During the 2015 NATO Military Committee
Conference, the 28 Allied Chiefs of Defence took stock of the
implementation of the Readiness Action Plan (RAP) and agreed that the
conditions are set for the RAP to be delivered in time for the Warsaw
Summit next year. “The Chiefs of Defence also stressed the need to
ensure that NATO forces and equipment can move rapidly across the
Alliance, as NATO’s greatest responsibility is to protect and defend our
Allies – the 28 Member States – against any threat”, General Petr
Pavel, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee said at the MC Conference
in Istanbul, Turkey.
NATO’s Future Posture and long-term military strategy was
another key topic discussed by the Chiefs of Defence. The Military
Committee emphasized the need to ensure NATO’s Command Structure remains
robust, agile and able to deter any threats or challenges facing the
Alliance. “NATO continues to adapt and respond to the challenges in both its Eastern and Southern flanks, keeping our countries safe”, General Petr Pavel stated during his press conference.
During the session on the RESOLUTE SUPPORT Mission in Afghanistan,
the Chiefs of Defence reiterated their commitment for the Mission and
their confidence in the Afghan defence forces who continue to rise to
the challenge of protecting their own population. The Chiefs of Defence
highlighted that RESOLUTE SUPPORT is still NATO’s largest Mission and
it shows the Alliance’s determination to preserve the gains achieved
together with the Afghans. In addition, discussions touched upon NATO’s
presence post-RESOLUTE SUPPORT. “The Chiefs of Defence underlined
that a successful transition from RESOLUTE SUPPORT into the civilian-led
presence needs to be conditions-based”, General Pavel added.
NATO Chiefs of Defence also discussed the ways of enhancing NATO’s
partnerships in the Western Balkans, stressing NATO’s continued
commitment to regional stability – including through KFOR’s presence,
cooperation and Euro-Atlantic integration.
The conference concluded with the Chiefs of Defence electing
Lieutenant General Jan Broeks of the Royal Netherlands Armed Forces as
the next Director General of the International Military Staff.
MOSCOW
(Sputnik) — Hundreds of thousands of Catalans took to the streets
of Barcelona to participate in a mass independence demonstration, called
Gateway to the Catalan Republic.
The march began at 17:14 local time (19:14 GMT), a time chosen as a
reminder of the year 1714, when Catalonia was defeated during the War
of the Spanish Succession.
People are carrying a gigantic arrowhead from the north of the
Avinguda Meridiana, a major avenue in Barcelona, toward the Catalan
Parliament in the Parc de la Ciutadella. The 3-mile distance has 135
sections, symbolizing the number of members of the local parliament.
The Protest is motivated to the recent violation of the Human Rights, against the Greeks in Southern Albanian particularly in Himara and the demolition of the church of St. Athanasius in Dhermi, held Friday afternoon outside the Embassy of Albania in Athens, members of the National Association "Northern Epirus - 1914".
The
world needs Russia to end the civil war in Syria and flush out the
Islamic State, French ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy said in an interview
Wednesday. He also urged the West not to start a new Cold War with
Russia.
“Setting
the stage for a new Cold War with Russia is a serious mistake… We need
Russia to end the conflict in Syria and our fight against ISIL. This
does not mean, of course, that we should agree with Moscow on everything
or accept what is happening in Donetsk,” Sarkozy said in an interview
with Le Figaro.
“Russia should get back to the G8 and lift the meat import ban, while
Europe needs to restart its mutually-beneficial dialogue with Moscow,”
Sarkozy added.
The United States, the European Union and their allies imposed
several rounds of economic, financial and technological sanctions
on Russia over its alleged meddling in Ukraine’s internal affairs.
Russia has repeatedly denied the assertions, and has responded to the sanctions with a food import ban.
First entry: 11 September 2015 - 15:09 Athens, 12:09 GMT
Last update: 15:09 Athens, 12:09 GMTWorld
Nearly half a million Catalans have registered to take part in a street rally in Barcelona later to show support for independence from Spain.
A separatist coalition of parties is leading the polls ahead of Catalonia's regional elections this month.
The
Together For Yes campaign says if it wins a majority in the regional
assembly it will push through plans for an independent Catalan state.
The Spanish government has promised to block any move to break away.
Madrid said an unofficial Catalan referendum last November was invalid.
The poll saw 80% of voters back independence but turnout was 40%.
The Together for Yes group kicked off its campaign late on Thursday night ahead of the mass rally on Friday.
The
coalition comprises political groups from both the left and right, who
have come together in the face of continued Madrid government opposition
to a referendum.
The rally is taking place on La Diada, when Catalans celebrate their national day.
BBC
About the Demolition of the Church of St. Athanasius in Dhermi
Official government institutions across the country have declared
that the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania did not complain about
the events concerning the demolition of the Church of St. Athanasius in
Dhermi. The truth is that the Church has already issued three public
announcement-protests: the first two on August 20th and 21st, in order
to stop the demolition plans and a third strong protest on the 26th
after the demolition.
More specifically, in the protest of
August 21st, it was emphasized that “The Orthodox Autocephalous Church
of Albania” harshly condemns such events which affect the property and
freedom of religious faith. It asked from the faithful to maintain their
composure in the face of these challenges and to remain committed to
the defense of the Church. It required the state to assume the legal
responsibilities arising from Law No. 10057 / 22.01.2009."
The
third protest, highlighted above all the sacrilege, the arbitrariness
and the provocative illegality: “This action is a brutal violation of
Law No. 10057 / 22.01.2009, of ‘Ratification of the Agreement between
the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Albania and the Orthodox
Autocephalous Church of Albania’, Article 21 / 1.2 according to which:
‘1. The buildings and objects used for religious functions are
considered sacred by the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania. The
intervention of State authorities is prohibited, except in specific
cases, when this involves a court order, judgment or executive order or
in case of a possible threat. 2. The State guarantees that the public
space be intact and protects the objects and the specific religious
sites in accordance with the Law.’”
Therefore, it is completely untrue that the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania did not complain about these events.
The Orthodox Church as one of the co-organizers of the
"International Meeting for Peace", which was held in Tirana on the 6th
and 8th of September, discreetly refrained from creating turmoil about
the scandalous sacrilege of religious freedom. Nevertheless, it remains
inexplicable that without any communication with the Orthodox Church,
State authorities took the offensive action against the Orthodox. The
Church has already protested and will not cease to defend truth and
justice.
Pavlopoulos referred to Amato's substantial role in Greece's effort to remain in the European Union.
He
also called Amato to mutually confront the major issue of refugees and
migrants regarding the initiatives that Europe should undertake.
The
president noted that the root of the evil is the war in Syria adding
that neither Europe nor the great powers of this world should remain
impassive before this evil and reiterated his position for an
extraordinary Summit on the migrants’ issue.
On
his part, Amato expressed his optimism over the confrontation of the
crisis and the promotion of the value of solidarity among the EU country
members on the migrants’ issue.
He also said that the solidarity
on the migration issue may find a way to reach the eurozone and to
create a bridge of confidence between the EU countries of the north and
the south and to make a better Europe.
First entry: 10 September 2015 - 22:00 Athens, 19:00 GMT
Last update: 22:00 Athens, 19:00 GMTElections 2015
New Democracy leader Evangelos Meimarakis
will seek an alliance with his main leftist rivals first if he wins
this month's election, insisting that the country must not miss the
"last chance" to pull itself out of a seven-year crisis, Reuters
reported.
In an interview with Reuters, the 61-year-old political
veteran said his New Democracy party would turn to other pro-European
groups if Syriza - the leftist party that led Greece for seven turbulent
months this year - rejected his advances.
Syriza forced the
election last month when its leader Alexis Tsipras resigned as prime
minister, hoping to end a party rebellion over Greece's new bailout deal
and return to power with an outright parliamentary majority.
But
New Democracy, which lost power only in January, has surprised everyone
with the strength of its campaign. Opinion polls put it neck-and-neck
with Syriza, meaning the election on September 20 is unlikely to produce
an outright winner. A coalition government will therefore have to be
cobbled together to ensure Greece is not forced into a disruptive new
round of elections.
"The first party that I would turn to would be
the one that ranked second," said Meimarakis, who became interim New
Democracy leader in July after former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras
resigned.
"If the second party does not want to join in, I will
turn to the parties which believe in the country's European course and
with which we can at least agree on a plan of a viable government,
hopefully a four-year term one."
Meimarakis was referring to
Syriza, which in negotiating the 86 billion euro bailout with the
eurozone and IMF was forced to ditch its election promises to end
austerity.
The polls suggest the election will be a largely
two-horse race, meaning that if New Democracy wins, Syriza is almost
certain to be the second party in the next parliament. Support for each
party fluctuates around the 25 percent level.
Greece needs a
stable government to implement its side of the bailout deal to keep the
country from lurching back towards bankruptcy and an exit from the euro,
as it did this summer.
However, Syriza has so far spurned
overtures from New Democracy, calling it part of an establishment
responsible for the economic malaise. Tsipras says he is still hoping
for an outright victory and a mandate to implement the austerity
policies demanded by the creditors which have split his party.
Other
pro-euro parties Meimarakis could turn to include the Socialist PASOK
and centrist To Potami. The right-wing Independent Greeks' party -
Tsipras's former coalition ally - however, has suggested it would prefer
to team up with Syriza again.
Since sliding into crisis in
2008-2009, Greece has held four parliamentary elections and had seven
governments. In 2012 it held two elections in successive months to break
a political deadlock.
But a repeat election this time would
plunge the country into political instability, said Meimarakis, a former
speaker of parliament.
"This is the country's last chance," he
said. "I am mature. I'm ready, with a plan, with the party's top brass
and a united parliamentary group, to pull the country out of the
crisis."
Meimarakis accused Tsipras of scaring away investors
during his brief time in power, when the banks were closed for three
weeks, capital controls were imposed and several privatization deals
stalled.
Greece should unblock big infrastructure projects halted
under the last government and sign up to more investment. "Our first aim
is to restore confidence in the country," he said.
Meimarakis
said that even if New Democracy won outright, it would cooperate with
other political forces to form a negotiating team for dealing with the
European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders.
"We need
to coordinate and reach an agreement. And even if some political forces
don't want to take part in the government, there will be a national
negotiating team in which they should. It's their democratic obligation
to participate," he said.
Syriza has promised to implement the
bailout but also negotiate open issues such collective pay bargaining
and pension reform. It has also pledged to seek debt relief.
Asked
whether he would renegotiate parts of the bailout, Meimarakis said
Greece had to make significant progress, meet its fiscal targets to
regain its foreign lenders' trust and push for measures to mitigate the
impact of economic adjustment.
A New Democracy-led government, he said, would try to ease taxation and seek a restructuring of its debt.
"Our
partners do not want to strangle us," Meimarakis said, adding that he
was confident the lenders would be ready to discuss measures to ease
hardship if Greece met its side of the bargain.
On a sweeping
pension reform plan that Greece has promised to present by the end of
the year, Meimarakis said not much could be done since Syriza had
already agreed to the cuts in payments for the retired.
"We can't
push a magic button on this issue and give promises which cannot be
fulfilled and will be proven fake," he said. "The next two years will be
difficult."
Reuters
Hungary will hold a military
exercise near the border with Serbia soon, Serbian Foreign Minister
Ivica Dacic said on Wednesday afternoon.
Source: Tanjug
Dacic said that he had been informed about it over the phone by his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto
"The Ministry of Defense of Hungary will inform our
Ministry of Defense that they will hold military exercises near the
border and that this has nothing to do with any possible military threat
on our part," Dacic told reporters in Belgrade.
Bujanovac municipality
President Nagip Arifi has announced a "constitutive session of an
association of municipalities with Albanian majority."
Source: Beta
The meeting will take place in Presevo, southern Serbia, on September 12, the Beta agency is reporting.
Arifit told the Pristina-based KTV that ethnic Albanian
councilors from Bujanovac, Presevo and Medvedja will meet on Saturday,
and that "all Albanian councilors have been invited."
"The
meeting will discuss the formation of an association of municipalities
with Albanian majority, based on a political platform that was adopted
in 2006 by Albanian councilors (from these municipalities," he said.
Asked about "the support they could receive from officials of Kosovo,
Macedonia, and Albania," Arifi said that they had discussions with
political subjects "in those countries."
According to Beta, he added that Saturday will be "a significant day for Albanians" in the three municipalities.
Hungarian Prime Minister
Viktor Orban has spoken on the phone with his Serbian counterpart
Aleksandar Vucic about the refugee crisis.
Source: Beta, Tanjug
A file photo of Viktor Orban and Aleksandar Vucic (Tanjug)
Orban's press service said on Thursday that the two prime
ministers "spoke about the crisis situation caused by mass migration on
the borders of Serbia and Macedonia."
The migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa,
and Asia are transiting the Balkans and Hungary in bid to reach western
Europe.
Orban, who is in Brussels today discussing the migrant
crisis with EU leaders, "informed Vucic about a new law on border
control that will be adopted by the Hungarian parliament and will enable
the sending of strong police and military units to the border with
Serbia starting September 15," the press service head Baratalan Havasi
announced.
Orban also told Vucic that "it is expected that
migrants and people smugglers will seek new transit paths and bypass
Hungary," and added that "countries in the region must prepare for this
situation."
Vucic told Orban that "Serbia is fulfilling its
obligation to register asylum seekers arriving from Macedonia, although
Macedonia is not carrying out controls at its borders."
Earlier
in the day, reports said that a Hungarian parliament member announced
his country would establish "transit zones for migrants, in the
direction of Serbia."
Ruling Fidesz party member Gergely
Gulyas, who heads the Hungarian parliament's legislative committee, said
these "transit zone" on Hungary's southern border "will be open in the
direction of Serbia, and closed hermetically in the direction of
Hungary."
Gulyas described Serbia as "a safe third country,"
and added Hungary would grant migrants asylum "only if it is proved a
similar procedure for asylum seekers in Serbia failed to fulfill
international law criteria, or that of the rule of law."
Also on Thursday, the main train station in Budapest was reopened for migrants, but no trains were running to western European cities.
In an opinion piece he penned for a German newspaper, Viktor Orban observed that "the influx of refugees into Europe threatens to undermine its Christian roots."
Moscow
requested and received Athens' permission to conduct flights to
transport humanitarian aid to Syria in the period from September 1 to
September 24, according to a diplomatic source.
ATHENS
(Sputnik) — Greece denied on Sunday US request to close Athens airspace
(FIR Athens) for the flights of Russian aircraft with humanitarian aid
to Syria, a diplomatic source in Athens said.
"On
Saturday, US embassy appealed to the Greek government with a request
to prohibit the flights of Russian aircraft in the FIR Athens. The Greek
government refused to do so, in order not to worsen relations
with Russia," the source told RIA Novosti.
According to the source, Moscow has requested and received Athens'
permission to conduct flights to transport humanitarian aid to Syria
in the period from September 1 to September 24.
Athens is yet to confirm the information.
The refusal of independent auditors to give a
verdict on the accuracy of the financial statements of the electricity
distributor has shed light on the poor state of bookkeeping in Albania's
state-run companies.
Gjergj Erebara
BIRN
Tirana
Tirana | Photo by Flickr.
A group of independent auditors hired by Albania's electricity
distribution network operator OSHEE, to audit its financial statements
for 2014, has refused to give an opinion, noting inconsistencies in the
data.
The unaudited financial statements of the company shows that in 2014
revenues jumped to 47.2 billion leks (€337 million) from 37.7 billion
leks (€269 million) in 2013.
“Our responsibility is to give an opinion on the financial statements
based on the auditing. We have conducted our auditing based on
International Auditing Standards,” the auditors report, obtained by
BIRN, says.
“But we were unable to secure enough data to create a basis for this opinion,” it adds.
Auditors noted disrepancies between the company's billing system and
its financial statements for 2014 that neither the management nor the
auditors could explain.
They said the company's assets were not accurately registered in the
national property register, claimed inventories were poorly kept and
noted that conflicting claims from third parties were not satisfactorily
resolved.
Answering a query from BIRN, OSHEE said its problems were inherited
from the time when the company was under the ownership of the CEZ Group.
“The fact that the auditors refuse to offer an opinion did not have
to do with the accuracy of the financial data but with the fact that the
OSHEE has been in negative territory for years and with the problem of
unregistered assets of the company,” OSHEE said in its reply.
The company said that it was working on improving its inventory
reports and on registering its properties but warned that the process
would not be finished within this year.
OSHEE has has a troubled history since it was created back in 2007 as
an independent company, by dividing up the distribution arm of the
Electricity Corporation in order to prepare it for privatization.
CEZ, the electricity giant from the Czech Republic, bought OSHEE back
in 2009 but immediately claimed that the company's financial statements
had been rigged by the previous administration by inflating the rate of
electricity consumption.
CEZ said the company had declared much lower electricity losses and thefts than had actually taken place.
CEZ failed to turn the company's fortunes around and it accumulated
heavy losses in the following years. It also had several disagreements
with the Albanian energy regulator over its methods of purchasing
electricity at inflated prices and over its financial statements.
An earlier investigation by BIRN found that CEZ engaged in a fraudulent scheme to distribute bribes among Albanian officials.
Albania nationalized its shares in the company in 2013 and then appointed its own management.
Since last October, the government has started a major crackdown on
electricity theft, imprisoning about 600 people within months.
Under pressure from the IMF over falling fiscal
revenues, Prime Minister Rama has pledged to engage 600 teams to fight
the widespread evasion of the use of receipts for goods - although many
see the threat as empty.
Gjergj Erebara
BIRN
Tirana
Edi Rama speaking to the media about his campaign against fiscal evasion on 31 August 2015. Photo: Malton Dibra/LSA
Albanians awoke on Tuesday to a new sense of alarm over fiscal bills.
Coffee shops scrambled to use cash registers that were installed back
in 2010 but rarely used since then.
Over the last month, several top officials including the Prime
Minister Edi Rama have threatened taxpayers and consumers alike with
heavy fines.
Owners of small enterprises like tailors and hairdressers have rushed
to get registered in the National Business Registry, fearing reprisals.
“The war against informality [over payments] will be the focus of the
next 300 days of the government with coordination between customs, tax
directorate, labour inspectors and state police, as well as with the
prosecutors service, consumers and businesses,” Rama said in a televised
speech on Monday.
On Tuesday, Rama reinforced his initiative with another speech, adding that the campaign had been ducked for too long.
“For years, the necessary reforms had been avoided. Now it [Albania]
has started to feel like a state. We are starting an operation against
the chain of theft that in scientific language is called informality.
The will and the attention of the government will be at a maximum. We
are at war against informality,” Rama said.
Other officials warned that even consumers could be fined up to 1,000
leks (7.5 euros) if they leave a shop without taking a fiscal bill.
However, on Myslym Shyri street, one of the fanciest boulevards for
shopping in the capital Tirana, things were running just as usual on
Tuesday.
“They haven’t come here,” a shopkeeper told BIRN, referring to the
inspectors. He continued selling fruits and vegetables to customers
without bothering to print out any bills.
Albania signed a three-year agreement with the International Monetary
Fund in 2013, securing cash in exchange for pledges to tighten fiscal
discipline.
Following the agreement, the government increased taxes on profits,
tobacco and fuel, hoping to increase revenues and so close the deficit.
This year, however, the higher taxation failed to result in an
increase in revenues and the IMF mission ended discussions in June
without an agreement, suspending its lending program.
While the government says it will end once forever the high rate of
fiscal noncompliance in Albania, many doubt the campaign will bring
anything new.
“There are several reasons to doubt whether it will work,” Ornela Liperi, editor-in-chief of Monitor, a weekly economic magazine published in Tirana, said.
“This campaign started well two years after this government came to
power but after its experiments with tax hikes, it backfired,” she said.
“The government is also focusing on small businesses that are the
main source of self-employment in the country but they don’t have the
potential to increase budget revenue," she added.
"This [campaign] will only divert attention from the true sources of
the tax evasion in the country, like traders of tobacco, big employers
and big businesses. There is a widespread skepticism about how much the
government is willing to do to punish big businesses that have strong
political connections,” Liperi concluded.
Who’s the real action hero? Putin meets Hollywood star Steven Seagal
as he claims to have secured deal with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
to call snap elections
Hollywood actor is said to be one of Putin's favourite celebrity icons
Russian president said Bashar al-Assad is ready to hold snap elections
Vladimir Putin
shook hands with Hollywood actor Steven Seagal in bizarre scenes in
Russia today as he claimed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is ready to
hold snap parliamentary elections and could share power with a 'healthy'
opposition.
Seagal
- said to be one of Putin's favourite celebrity icons - was
photographed with the president outside Russia's first ever Eastern
Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok.
The
action hero is among the Western celebrities who have socialised with
Putin and praised him, as well as Russia, despite the deep chill in
diplomatic relations between Moscow and the West.
Scroll down for video
Russian President Vladimir Putin
shakes hands with movie actor Steven Seagal at the Russia's first ever
Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok
Vladimir Putin speaks with Steven Seagal who is said to be one of the president's favourite celebrity icons
Russia, along with Iran, has been Assad's principle international ally in the war that has raged in Syria for four-and-a-half years and has claimed a quarter of a million lives.
Moscow
has made clear it does not want to see Assad toppled and has seized on
gains made by Islamic State in Syria and Iraq to urge his foreign foes,
including the United States and Saudi Arabia, to work with Damascus to
combat the common enemy.
'We
really want to create some kind of an international coalition to fight
terrorism and extremism,' Putin told journalists on the sidelines of the
Eastern Economic Forum, saying he had spoken to U.S. President Barack
Obama on the matter.
'We
are also working with our partners in Syria. In general, the
understanding is that this uniting of efforts in fighting terrorism
should go in parallel to some political process in Syria itself,' Putin
said.
'And
the Syrian president agrees with that, all the way down to holding
early elections, let's say, parliamentary ones, establishing contacts
with the so-called healthy opposition, bringing them into governing,' he
said.
Moscow
wants the U.S.-led coalition carrying out air strikes on Islamic State
positions to coordinate with the Syrian and Iraqi armies and moderate
anti-Assad rebel groups on the ground, as well as Kurdish forces.
SHARE PICTURE
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech at the Russia's first ever Eastern Economic Forum (EEF)
Assad's
enemies have refused to cooperate with Damascus, fearing that would
help legitimise his rule in Syria, where the West and Gulf states say he
is part of the problem, not the solution, and must go.
A
flurry of recent high-level diplomatic contacts have so far failed to
yield a breakthrough with the question over Assad being the main point
of contention.
'If
it's impossible today to organise joint work directly on the
battlefield between all those countries interested in fighting
terrorism, it's indispensable to at least establish some sort of
coordination between them,' Putin said.
He
noted that the chiefs of general staff of armed forces of countries
'sitting close' to the conflict visited Moscow recently on that. He gave
no details.
Earlier
this year, Seagal was spotted at Russia's biggest ever Victory Day
military parade on the Red Square, and last year he was
pictured pictured touring a Russian arms fair, days after playing a
controversial concert in the Crimea.
Migrants board a train to Munich at Vienna's Westbahnhof railway station in the early hours of Sept. 1.(JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Forecast
Rising immigration and fragile economic recovery in Europe
will reduce political support for the Schengen Agreement, which
eliminates border controls among member states.
The Schengen Agreement will likely be reformed to make room for countries to tighten their border controls more frequently.
Friction between Schengen members and other countries will remain, as will tension within the bloc itself.
Analysis
When France, West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg signed the Schengen Agreement in
1985, they envisioned a system in which people and goods could move
from one country to another without barriers. This vision was largely
realized: Since its implementation in 1995, the Schengen Agreement
eliminated border controls between its signatories and created a common
visa policy for 26 countries.
The treaty was a key step in the creation of a federal Europe. By
eliminating border controls, member states gave up a basic element of
national sovereignty. The agreement also required a significant degree
of trust among its signatories, because it put the responsibility for
checking foreigners' identities and baggage on the country of first
entry into the Schengen area. Once people have entered a Schengen
country, they can move freely across most of Europe without facing any
additional controls.
The Schengen Agreement was implemented in the 1990s, when the end of
the Cold War and the prospect of permanent economic prosperity led EU
members to give up national sovereignty in many sensitive areas. The
creation of the eurozone is probably the most representative agreement
of the period. But several things have changed in Europe since then, and
member states are beginning to question many of the decisions that were
made during the preceding years of optimism.
The most important change of the past six years is probably Europe's economic crisis and its byproduct, the rise of nationalist political parties.
Not far behind, though, is the substantial increase in the number of
asylum seekers in Europe, which is putting countries on the European
Union's external borders (such as Greece and Italy) and countries in the
Continent's economic core (such as France and Germany) under significant stress.
This is not the first time the Schengen Agreement has been questioned,
but the combination of a rising number of asylum seekers, stronger
nationalist parties and fragile economic recovery are leading
governments and political groups across Europe to request the redesign,
and in some cases the abolishment, of the Schengen Agreement.
On the one hand, countries in northern Europe criticize countries on
the Mediterranean for their lack of effective border controls and for
their failure to fingerprint many of the asylum seekers that reach EU
shores. This means that the migrants can move elsewhere in the Continent
to apply for asylum. In recent months, French and Austrian authorities
accused Rome of allowing (and even encouraging) asylum seekers to leave
Italy and threatened to close their borders with Italy; indeed, France
followed through with its threat and briefly closed its border in late
June.
On the other hand, countries in southern Europe criticize their northern peers for their lack of solidarity.
Italy and Greece have repeatedly demanded more resources to patrol the
Mediterranean and rescue immigrants, more funds to shelter asylum
seekers and the introduction of immigration quotas in the European
Union. Central and Eastern European countries, which think asylum
seekers should be distributed on a voluntary basis, rejected the idea of
quotas.
The migration crisis has also led to greater friction between
Schengen members and their non-Schengen neighbors. The recent dispute
between France and the United Kingdom (which is not a member of the
Schengen zone) over immigrants trying to cross the English Channel at
the French port of Calais was perhaps the most visible example of the
growing tension, but the situation also led Hungary to build a fence at
its border with Serbia and issue threats to militarize the border.
Rising Migration and Schengen's Shortcomings
The European Union is dealing with two overlapping problems. The first is its struggle to come up with a new immigration policy.
Between September and December, EU members will hold a number of
meetings and summits to reform the bloc's immigration rules. Germany, a
country that only a few months ago was reluctant to change the Dublin
regulations (according to which asylum requests should be processed in
the country of a migrant's first entry) is now leading the push for a
change. Germany expects to receive some 800,000 asylum seekers this
year; meanwhile, attacks against immigrant shelters in Germany are
spiking.
Berlin's proposals include the creation of a common list of countries
considered safe, which means their nationals, in principle, should not
be allowed to request asylum in the European Union. This list would
largely include countries in the Western Balkans, such as Albania and
Macedonia, which are not experiencing a civil war or any particularly
serious humanitarian crisis that would justify a request for asylum.
Germany's second proposal is the allocation of more funds and staff to
centers in Greece and Italy to identify immigrants and process their
applications. Finally, Berlin will also push for a proportional
distribution of migrants across the European Union.
Each of these points is highly contentious. Asylum requests are a
case-by-case issue, and it often takes a long time for authorities to
determine who is truly seeking asylum and who is an economic migrant.
Deportation will also remain problematic, since most countries in
Mediterranean Europe lack the financial and human resources to expel
illegal immigrants. In addition, Mediterranean countries are unlikely to
simply accept the construction of larger immigration centers within
their territory without a clear system to redistribute immigrants across
the Continent. Several Central and Eastern European nations opposed a
recent plan by the European Commission to introduce mandatory quotas of
immigrants, and that opposition is not likely to end.
The European Union's second problem is what exactly to do with the
Schengen Agreement. The treaty makes it possible for illegal immigrants
to move freely among member states and raises some security questions.
Several member states have expressed concern that some of the thousands
of migrants arriving in Europe could be terrorists. Recent episodes,
such as the attempted attack on a French train in
which the attacker obtained weapons in Belgium before trying to kill
people on a train going from the Netherlands to France, illustrates the
problems linked to the lack of border controls. Although authorities do
not have the resources to place every single potential terrorist under
surveillance, the lack of border controls eliminates a layer of
potential threat detection.
The rise of nationalist parties is also a threat to the Schengen
Agreement. In Finland, a nationalist party is already a member of the
government coalition, and Euroskeptic and anti-immigration parties are
influential in countries such as Denmark, Sweden and Hungary. In France,
most opinion polls show that the Euroskeptic National Front will make
it to the second round of the presidential election in 2017. All of
these parties believe that national immigration laws should be toughened
and the Schengen Agreement should be revised, if not abolished.
The Future of Schengen
The European Union probably will not abandon the Schengen Agreement
anytime soon. Despite the criticisms, the treaty has reduced the time
and cost of moving goods across Europe because trucks no longer have to
wait for hours to cross an international border. It also benefits
tourists and people living in border towns, because passports and visas
are no longer needed. Finally, the agreement allows countries to save
money, because governments no longer need to patrol their land borders.
The Schengen Agreement will probably be reformed before the end of
the decade to make it easier for countries to reintroduce border
controls. The first step in this direction happened in 2013, when
signatory members agreed that border controls could be temporarily
reintroduced under extraordinary circumstances (such as a serious threat
to national security). But the reform is limited in its scope (border
controls can be reintroduced for a maximum of 10 days, and only after
consultation with the European Commission) and it explicitly says that a
spike in immigration should not, in itself, be considered a threat to
internal security.
In the coming years, member states will push to be given more power
and discretion when it comes to reintroducing border controls. EU
countries in northern Europe will also push for the suspension or even
the expulsion of countries along the European Union's external borders
that are seen as failing to effectively control their borders. New EU
member states will have a hard time entering the Schengen zone, and the
resistance from some countries to accept nations like Romania and
Bulgaria (which have been in the European Union for almost a decade but
are still waiting to join the Schengen area) will become the new normal.
Even without a proper reform of the Schengen Agreement, member states
will continue to enhance police controls at train and bus stations and
at airports. Several countries already employ sporadic police controls
on trains and buses, a practice that is likely to grow. Under pressure
from conservative forces, many EU countries (mostly in northern Europe)
will also toughen their migration laws to make it harder for immigrants
to access welfare benefits.
To a certain extent, the weakening of the Schengen Agreement is
linked to the weakening of the free movement of people — one of the key
liberties of the European Union. The treaty and the principle of free
movement are not the same thing; any EU citizen has the right to transit
and remain in any member state regardless of the existence of border
controls. But the Schengen Agreement was designed to strengthen the free
movement of people and create a Continent without borders. The likely
reforms to the Schengen Agreement will hurt this basic principle. Once a
basic principle is weakened, the door is open for other freedoms to be
similarly affected. The main threat to the European Union is that the
weakening of the free movement of people could precede the weakening of
the free movement of goods, which would end the European Union in its
current form.
The Panepirotic Federation of America vehemently condemns the
brutal destruction by Albanian authorities on August 26 of a Greek
Orthodox Church in the Chimara region of the former Communist nation
that once prohibited all forms of religious worship.
The Church of St. Athanasius in the town of Drymades, known in
Albanian as Dhermi, was completely destroyed by government agents acting
on the authority of Albania’s Interior Ministry. The action has raised
fears in Albania’s large community of ethnic Greeks of renewed
persecution of the country’s Orthodox Christians, who constitute a third
of the country’s 3.5 million people.
“The razing of St. Athanasius Church echoes the brutal actions of the
Stalinist regime that ruled Albania for half of the last century when
government forces executed priests, turned churches into stables and
imprisoned anyone wearing a cross or reading the Bible,” said Nicholas
Gage, president of the Federation. “It is a shameful act for a country
trying to shed its violent past and become a member of the European
Union.”
Mr. Gage said the only way Tirana can make amends for its brutal
actions is to offer an alternative site for the construction of a new
church and to provide the funds to build it.
St. Athanasius was first destroyed in 1972 by agents of Stalinist
dictator Enver Hohxa and its stones were used to build a water depot.
When communism fell in the country in 1992, residents built a new church
on the site of the old one. It served the Orthodox Christians in the
town as a place of worship for 23 years.
Last week as worshipers were observing religious services, local
government agents acting on an order from the Interior Ministry removed
icons and other religious objects and began to destroy parts of the
building. The next day the agents returned in cars without license
plates and continued the demolition despite the protests of the local
priest who was almost crushed by falling debris. By August 26 the whole
building was razed to the ground.
The Orthodox Church of Albania, leaders of the ethnic Greek minority,
human rights activists and foreign diplomats have all condemned the
destruction of the church by Albanian authorities as arbitrary, brutal
and in violation of the country’s own laws. A spokesman for the Orthodox
Church of Albania noted that Law 10057 passed in 2009 that ratified a
previous agreement between the Albanian nation and the Orthodox Church
guarantees the inviolability of places of worship and their protection
by the state.
Reports from Tirana say that U.S. Ambassador Donald Lu met with Prime
Minister Edi Rama to protest the destruction of the church as
insensitive to the rights of the Orthodox faith in Albania and the
ethnic Greek minority and to urge him to seek a solution to the problem
acceptable to both.
Omonia, the largest advocacy group representing the Greek minority,
and the Human Rights Party of Albania, the minority’s political
organization, both issued statements condemning the brutal destruction
of the church and warning that it will seriously harm relations between
the government of Prime Minister Rama and all minorities in the country.
Those warnings were echoed by the leaders of the Panepirotic
Federation of America both in the United States and in Albania, where
the organization’s vice president, Menelaos Tzelios, is traveling to
assess the treatment of minorities in the country. Mr Tzelios called on
the Albanian government to move quickly and decisively to repair
relations with its Orthodox Christians citizens if it wants to claim a
rightful place in the community of civilized nations.
TIRANA,
Albania (AP) — Albanian authorities say they have confiscated about half
a million cannabis plants this year, arresting 240 suspected growers
and drug traffickers.
Interior Ministry spokesman Ardi Bita said Friday that fighting drug production is a "top priority" for police.
Some
7 billion euros ($7.9 billion) worth of marijuana has been seized and
destroyed so far, Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri said.
On Wednesday, 100 police destroyed some 16,000 plants in Kurvelesh, south of Tirana.
Albania
was long a major marijuana producer in Europe. A crackdown started last
year, when police stormed the southern Lazarat village with armored
personnel carriers — despite coming under automatic weapon and rocket
fire by drug growers.
Prime Minister Edi Rama has set the fight against drugs as a main priority for his government, elected in 2013.
