proposal was unacceptable to Serbia.

“All of you, cabinet members, are aware that we are - and to what extent we are dedicated to getting a date (for the start of EU membership talks) and to EU integrations. I will read to you a part of the proposal we received and the only thing I can say is that, unfortunately, nobody except us was prepared to make any concessions or compromises, which gave us absolutely no chance to accept what had been offered," Vučić said at the time.

The continuation of the Belgrade-Priština dialogue is scheduled for April 2.

Second Cyprus Deal: A Bank Robbery with a Geopolitical Aspect

Second Cyprus Deal: A Bank Robbery with a Geopolitical Aspect

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By Hellas Frappe on 27.3.13

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(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The second deal on Cyprus reached at the weekend is another bank robbery covered with a fig leaf: It does not repair the damage done by the first deal, which is irreparable, but de facto puts Cyprus out of the Eurozone while claiming to have "saved" its membership in the euro, and is prelude to more bank robberies in Euroland.

The whole thing has accelerated the disintegration of the euro system. As the former Central Bank Governor of Cyprus Athanasios Orphanides, told the Financial Times on March 23
 "the European project is crashing to Earth. This is a fundamental change in the dynamics of Europe towards disintegration and I don't see how this can be reversed."

    "We have seen a cavalier attitude towards the expropriation of property and the bullying of a people," Orphanides said.

The new deal over Cyprus has lifted the levy on bank deposits up to EU100,000 Euros (the fig leaf), but it is going to extract up to 40% on larger deposits, as part of the liquidation of Laiki bank (Cyprus Popular Bank).

There is a geopolitical aspect in this.

According to Bloomberg, one-third of all the money deposited in Cyprus banks is owned by Russian nationals. Most of the deposits larger than EU100,000 are Russian. This is because Russian firms have used Cyprus as financial basis for their commercial operations, due to its very low tax regime (similar to Ireland, for instance). Thus, Cyprus has become the third largest "foreign" investor in Russia. By deciding to put most of large deposits into the "bad bank" part of the liquidated Laiki bank, the Troika has consciously targeted Russian investors.

This explains enraged reactions from Russian leaders, from Prime Minister Medvedev to economist Sergei Glazyev (see slug). That Russian investors are the big losers, and that the targeting of Russia was no innocent choice or just an objective result of an "equal" correction of the deal, is shown by the central role played by the British government. On March 23, a high-level British team was flown into Cyprus to "advise" on the terms of the deal. The team was led by U.K. Treasury mandarin Tom Scholar, who is the Treasury's second permanent secretary and the official who managed the bailouts of Northern Rock, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Lloyds Banking Group. We know how those bailouts ended up: The banks were nationalized and the entire speculative debt was backed up by British taxpayers.

It is not to be excluded that the anti-Russian gambit was an aspect deliberately pushed by the City of London gamemasters, in the context of the British Empire's overall anti-Russian policy at strategic level. British-controlled or pro-British media are the ones who have created the image of Cyprus as a "money-laundering" base, characterizing Russian investments as "mafia" money. This has provided a "moral" justification for the Troika decisions. In reality, Cyprus has not been a money-launderer any more than other offshore financial centers, such as British Isle of Man or the City itself. And speaking of an "overblown" financial sector relative to GDP, Cyprus with its 8:1 ratio is way behind Luxembourg, which has a 24:1 ratio! In this context, the sudden death of fugitive oligarch Boris Berezovsky on March 23 in London, is seen by someone as "the first victim of the Cyprus crisis."

Another big lie pushed by the Troika is that the new deal represents an "Icelandic solution" for Cyprus. This is a totally superficial and deeply wrong comparison. First, Iceland had its own national currency and could devalue it. An Icelandic solution for Cyprus would be a return to a national currency. But that is exactly what the Troika wanted to prevent. Secondly, Iceland separated the domestic debt from the foreign debt. De facto, this was a separation between a debt somehow linked to the real economy and a fictitious financial debt. For Cyprus this would mean to separate a fictitious debt related to the EU bubble carry trade from London and other places into insolvent Greek bonds, for instance from the commercial debt. Most of Russian investors' money would probably fall into the second category. The Cyprus deal consists in refinancing the rotten debt, liquidating one bank (Laiki) at the expense of Russian investors, and keeping one bank (Bank of Cyprus) alive with revenues from the bank robbery. At these conditions, the Troika will guarantee a EU10 billion loan which will be used to refund foreign lenders in the Eurozone.

However, since the damage has been already done, and nobody feels any longer that his money is secure in any bank, Cyprus will introduce capital controls in the attempt to prevent capital flight. This will de facto establish a second-class "euro" currency in Cyprus, a currency you can get into, but you cannot get out of. And will not prevent capital flight anyway.

Source - LaRouche

Δένδιας: Η χώρα είναι γεμάτη Καλάσνικοφ

GREEK INTERIOR MINISTER SHOCK DECLARATION

video; http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Duho2wN667g

"Greece a lot of Kalashnikovs"!


For the dramatic circumstances of crime in Greece spoke of Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Dendias, who in his statements on television claimed that "the country is filled with Kalashnikovs" that come from "the endless frontier" of Greece

More Russians To Visit Crete In 2013

More Russians To Visit Crete In 2013

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By Hellas Frappe on 26.3.13

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(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The successful promotion in Russia of the island of Crete as a holiday destination may result in a 30 pct surge in Russian tourists this summer, according to tourism officials. Returning from the Moscow tourism fair MITT 2013, vice-prefect of Crete and head of the delegation Evripidis Koukiadakis said that:

    "Crete was promoted in a unified way in the Russian market and internationally. The increase of Russian tourists visiting Crete is expected to exceed 30 pct this year."

Similar evaluations were also made by the presidents of travel agents and hoteliers on the island, respectively.

While in Russia, delegates met with Russian tourism officials, mass media and local religious leaders, including the bishop of Moscow.

Thaci: Position of Kosovo and U.S "identical"

Source: Beta

PRIŠTINA -- Hashim Thaci said on Monday that the seventh round of his Brussels negotiations with Ivica Dačić had been a "marathon" session.

(Beta, file)

He added that "he had voiced the intention to move forward" and stressed that "the positions of Kosovo and the U.S. were identical."
Thaci told a session of the Kosovo government that "Kosovo's stances were very clear and that they reflected full adherence to the constitution, local government legislation, the Martti Ahtisaari plan and the highest European Union standards", Beta is reporting.

"It was a good opportunity to move forward toward an end or reaching agreement, in order to go from the stage of the age-old confrontation between Kosovo and Serbia to a new stage of good neighborly relations and cooperation," Thaci said.

The head of the government in Priština also "voiced the hope that a chance for that had not been lost and that it would be set right on April 2."

According to him, Priština's position in Brussels had been and continued to be "completely in line with the positions of the U.S., EU and NATO."

Thaci said that, if a deal was reached, "the institutions of Kosovo, EULEX and NATO would assume responsibility," adding that this was supported by NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

War against criminality
25/03/2013 16:00

The Prosecutor General, Adriatik Llalla, declared that it is indispensable to improve the investigation techniques in a time when war against organized crime remains a challenge.

“Albania is now an open country and the possibilities to penetrate the international criminal element are great. On the other hand, the internal crime is present and affects the opinion. We are witnessing how criminal elements are challenging the state, and for this reason it is important to improve and perfect the investigation techniques, which are exclusivity of the justice structures. The other factors should not intervene”, Llalla declared.

Lalla met with Sherfi Basiuni, one of the most renowned Prosecutors in the world, also known as the “Godfather of Laws”. Basiuni declared that making laws harsher doesn’t mean that criminality rates will fall.

“Many Parliaments tend to make harsher punishments, but this doesn’t affect criminality rates. What needs to be emphasized is crime prevention by the police and the authorities. It is important to study several cases of criminality and see what measures should be taken”, declared prof.Basiuni.

Suspicions on child abuse

The Prosecution leader confirmed that the Prosecution is investigating the case of a child centre, where caretakers are accused of child abuse.

A psychologist reported on Top Channel’s “Exclusive” that some of the abused children are having their rents mysteriously paid, suspecting a paedophilia network.

“We have discussed with Mr.Basiuni about the further reforms we aim to bring to our institution. In such cases, you and other media outlets have provided evidence or suspects for the existence of criminal acts. The prosecution will start the investigation, while others are under investigation too”, Llalla underlined.

According to the testimonies, the abused children were interviewed by the Prosecution by the lawyer of three foreign child abusers on account of a Strasbourg court case.

Prosecutors say that this practice is illegal and the lawyer has abused with its power. They suspect that the children are having the rents of their houses paid in exchange of silence.

EU increases electoral requests
25/03/2013

While the EU is trying to keep Albania’s integration agenda alive, the Albanian Delegation members of the Democratic Party boycotted the European Parliament conference with Mr. Stefan Fule.

The reason of this boycott is still unknown. The only Albanian delegate was the Foreign Relation Secretary of the Socialist Movement for Integration, Ralf Gjoni.

Fule declared that he was visiting Tirana to have a different view of the integration processes.

The Commissioner gave a wider panorama of the EU economic situation. During the entire meeting, Fule never mentioned the three controversial integration laws, but reiterated the June 23rd elections.

“Allow me to reiterate that it is a responsibility of all political parties, in government and opposition, to contribute so that the next elections will reach democratic standards of a high level, in order to leave no room for contestations. By securing high standards, Albania will send a strong signal of maturity and dedication of the democratic values and stability”, Fule declared.

During a conversation with the present, it showed the approach of the European Commission with Albania after the elections, when announcing the start of a high rank dialogue between the government and the opposition after June 23rd. Eduard Kukan reiterated the importance of an effective Parliament.

“A country that cannot have a Parliament which is unable to play its role needs to be replaced. You need a Parliament where politicians debate, the government shows the actions that it takes and from which the Albanians can make them accountable”, Kukan declared.

Ditmir Bushati, chairman of the Parliamentary Integration Commission, declared that the alarm bell as regards the status deadline is ringing, but no one is hearing it.

“We are in the limits when we can give another orientation to our country. This should be made tangible with the status and membership dialogue. December must be the decisive month for the position that the European institutions will take”, Bushati declared.

Fule launched an interactive portal of the EU delegation in Tirana, conceived as an opportunity to communicate with more Albanian citizens.

During his stay in Tirana, Commissioner Fule preferred to meet only with the Integration minister, Majlinda Bregu, and Ditmir Bushati.

PM receives new chief of EU mission in Kosovo

Source: Tanjug

BELGRADE -- Serbian Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dačić met on Monday with the new head of the EU mission in Kosovo, EULEX, Bernd Borchardt.

(Tanjug)

According to a government statement, Dačić during the meeting "insisted that EULEX, together with KFOR and UNMIK, should secure full protection of citizens in Kosovo and Metohija".
Dačić expressed his concern over various forms of ethnic violence against Serbs and other members of the non-Albanian communities in Kosovo, who are still prevented from exercising basic rights and freedoms.

“The Serbian government is ready for a coordinated cooperation with the EULEX mission, which is due to be status-neutral and to secure safety and enforcement of rights of all citizens in line with international acts and standards,” Dačić said.

The Serbian prime minister noted that the international missions UNMIK, KFOR and EULEX have a mandate under which they should maintain stability in the territory of entire Kosovo and Metohija.

Serbia is ready to continue and promote the cooperation, particularly at the operative level, in the fight against organized crime and investigation of crimes and human organ trafficking, Dačić said.

"The truth should be determined professionally, particularly bearing in mind the information on destruction of evidence which was disclosed in the investigations to date, and therefore Serbia insists that the UN should have an important role in these investigation procedures," the prime minister underlined in the talks with the EULEX head

Greece continues to support Serbia on EU, Kosovo

Source: Tanjug

BELGRADE -- Greek Ambassador to Serbia Dimostenis Stoidis estimated on Monday that Serbia deserved to be granted a starting date for EU entry talks.

Stoidis (R) is seen with Tomislav Nikolić on Monday in Belgrade (Tanjug)

According to a Tanjug report, the diplomat "underscored once again that the stand of Athens remains unchanged."
"We firmly believe and that is not just a rhetoric, that Serbia deserved to get a starting date for EU membership talks even last year," Stoidis told theh news agency during a reception on the occasion of the Greek national holiday - Independence Day.

That is the reason why Greece plans to assist Serbia in its EU integration process once the country assumes the EU presidency in the first half of 2014, Stoidis said.

That is not just true for Greece, but also for the country that will hold the EU Presidency after us, and that is Italy, which has the similar stand toward Serbia's progress along the EU path, Stoidis said.

"We are of the opinion that we have already done a lot. It is on us to persuade other partners to show more optimism and not attach new conditions (for EU entry) other than those that every country has to fulfill," the Greek ambassador said.

He voiced confidence that 2014 would be the year of true progress for Serbia on its road to joining the EU bloc.

Asked whether Greece remains steadfast in its stand that it will not recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo, "following Romania's announcements that it could review its position", Stoidis said : “Greece's stand remains unchanged.“

Underscoring that he could not speak about the intentions or plans of other countries, Stoidis noted that Greece, as a regional country, would like to see, in agreement with Serbia, better opportunities for all people in the region to improve their everyday lives.

"If that means business arrangements with Priština such were the ones in the past, that does not mean that our country is changing its institutional position. Our stand is well-known, firm and clear," the Greek ambassador concluded.

Aριστεριστές κατά Χρυσής Αυγής - Έφυγαν τρέχοντας

Korinthos March 25, the Greek Independence day ceremony, a little episode of "Civil War" between leftist Communists and Right of "The Golden Dawn"

Grenades and explosive arsenal  inside Albanian café in Athens

Entire arsenal discovered in Albanian cafe in center of Athens. Specifically in the area of ​​cell found grenades, explosive devices, drugs, and a revolver.

Specifically following information for drug trafficking and firearms from an albanian cafe owner, the police found him and watching the movements of the discovered where parking used as a warehouse for drugs and weapons. The 36 old year  Albanian arrested along with one 31 old year accomplice and taken to the Prosecutor.

The arsenal found in the area and seized:

  * Quantity of raw cannabis-weight 1940-gram.
  * Quantity of heroin weighing -4 - g.
  * Sixty-seven (67) bodies defensive grenade type F1
  * Sixty-eight (68) grenade initiating devices
  * One (1) revolver of 0,22 mm
  * Seven (7) cartridges of 0,22 mm above the revolver
  * The amount of (3.400) million
  * One (1) mobile phone

The arsenal in the Albanian cafe in conjunction with the recent attempted escape of prison  root and unprecedented military-style business release Kalashnikov and hand grenades of 11 Albanian criminals from the prisons of Trikala gives new dimensions to the whole affair revealing that there is a major national security issue of our country . The escape from the prisons of Trikala may reveal new insights into the suspicious activity Albanian paramilitary groups in Greece. However, the mechanisms of the domestic system have imposed a general silence to resistances of Greek people and downgraded a matter which should have been closely monitored by the country.

Read more:

News section defencenet.gr

Greek Media: Albanian paramilitaries of UCK, first officially operation in Greece
 
"Military operation of the UCK" behind the escape of "11" in the prisons of Trikala!


Strong evidence that about 15 Albanians stormed the prison of Trikala and freed the eleven compatriots them (the three were arrested shortly after) were not ordinary criminals, but a group of highly trained military discipline said sources of the security authorities of the Greece.

Details mentioning that the attack were made by the Albanian paramilitary in Kosovo or Albanian of region of Tetovo in Skopje. The Greek criminal annalists, firstly simply believe that they were the first members of the armed UCK presence in Greece and especially against hardened targets and being armed guards with excellent results in terms of outcome.

Proper use of grenades and ammunition targeted coverage of Albanians fled, but the way they went their tracks, trapping the car that transported them with grenades shows excellent military training of Albanian paramilitary unit UCK.

Naturally impresses the way out and that seemed very confident in their moves on the way to the prisons of Trikala and while carrying all this arsenal.

The way they acted in the group of 15 individuals who challenged the guard outside the prison in Trikala was impeccably organized and designed with military consequence for the arrest and execution. Used four points approach

A Calm battled for 45 minutes with guards outside outposts until the escape of elements authorities concede that service coverage and the second group developed the roads leading to the prison in order to cut out if needed!

http://www.defencenet.gr/defence/item/uck

Trikala Prison Escapees Still At Large - Police Continue Manhunt

Trikala Prison Escapees Still At Large - Police Continue Manhunt

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By Hellas Frappe on 25.3.13

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Police authorities continued with a manhunt in order to track down eight inmates who escaped from the Trikala prison last week in a heated shootout that sent two prison guards to the hospital (one in very critical condition). Two of the 11 escapees were apprehended by police on Saturday and a third on Sunday, and a remaining eight still remain at large.

In such a framework, authorities have set up road blocks to all road accesses leading to the Greek-Albanian border, while patrols were also scouring the surrounding mountains where passage routes to the neighboring country abound. Police have trained police dogs with them, while thermal cameras are also being used at night.

Four of the escapees had been trapped by police in the vicinity of the jail, while the two that were arrested on Saturday are Albanian nationals aged 27 and 30.

According to reports, the escape was staged with help from unknown persons who were stationed in two cars outside of the prison and who began to fire at the guards as a diversionary tactic while the eleven men climbed out with ropes, hooks and self-made ladders.

According to a Justice Ministry announcement, the escape was "unprecedented and planned like a military operation, using Kalashnikov rifles and hand grenades," and apparently it occurred at a time while the convicts had not returned to their cells yet.

The ministry noted that:

    "Unknown persons, split into two groups, with two vehicles and heavy arms, opened fire at the guards (from) outside (of the prison) and of the vehicle used by the jail patrol which was parked outside the jail and was caught in the cross-fire."
An additional two police cars, one in motion and the other parked, were also attacked.
    "During the fire exchange that lasted over half an hour and turned the area into a battlefield two guards outside were injured in the abdomen, one of them seriously. It was determined that 11 foreign nationals convicted over robberies and thefts managed to escape from the G2 jail wing after taking advantage of the armed clash of outsiders with the forces there."

The jail is surrounded by swat teams and the searches have so far not turned up additional firearms or shells that would confirm the use of firearms by convicts inside the jail during the escape attempt, the ministry added.

Justice Minister Antonis Roupakiotis who rushed to Trikala and apparently visited the injured guards at the town's main Hospital on Saturday afternoon, accompanied by deputy minister Costas Karagounis and the ministry secretary general. Later on he went to the prison where he was briefed on the circumstances surrounding the attack on the prison guards and jailbreak.

Following this he said that a "perfectly organized plan" had been executed, during which hundreds of gunshots were fired and hand grenades thrown, of which five exploded, seriously injuring two members of the prison outside guards, while also immobilizing the police car and guards' car stationed at the facility.

The Minister revealed that it was an unprecedented operation, and stressed that:

"up to know we were discussing how to prevent someone escaping from inside, since that is where the danger existed ... Now we have to redesign the guarding of the prisons, because as it seems, with the form that organized crime has taken, then there is a threat of interventions from the outside to help those on the inside (escape)".

Following Friday's prison break, law enforcement authorities believe that notorious mafia boss Panagiotis Vlastos was preparing a new attempt to break out of the Trikala incarceration facility, after an attempted prison break by the notorious inmate by helicopter was foiled by authorities a month ago. In fact police press spokesman Christos Parthenis said on Saturday that after the escape of the 11 inmates a search was conducted of Vlastos' cell, and it turned up five blades, four saws and two knives.

Cyprus accepts new package, will stay in Eurozone

Source: Tanjug

BRUSSELS -- Eurozone finance ministers and Cypriot authorities reached an agreement early on Monday on a package of aid for Cyprus.

Employees of banks protest in Cyprus over the weekend (Beta/AP)

The deal came after a dramatic Brussels meeting that was repeatedly delayed.
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades accepted an EUR 10 billion aid package from the European Central Bank, provided that the Cyprus restructures its two largest banks, while the accounts of those who have more than 100,000 euros deposited will suffer the most.

During a dramatic meeting of the Ministerial Council that ended a little after two in the morning, Anastasiades, according to the reports of several news agencies, several times threatened to resign rather than agree to measures that would jeopardize the status of Cyprus as a tax haven and offshore zone, mainly for Russian clients .

Faced with the threat of Cyprus being expelled from the eurozone as early as on Monday or Tuesday, the Cypriot president agreed to the conditions set by the so-called troika, consisting of the ministers set the Eurogroup, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Banks closed in Cyprus last week, while ATM withdrawals were limited to 100 euros a day after a panic caused by the announcement that the government, at the request of the troika, would remove tax accounts of all depositors, including those with less than 100,000 euros.

The Cypriot parliament then rejected the measures and asked for Russian financial assistance to its indebted banks, but Russia refused to intervene on the grounds that the issue should be resolved within the EU.

Cyprus then had no choice but to accept the new proposal from the troika.

The Cypriot parliament has yet to accept the new package.

In the EU, there is fear that Russia, whose citizens and companies with property in Cyprus will be most affected, could recover the damages by confiscating assets of European companies operating on Russian soil.

It is estimated that there is about EUR 20 billion of Russian money in Cyprus, of which about a quarter will be confiscated when the new package takes effect.

Cypriot banks found themselves in trouble after investing a large portion of their funds in the purchase of Greek bonds, which proved to be worthless.

The Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, holding a tsoliadaki and a girl with traditional Greek costume, on the occasion of the celebration of 25 March in distant continent sent a warm message of support to the Diaspora and Greece.

Macedonians vote in local elections

Source: Beta

SKOPJE -- Voters in Macedonia are casting ballots in local elections on Sunday. There are no major problems so far, authorities have released.

(Beta/AP, file)

The voter turnout was around ten percent until 10:00 CET.
Polling stations opened at 7:00 and voters will be able to cast their votes until 19:00 CET.

The State Electoral Commission has stated that more than 8,500 candidates are running in the elections. 350 of them are running for mayors.

The voting started on Saturday when the sick and disabled and prisoners were able to vote.

Tensions are high in the town of Kičevo. According to the new territorial division, the town has the higher number of ethnic Albanian population thanks to surrounding villages and Macedonian political parties fear that Kičevo could for the first time get an Albanian mayor.

Numerous citizens living abroad, mostly ethnic Albanians from Switzerland, have come to Kičevo in order to vote.

Only several polling stations were not open this morning due to bad weather and inadequate number of ballots, the Electoral Commission told a press conference.

A total of 8,379 local and 410 foreign observers are monitoring the elections in Macedonia.

Turkey badly needed to end row with Israel. Netanyahu’s apology gave Obama a diplomatic breakthrough

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report March 23, 2013

A Turkish drone in need of Israeli technology

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu granted the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan a face-saver for ending their three-year rift out of willingness to crown US President Barack Obama’s three-day visit with an impressive diplomatic breakthrough. He swallowed Israel and its army’s pride and, at the airport, with Obama looking on, picked up the phone to Erdogan and apologized for the killing by Israeli soldiers of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists in 2010 aboard the Mavi Marmara, which was leading a flotilla bound on busting the Israeli blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
The crowing comment by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu - “Turkey’s basic demands have been met; we got what we wanted” – was out of place, spiteful and ill-mannered.
He knows perfectly well that for the past year, amid a constant stream of ranting abuse from Ankara, Israel has been quietly responding to Turkey’s desperate need for cooperation in four essential fields, which are disclosed here by debkafile:

1. The Turkish armed forces are heavily dependent on Israeli military technologies from the long years of the close alliance between the two countries, which Ankara cut short. This dependence applies most particularly to its drones, the backbone of today’s modern armies. It is also holding up the huge transaction for the sale of American Boeing Awacs electronic warning airplanes to Turkey.
Boeing was unable to deliver the aircraft without Jerusalem’s consent, because a key component, the early warning systems, is designed in Israel. This consent has been withheld in the face of Turkey’s urgent need and the US aviation firm’s impatience to consummate the deal.
Turkey is in need of those planes - not just to monitor events in neighboring wartorn Syria, but to complete its air defense lineup against Iranian ballistic missiles. Without the AWACs, the advanced FBX-radar system the US has stationed at the Turkish Kurecik air base is only partly operational. The Kurecik battery is linked to its equivalent at a US base in the Israeli Negev, a fact which Ankara chooses to conceal.
2.  In view of the turmoil in Syria, the bulk of Turkey’s exports destined for the Persian Gulf and points farther east have been diverted to the Israeli ports of Haifa and Ashdod, whereas just a year ago, they went through Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Since no end is seen to the Syrian conflict and the closure of the Turkish-Syrian border, more and more export traffic from Turkey is making its way through Haifa port and thence by rail across Israel to Jordan.  Turkish goods bound for destinations in Europe and the US are diverted to Israeli ports too as Egyptian ports are made increasingly dysfunctional by that country’s economic crisis..
3. In the first year of the Syrian uprising, when Davutoglu was still a frequent traveler to Damascus for talks with Bashar Assad, Ankara entertained high hopes of becoming a major player for resolving the Syrian debacle.  But he also sought to strike a deal with the Lebanese Hizballah, Assad’s ally, for obstructing Israeli gas and oil exploration in the eastern Mediterranean

Three years on, Turkish leaders have woken up to the realization that they had better hurry up and jump aboard the US-backed Israeli energy bandwagon or else they will miss out on an outstanding and lucrative economic development, namely, the forthcoming opening up of a Mediterranean gas exporting route to Europe.
4. Turkey, Israel and Jordan are all in the same boat as targets for the approaching large-scale use of Syria’s chemical and biological weapons.
This topic was high on the agenda of President Obama’s talks with Jordan’s King Hussein Friday, March 21, in Amman, after he had explored the subject with Israel’s prime minister in Jerusalem.
Obama presented them with his plan to consolidate into a single US-led Turkish-Israeli-Jordan HQ the separate commands established six months ago in each of those countries to combat the use of unconventional weapons.
This unified command would stand ready to launch units of the four armies into coordinated land and air action inside Syria upon a signal from Washington.

The US president used his visits to Jerusalem and Amman to tie up the ends of this contingency plan with Netanyahu and Abdullah, while Secretary of State John Kerry got together with Erdogan in Ankara.
However, this four-way military effort to combat the Syrian chemical threat could not have taken off with Ankara and Jerusalem not on speaking terms.
This had been going on for three years, ever since Erdogan suspended military ties with Israel and downgraded diplomatic relations pending an Israeli apology for the Marmara incident, compensation for the victims and the lifting of its naval blockade on Gaza.
The Turkish prime minister insisted on the Israeli prime minister paying obeisance to Turkish national honor. And finally Netanyahu relented. But Israel stood its ground on the last condition; a UN probe had pronounced the Israeli blockade legal and legitimate although its raid on the Turkish ship was deemed “excessive.” So the blockade remains  in place and, indeed, Friday, March 23, Israel’s new defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, tightened it by restricting the Gaza offshore areas open to Palestinian Mediterranean fishermen.

This was punishment for the four-rocket attack staged from Gaza on the Israeli town of Sderot Thursday, the second day of President Obama’s visit to Israel.
debkafile’s military sources comment that the new defense minister may have also been directing a reproach at the prime minister for apologizing to Turkey and admitting to “operational errors,” thereby casting aspersions on the professionalism of the Israel Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit and its legitimate action in defense of Israel’s legal Gaza blockade.

MPs approve vital measures to keep Cyprus afloat

Source: EuroNews

NICOSIA -- Cypriot MPs have voted to create a “national solidarity fund”, to restructure banks and give the government power to impose controls to prevent a bank run.

(Beta/AP)

The late night emergency session approved the measures in a dramatic bid to avoid an imminent financial meltdown.
The lawmakers are working to a Monday deadline.

“At this difficult time there are no easy solutions of course, there are no painless solutions. At this moment of a call to arms, the Socialist Party will play its role,” rallied Socialist Party member Nikos Nikolaou.

While the voting was going on protesters called for the EU-led troika of international lenders to get out of Cyprus.

The island has been told to raise nearly EUR 6bn to qualify for a EUR 10bn bailout.

The one measure which triggered the crisis – the rejection of a controversial tax on bank savings – could be back on table in a modified form this weekend.

 

 

Albania to implement economic diplomacy with Turkey 

 

At Mucaj's meeting with Turkish President Abdullah Gul during which he presented his letter of diplomatic credentials, Gul reiterated the existing good relations between the two 

 

countries.World Bulletin / News Desk

 

Newly assigned Albanian Ambassador in Ankara Genci Mucaj, who formerly worked at economic department in Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has said, "The potential between Turkey and Albania is at least 5 or 10 times more than the current."
In an exclusive interview with AA, Ambassador Mucaj stated the trade volume between the two countries was approximately 480 million USD which made Turkey Albania's one of major partners. "Based on our wonderful relationship, historical relationship; economic cooperation is really flourishing," said Mucaj who underlined that his main objective was to work on economic diplomacy.
At Mucaj's meeting with Turkish President Abdullah Gul during which he presented his letter of diplomatic credentials, Gul reiterated the existing good relations between the two countries.
"Mr. Ambassador, we are great partners. Turkey and Albania have no political disputes. Why don't we work on economic diplomacy-" Mucaj quoted Gul as saying. "That's wonderful. That's exactly what my president has told me," Mucaj said he had replied to the Turkish president.
"Turkish businessmen and investments are very welcome in Albania," said ambassador who told that he would like to bring both businessmen together for mutual investments.
Mucaj underlined the significance of Turkish language departments in Albanian universities. "My family also studies Turkish at Yunus Emre Culture Centre in Albania. There are many similar words between Turkish and Albanian. Albania and the embassy have a goal to start a culture centre in Turkey because there are lots of Turkish citizens who would like to get some of the feelings of their predecessors. If you bring the people together, governments come together," said Mucaj.
Stating that in the centennial anniversary Albania had demanded bodies of prominent figures buried in other countries, Mucaj reminded that they had requested remains of Shamseddin Frasheri who wrote Turkish dictionaries during the Ottoman era. "We are honored and happy that Turkey recognizes them with great respect. There is no resentment at all," said ambassador Mucaj regarding Turkey's demand to keep the body of Frasheri.