Albanian PM: Himara is not a matter for discussion, is as everyone else, Tropoje, Kukes Poliçan etc...

 

Doules: We would resolve the Himara Issue according to the International Conventions for Human Rights

Rama: Census 2011, mistaken, we will find the opportunity to make again

Tirana: During a parliamentary debate today, requested by Vangelis Doules, Chairman of HRUP, the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, has asked that the "issue of Himara Regin, is closed once and forever and is one of the municipalities usually as they are in the north of Albania or between its ".

The response of the Prime Minister Rama, was stiff, and indisputable, but the President of HRUP, Doules, called the Albanian government, to refer that Albania has signed by the International Agreements and Conventions for Ethnic Minorities.

"We have no hope from Tirana, said Doules because Himara as issues of freedom and human rights, shall be settled by international conventions of the Council of Europe, and the European Union, but we remind you that in Himara Region lives concentrated and very ancient, a Greek community, not known by the Albanian Governments since the second World War. "

"For the Territorial Division and the Himara issue, the Albanian government has violated Article 16 of the Convention of the Council of Europe, and we will solve the issue, without the help of Tirana, but we do not know yet, also, your position about the Census of 2011, the by government Berisha "said Doules.
 
Prime Minister Rama,. replied by stating that "Census 2011 is not conducted in a democratic way and we will develop again."

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Himarioton Lobby after the meeting in US Capitol Hill with Congressman Gus Bilirakis

Greek Navy, tests new submarines


Testing maximum dive depth in the area south of Hydra was the submarine PIPINOS type "214" like Papanikolis.

According to reliable sources of the Navy, the results were excellent while and so far test results submerged, performed by the renovated and modernized submarine OKEANOS is very encouraging.

Always according to these sources "generally the evolution of sea trials of the two submarines is such that it gives very optimistic signs for the successful completion of all testing schedule, which has been put".

Respectively, the program of the other two Type 214 submarines in HSY Scaramanga is progressing and is expected in January 2015 the launch of the submarine MATROZOS.

Source
http://www.onalert.gr/stories/ypovrxyia-epithesi-o-pipinos-se-megala-vathi/39010

Italy seen as corrupt as Greece, Romania and Bulgaria

BRUSSELS - Italy, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria are seen as equally corrupt among EU countries, while Denmark is the least graft-prone country, according to the yearly corruption perception index published by Transparency International on Wednesday (3 December).
The index scores and ranks countries around the world based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be.
Finland and Sweden also score well, coming in directly after Denmark, according to the index which relies on a combination of surveys and assessments.
Even as EU countries have higher scores than countries like Russia, Ukraine or Turkey, Transparency International notes that in 2014 there were numerous scandals in "old Europe".

In France, Spain and Italy they included a former president, a current regional president and members of the royal family, "not to mention dozens of politicians and influential business people".
EU citizens also protested against corruption in Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The Corruption Perceptions Index scores in many EU countries remain unchanged or have improved slightly.
"In part, this is because the economic situation has stabilised, at least at present, and in some cases, governments are starting to tackle endemic corruption," TI explains.
It cites Greece as an example where recent reforms have moved the country up by three points - even as it still has the lowest score in the EU, together with Italy, Romania and Bulgaria.
"We also welcome the gradual progress made by the UK in the last few years, which saw its score increase by two points, indicating the effectiveness of the Bribery Act on the UK’s international reputation," TI writes.
Tax-dodging is also an issue for the EU as a whole.
“We know that any effort to stop corruption in one country is undermined as long as corrupt officials are allowed to hide their money in another. That is why the EU must act in the next few weeks to prevent money laundering and clamp down on the secret companies that mask corruption,” said Carl Dolan, head of the Transparency International EU office.
TI notes that two months ago, a money laundering investigation was launched involving 19 UK companies in an alleged conspiracy to launder €15.7 billion of dirty money.
The funds are suspected of coming from “major criminals and corrupt officials around the world”, channelled from Russia with the involvement of Latvian and Moldovan banks.
Other examples involving shell companies and opaque ownership structures in the EU include: stolen assets from the former regime in Ukraine, Europe’s horsemeat scandal, and Italian mafia groups such as Cosa Nostra and Camorra.

Greek Interior Ministry to Grant Political Asylum to Syrian Refugees of Syntagma Square

  

by Aggelos Skordas - Dec 3, 2014


The Greek government’s will to find a solution over the 200 Syrian refugees who have been in a sitting protest for the 13th consecutive day in Syntagma square, opposite the Parliament in downtown Athens, and have gone on a hunger strike – except the children – for a week, expressed yesterday the Secretary General of Population and Social Cohesion of the Interior Ministry, Angelos Syrigos, adding that their presence at the square cannot be continued.

Speaking at a press conference, Syrigos explained that granting them a political asylum is the only legal and possible solution. He said that this is a possibility that will provide them the right to travel to other European Union countries, but not permanently reside and work there. Talking to Greek newspaper “Kathimerini,” Syrigos revealed that the Greek government is also willing to ask for northern European countries to grant asylum to the 200 Syrian refugees, although he underlined that it does not expect to get a positive response in this request.

“There is no intention from the north countries to take these people. We will raise the issue but we should expect a stern response. It is almost certain our request will be turned down,” he said to the Greek newspaper. In a meeting with the refugees, Syrigos urged them to apply for asylum in Greece but they appeared reluctant, as this could block their way to other European countries, which were their destination in the first place. “Taking into account the situation they found themselves in, we have told them that they have to make a decision soon. We did not ask them to leave now but we made clear that this situation cannot continue for many more days,” Syrigos highlighted.

On their behalf, the Syrian refugees asked to be granted travel documents in order to travel to their destination countries and apply for political asylum there.

Finally, as Syrigos described, 28,500 Syrian refugees crossed Greece’s borders, just in 2014.
- See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/12/03/greek-interior-ministry-to-grant-political-asylum-to-syrian-refugees-of-syntagma-square/#sthash.RrWg2T0d.dpuf

Fears of Serbia return to iron rule of nationalism

By JOVANA GEC and DUSAN STOJANOVIC

Dec. 2, 2014 

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In this photo taken Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2014, Aslan Balaj speaks and gestures in his bakery in the... Read more

STARA PAZOVA, Serbia (AP) — As nationalist hysteria gripped the Balkans a quarter century ago, Aslan Ballaj, an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo, did something unthinkable: He moved to Serbia to open a bakery at a time when people like him were increasingly seen as the enemy.
Since then, Ballaj has remained alongside his Serb neighbors even as their nations went to war in the late 1990s, managing against the odds to escape violence in the darkest days of the bloodshed. Just as he thought the times of fear and revenge were over, extremists in October attacked his bakery shop, riddling it with bullets and throwing a hand grenade that shattered windows and destroyed walls, tables and chairs.
"I thought this was the 21st century," said the 50-year-old father of four. "I never dreamed this could happen, especially not now."
Nearly 20 minority-owned businesses were targeted along with Ballaj's in a spate of coordinated attacks — triggered by a soccer brawl — that have brought back memories of the era of late strongman Slobodan Milosevic, who incited ethnic hatred at home to wage wars against Balkan neighbors.
Hate speech is on the rise. Anti-Western propaganda fills the airwaves. Liberal journalists are pulled off air. Nationalists talk up redrawing Balkan borders. Mafia-style hits, a hallmark of the Milosevic years, are returning. And as Russia and the West collide over Ukraine, Serbia is falling firmly into the camp of traditional mentor Moscow, even as it tries to advance its case for EU membership.
"Somebody wants to remind us of the 1990s," said government ombudsman Anika Muskinja-Hajnrih. "That is worrisome."
Serbia, whose stability is crucial for peace in the still-volatile Balkans, has been simmering with ethnic and social tensions that exploded after fans brawled during a European Championship qualifying match between Serbia and Albania. The fight, which involved players and fans over an Albanian flag that was flown over the stadium, stirred the most strife in the multi-ethnic north of Serbia where Ballaj is from.
The increasingly strident rhetoric of Serb nationalists, tolerated if not encouraged by the government, has prompted many to ask if some of Milosevic's trademark policies are back, despite the proclaimed pro-EU stance advocated by the current right-leaning government led by Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.
Critics warn that surging pro-Russian and conservative sentiment has sidelined liberal critics, threatening the country's hard-earned democracy. Vucic — who won Western support for promising to enact pro-EU political and economic reforms — has been accused at home of tightening his grip on power by curbing dissent and clamping down on the media.
"It has never been like this, never," said Olja Beckovic, a prominent journalist. "Just look at the television stations, there is no criticism anywhere no more."
Beckovic's highly popular political talk show recently was removed from the program of B92, a private television station that once was the beacon of the liberal, pro-democratic movement that led to Milosevic's downfall in 2000. She said Vucic had personally intervened to influence her choice of guests and other aspects of her show. Other media also have faced either political or economic pressure, she said.
Vucic has denied the accusations, and says he had nothing to do with the show's removal. B92 said Beckovic's show no longer fits into the broadcaster's program lineup.
Vucic was a radical Serb nationalist during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia that killed more than 100,000 people and displaced millions. In the late 1990s, he served as Milosevic's information minister at a time several opposition media outlets were persecuted and shut down. He has claimed to have shifted from being a hardline nationalist to a pro-EU reformer, rejecting accusations that he is trying to impose Milosevic-style grip on power. He and other former radicals have sought to overhaul their image by promising EU integration, Western-style reform and an aggressive fight against corruption.
Unlike Milosevic, whose policies made Serbia a pariah state in the 1990s, Vucic's government has worked to normalize ties between Serbia and its neighbors, including breakaway Kosovo — a former ethnic Albanian-dominated province that declared independence in 2008 and which Serbia has refused to recognize. The EU said the two nations must improve ties to qualify for membership.
But in Milosevic-style defiance toward the West, Vucic's government has also fostered strong ties with Moscow, refusing to back EU sanctions over its role in the Ukraine crisis. The Serbian government gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a hero's welcome in October, organizing a Soviet-style military parade, while the two armies held joint military exercises weeks later, prompting fears that warmongering policies in the Balkans are back.
The swing toward Putin and Russia also was strongly featured last month at an ultranationalist rally in Belgrade in which 10,000 people cheered suspected war criminal Vojislav Seselj — the onetime boss of Vucic's party, who is now on provisional release from the U.N. war crimes tribunal. Evoking hate speech that marked Milosevic's era, Seselj said Serbia should scrap EU integration and turn entirely toward Russia. He also said large chunks of neighboring Bosnia and Croatia should be part of Serbia.
"Our enemies are all in the European Union," said Seselj, who is accused of organizing notorious Serb paramilitary troops during the Balkan wars. "We must turn completely toward Russia."
Days later, Serbia's deputy war crimes prosecutor Bruno Vekaric — whose EU-backed office has put dozens of Serb war criminals on trial — received death threats after Vucic's party official publicly questioned his energetic approach to seeking justice. Vekaric complained of an "atmosphere of lynching."
Adding to Serb tensions, a prominent tycoon was shot and wounded last month in the kind of mafia-style attack common during the Milosevic years, when criminal gangs and ex-paramilitaries fought for control over the underworld. "Fear of the '90s," read a column about the shooting in the popular Blic daily.
Vucic, highly popular for trying to restore Serb national pride after the lost Balkan wars, rejected claims that the mood of the 1990s is back in Serbia: "Everyone changes," he said. "So have I, and I'm proud of that."

UN urges Israel to renounce nuclear arms, join non-proliferation treaty

Published time: December 03, 2014 08:58

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Reuters/Amir Cohen

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Arms, Israel, Nuclear, Politics, UN

The UN General Assembly has passed an Arab-introduced resolution calling on Israel not to develop, produce or possess nuclear arms and criticizing the country for not being part to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
The resolution calls on Israel to "accede to that treaty without further delay, not to develop, produce test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons, to renounce possession of nuclear weapons," and put its nuclear facilities under the safeguard of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, AP reports.

The UN would like to see the whole of the Middle East a nuclear weapons-free zone, according to the text of the document, which specifies Israel is the only country in the region which has not signed the non-proliferation treaty.

Israel, which is believed to have nuclear arms but has never admitted to it, has long been under fire from Arab countries in the region for not putting its alleged stockpile under international supervision.

The resolution, initiated by Egypt, was approved by 161 nations with only five voting against it and 18 abstentions.

The United States and Canada were among the minority opposing the measure.

The UN General Assembly (AFP Photo)

US representative Robert Wood, earlier condemned the resolution for failing “to meet the fundamental tests of fairness and balance.”

“It confines itself to expressions of concern about the activities of a single country," he said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted in September on a resolution, expressing concern over Israel's assumed nuclear arsenal. That time the resolution was rejected by 58 votes to 45.

In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly passed a non-binding call on Tel Aviv to join the NPT “without further delay."

Israel then rebuffed the call with the Foreign Ministry saying in a statement that the UN “lost all its credibility regarding Israel with these types of routine votes that are ensured passage by an automatic majority and which single out Israel."

Israel has repeatedly stressed it sees Iran as the real nuclear threat in the region, urging the international community to do whatever it takes to thwart Iranian nuclear problem. Tehran insists it’s not pursuing weapons and its nuclear effort is altogether peaceful.

PM: Abandoning of South Stream is bad news

Source: B92, Beta, RTS

BELGRADE -- Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said that the announcement about the scrapping of the South Stream project was "not good news for Serbia."

(Tanjug, file)

Speaking in Israel, where he is on an official visit, Vucic said Serbia was "loyal to this project."
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday announced that his country was unable to continue with the project due to the opposition from the EU.

According to Vucic, who spoke for Serbia's public broadcaster RTS, Serbia "in no way contributed to that decision."

"We have been investing in South Stream for seven years and we in no way contributed to that decisions, it is obvious that we are suffering because of a clash between big (countries)," he said.

Vucic also announced that once he returns from New York, where he will attend a UN Security Council session, he will "talk with the Russian president and other Russian officials."

Serbian Energy Minister Aleksandar Antic told the media late on Monday that his ministry received no official information from Russia about "any changes to the project."

"We are following closely all President Putin's reactions and statements regarding South Stream. We interpret this latest statement as a signal above all for members of the EU who depend on the construction of the pipeline", Antic said.

Antic said that the future of the project did not depend on Serbia, and that for its realization it was necessary for Brussels and Moscow to harmonize their stands. The minister acknowledged that it was an extremely important project for Serbia's energy stability and for the activity of its construction sector, but added that Serbia had no influence on the future of the pipeline.

Athens 1944: Britain’s dirty secret

When 28 civilians were killed in Athens, it wasn’t the Nazis who were to blame, it was the British. Ed Vulliamy and Helena Smith reveal how Churchill’s shameful decision to turn on the partisans who had fought on our side in the war sowed the seeds for the rise of the far right in Greece today

• Ed Vulliamy and Helena Smith

• The Observer, Sunday 30 November 2014

A day that changed history: the bodies of unarmed protestors shot by the police and the British army in Athens on 3 December 1944. Photograph: Dmitri Kessel/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

“I can still see it very clearly, I have not forgotten,” says Títos Patríkios. “The Athens police firing on the crowd from the roof of the parliament in Syntagma Square. The young men and women lying in pools of blood, everyone rushing down the stairs in total shock, total panic.”
And then came the defining moment: the recklessness of youth, the passion of belief in a justice burning bright: “I jumped up on the fountain in the middle of the square, the one that is still there, and I began to shout: “Comrades, don’t disperse! Victory will be ours! Don’t leave. The time has come. We will win!”
“I was,” he says now, “profoundly sure, that we would win.” But there was no winning that day; just as there was no pretending that what had happened would not change the history of a country that, liberated from Adolf Hitler’s Reich barely six weeks earlier, was now surging headlong towards bloody civil war.
Even now, at 86, when Patríkios “laughs at and with myself that I have reached such an age”, the poet can remember, scene-for-scene, shot for shot, what happened in the central square of Greek political life on the morning of 3 December 1944.
This was the day, those 70 years ago this week, when the British army, still at war with Germany, opened fire upon – and gave locals who had collaborated with the Nazis the guns to fire upon – a civilian crowd demonstrating in support of the partisans with whom Britain had been allied for three years.
The crowd carried Greek, American, British and Soviet flags, and chanted: “Viva Churchill, Viva Roosevelt, Viva Stalin’” in endorsement of the wartime alliance...........................

more see:  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/30/athens-1944-britains-dirty-secret

Greek government has sold air-cushioned landing craft Zubr-class to China

• Maritime Security
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Dec 1, 2014

Zubr-class LCAC

Greek government has sold air-cushioned landing craft Zubr-class to China. The Zubr-class (Project 1232.2 class, NATO reporting name Pomornik) is a class of air-cushioned landing craft of Soviet design. This class of military hovercraft is, as of 2012, the world’s largest hovercraft. It is designed to sealift landing assault units (such as marines or tanks) from equipped/non-equipped vessels to non-equipped shore, as well as transport and plant mines.
There are currently nine ships in active service in the world. The Zubr is used by the Russian, Ukrainian, and Greek navies. The transfer of the Kefalonia (L- 180), the first of two Zubr hovercraft purchased by Greece, to the Hellenic Navy marked the first time that a Russian-made ship was purchased by the navy of a NATO member.
Hellenic Navy, which operates four ships. Three vessels were commissioned in 2001: the Kefalonia (L180) was purchased used from the Russian Navy and upgraded, the Ithaki (L181) which was completed in Ukraine, and the Zakynthos (L183) which was built in Russia. A fourth vessel, the Kerkyra (L182), was launched in June 2004 at St. Petersburg yard and was commissioned in January 2005.
HS Kefalonia (L180) – ex Russian Navy 717, commissioned 2001
HS Ithaki (L181) – hull launched in Ukraine 1992, commissioned 2001
HS Kerkyra (L182)
HS Zakynthos (L183)
Series vehicles ” bison ” are made only in Feodosia in the Bureau ” Almaz ” (St. Petersburg), they are designed for landing on unequipped coast and its fire support. The ship can carry 3 main tank weighing up to 150 tons or 10 armored personnel carriers and 140 troopers.
1st large amphibious Ship project ” bison ” bison ” in the Ukrainian classification) built in 2013 by order of China in Feodosia shipbuilding shipyard Sea in the Ukrainian part of order 4 is similar to the hovercraft. The ship was sent and delivered in the country of the customer in April-may last year for testing, the customer has paid for its construction with the ” Ukroboronprom “. Later in the PRC was sent a second Ship of the same series, and two more units were required to be built in China.” Debt PRC before you plant ” Sea ” for the second Ship is eleven, $ 2 million. The duty to ” Fiolent “plant supplying automation systems for the project, – 2, 6 million dollars, ” Skrynnik said. According to him, the calculations now go through the Federal service for military-technical cooperation of Russia.

Greece says it cannot help protesting Syrian refugees

A Syrian refugee prays under a plastic cover during rainfall in Athens. Photo: Reuters

• 
  

Published: 2:23 AM, December 3, 2014

ATHENS - Greece's government said on Tuesday it could do little to help about 300 Syrian refugees camped outside parliament for weeks because none of them had applied for asylum or shelter.
The Syrian refugees, including women and children, have defied the rain and cold to sleep on the pavement opposite parliament since Nov. 19, demanding the right of passage to other European countries to be reunited with family members.

They symbolically taped their mouths shut more than a week ago as they launched a hunger strike and unfurled banners reading "The government must find a solution for Syrian refugees now" and "We escaped death".
The interior ministry has tried to convince them to apply for asylum to help them, but so far not a single protester has agreed to do so.
Syrian refugees usually avoid applying for asylum in Greece because the process is slow with very low acceptance rates and the country has few jobs because of its prolonged economic crisis. European rules prevent them from seeking asylum in another European country once they have applied here.
Most want to travel to northern Europe but cannot do so legally, leaving many to complain that they are trapped in a country without any prospects but with increased hostility toward immigrants.
"Most of them want Greece to give them documents to travel to other European countries. There is no such document in Greece or any other EU country," the interior ministry said.
About 46,500 Syrians have arrived in the crisis-hit nation since 2011, more than half of them this year, the ministry said. Last week, the navy rescued a cargo ship packed with 600 Syrians off the island of Crete.
Some refugees eventually slip across Greece's borders to make their way north, but Athens has no figures on this because they are not officially registered.
The crisis-hit country, a popular entry point into Europe for thousands of undocumented migrants from Asia and Africa, warned in September that it was slipping into a "danger zone" without adequate funds or resources to handle a fast-growing wave of refugees from war-torn nations like Syria.
Greece, which holds the EU's immigration portfolio, wants to reform the Dublin Treaty, which makes asylum seekers the responsibility of the first EU country they enter. REUTERS

 Himarrioton Society of America Board members, met with new Ambassador to Albania, Mr. Donald Lu, in U.S. Department of State


 
Continue the efforts of the Himarioton Lobby in USA with State Department, for the rights of Himara Region. Once in October, brought in Tirana, three US Congressmen,  

Today, the Himarioton Lobby, meet in the US State Department, for the second time, the new Ambassador in Tirana, Donald Lu.

Gazprom to build new 63 bcm Black Sea pipeline to Turkey instead of S. Stream

Published time: December 01, 2014 18:13
Edited time: December 02, 2014 05:05

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RIA Novosti/Michael Klimentyev

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EU, Gas, Russia, Turkey

Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller said the energy giant will build a massive gas pipeline that will travel from Russia, transit through Turkey, and stop at the Greek border – giving Russia access to the Southern European market.
The pipeline will have an annual capacity of 63 billion cubic meters. A total of 14 bcm will be delivered to Turkey, which is Gazprom’s second biggest customer in the region after Germany.
Russia’s energy minister Aleksandr Novak said that the new project will include a specially-constructed hub on the Turkish-Greek border for customers in southern Europe.
READ MORE: Putin: Russia forced to withdraw from S. Stream project due to EU stance
While the pipeline will be registered as a Russian company, Miller said that Gazprom will “consider offers from Turkish partners if they express an interest in buying into the project.”
For now, the supply of Russian gas to Turkey will be raised by 3 billion cubic meters via the already operating Blue Stream pipeline, Vladimir Putin said during a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Last year, 13.7 bcm of gas was supplied to Turkeyvia Blue Stream, according to Reuters.
From a political point of view, Turkey and Russia are “poles apart,” but from an economic point of view the gas deal between two states have united Moscow and Ankara in a common interest.
“Turkey would in fact like the gas pipelines to go through Turkey, because they can collect rent from it,” Martin McCauley, an economics specialist from the University of London, told RT. “Turkey sees itself, if you like, as a partner – the in-between partner – who will take gas from Iran and Russia to Europe.”

December 1, 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin at the concluding news conference in Ankara. (RIA Novosti/Michael Klimentyev)

Moscow will also reduce the gas price for Turkish customers by 6 percent from January 1, 2015, Putin said. Later, Novak said the discount could reach 15 percent, subject to negotiations.
Novak later confirmed that Vladimir Putin personally ordered for the South Stream project to be mothballed, and its existing facilities to be repurposed for the new Turkish pipeline.
The much-delayed South Stream was supposed to connect underwater Black Sea pipelines with a network in Eastern Europe, with Bulgaria as the entry point.
The project had run into difficulties, as it violated EU regulations on the same company owning the pipelines and the gas they transported. While several previous governments in Bulgaria, which is wholly dependent on Russian gas lobbied Brussels to make an exception, the current government said it would not give Gazprom a building permit. The cost of the underwater and Eastern European segments of the project was estimated at €23,5 billion, by a senior Gazprom official last month.
The new project will include a specially-constructed hub on the Turkish-Greek border. Russia’s energy minister Aleksandr Novak said it will supply customers in Eastern and Southern Europe.

Albania will open "SHAPE", the office Treaty with NATO, in Tirana

The Supplementary Agreement is a treaty that will permit the SHAPE and Albania to carry out NATO missions, related to the activities of International Military Headquarters in Albania. This agreement also establishes the legal framework for deployment of NATO led troops for exercises, and operations, including disaster relief. The agreement is the result of intense staff work over the last two years by the Commands and Albania.    On  26 May 2014, Mrs. Mimi Kodheli, the Albanian Minister of Defence, visited the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium for the signing of the Supplementary Agreement of the Paris Protocol. Supreme Allied Commander Europe, United States Air Force General Philip M. Breedlove, welcomed Mrs. Kodheli with a ceremony before they signed the Supplementary Agreement to the 1952 Paris Protocol."By signing the Supplementary Agreement to the Paris Protocol, Albania takes a further step towards full integration to NATO, a process that started in 1992 and involved political, military and juridical efforts.

NDCC war room. Computer simulation. Image by Defence Ministy


Russia is launching a new national defense facility, which is meant to monitor threats to national security in peacetime, but would take control of the entire country in case of war.

The new top-security, fortified facility in Moscow includes several large war rooms, a brand new supercomputer in the heart of a state-of-the-art data processing center, underground facilities, secret transport routes for emergency evacuation and a helicopter pad, which was deployed for the first time on Nov. 24 on the Moscow River. The Defense Ministry won’t disclose the price tag for the site, but it is estimated at the equivalent of several billion dollars.

The new National Defense Control Center (NDCC) is a major upgrade on what was previously called the Central Command of the General Staff, a unit tasked with round-the-clock monitoring of military threats against Russia, particularly ballistic missile launches, and deployment of strategic nuclear weapons. It was roughly a counterpart to the US National Military Command Center, the Pentagon’s principal command and control site.


The NDCC inherits all those functions, but also has plenty of extra roles as well. In peacetime, an additional task is to monitor all of Russia’s important military assets, from hardware being produced by defense contractors to the state of oil refineries, to weather conditions and their effect on transportation routes.

And if Russia does get into a war, the center would act as a major communication hub and a form of wartime government, delivering reports to the country’s military command and giving orders to all ministries, state-owned companies and other organizations, according to the needs of the armed forces.

“The creation of NDCC was one of the biggest military projects of the past few years. The closest analogy in the past in terms of functions and tasks was the Commander-in-Chief HQ in 1941-45, which centralized all controls of both the military machine and the economy of the nation in the interests of the war,” Lt. General Mikhail Mizintsev, the NDCC chief, told Lenta.ru in an interview.



The military says the upgrade has been long overdue. The national security situation may be very fluid in modern times, and instead of days the leadership may have only an hour to take crucial military decisions. The center’s job is to offer the Defense Minister and the President options in case of emergency, which would be based on facts, figures and accurate projections.

Potentially the biggest part of the upgrade was the creation of communication and data processing equipment that would give the military computer power and software needed to factor in hundreds of parameters in their mathematical models. The Defense Ministry had to use only domestically-produced hardware due to security considerations, which limited its options.

According to officials, the result is a very robust computer network with state-of-art data encryption and multiple backup sites spread throughout the country, which would keep the center functional even if its main facility in Moscow is damaged by an enemy attack or sabotage.



The center employs over 1,000 officers working on a rotating watch system. Mizintsev said the armed forces selected their best officer for the posts, many of which are new for the Russian military and require skills not previously taught to officers on a regular basis until recently. They have been operating in trial mode since April.

A thoroughly military facility, the NDCC has an unexpected civilian component to it. Its location in Moscow is close to two major hospitals, including the Pirogov trauma center. Both hospitals are quite old and their original designs didn’t provide for dedicated helicopter pads.

The Defense Ministry said the medics can share NDCC’s new pad on the Moscow River for emergency patient transportation. The pad can accommodate helicopters weighing up to 15 tons, enough to land a Mil Mi-8, world’s most-produced transport helicopter, or a Mil Mi-38, its designated replacement.

NATO calls on Turkey to join EU sanctions against Russia as Putin visits Ankara



December 1 2014

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has called on Turkey to join the economic sanctions campaign against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis.

His comments come on the day Russia and Turkey were set to hold talks to increase trade volume from the current $33 billion to $100 billion by 2020

“Of course I’d like to see as many countries as possible be part of this, to support sanctions. It’s important that it has an effect,” Stoltenberg replied to questions at a press conference on Dec. 1 regarding Turkey’s efforts to boost trade with Russia at a moment when the Western bloc is united to impose sanctions on Russia.

Sanctions are not decided by NATO, but by the European Union and the U.S., Stoltenberg stressed, "because I believe there has to be consequences when a country is responsible for these kinds of aggressive actions that we have seen in Ukraine [committed] by Russia."

Russia annexing Crimea from Ukraine has prompted international uproar and led to the imposition of consecutive sanctions against Moscow by the EU. Turkey announced that it would not join the sanctions as a matter of principle, and intensified talks with Russia on how it could fill the gap created by the EU’s sanctions.

Stoltenberg’s statement came as the Turkish and Russian presidents were scheduled to have in-detail talks to multiply and diversify bilateral trade, as well as to seek new fields of cooperation.

NATO ready to assist Iraq

Another important message given by the secretary-general on the eve of NATO’s foreign ministerial meetings Dec. 2 and 3 is on the alliance’s readiness to support Iraq to boost its defense capacity in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The alliance’s headquarters will host a meeting of coalition members on the sidelines of a NATO ministerial meeting on Dec. 3, at which Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu will also participate.

In reply to a question if the alliance will play a further role in the coalition beyond hosting the upcoming meeting, Stoltenberg said there has been no such request yet.

“This is a coalition led by the U.S., not a NATO coalition. There has been no request for a NATO role in the fight against ISIL in Syria,” he said.

“What we have said is that we are ready to provide help and assistance to the government of Iraq and help them enhance their defense capacity,” Stoltenberg said, while adding that there has been no such request yet.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/nato-calls-on-turkey-to-join-eu-sanctions-against-russia-as-putin-visits-ankara.aspx?pageID=238&nID=75048&NewsCatID=510

Israel slams Ankara: You are a NATO member who promote terrorism


Israel slams Ankara: This is no way for a NATO state to act

Israeli officials used diplomatic language on Thursday when responding to revelations that the Hamas cell uncovered in the West Bank received orders and training from operatives in Turkey, but this belied anger that Hamas has apparently moved the center of its overseas operations from Syria to Turkey.

Following Thursday’s revelations that the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and IDF thwarted the Hamas cell that had its nerve center headquartered in Turkey, one official said in response, “Is this the sort of thing that one expects from a NATO state?” The official said this was the second time this year the Shin Bet uncovered a Hamas cell in the West Bank with ties to Turkey, the first instance being in the summer when a Hamas plot to overthrow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was uncovered.

The official said that the Turkish link will come up in diplomatic and counter-terrorism dialogues Israel is set to have with various different countries, including NATO members.

Another government official characterized as “most regrettable” that a NATO member state harbored people who prepared and trained for terrorist attacks.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, praised the Shin Bet for uncovering the planned attack, but pointedly refrained from making any reference to the Turkish connection. Israel’s reticence to publicly point a finger at Turkey stems from not wanting to open up a new “front” with Turkey, with whom relations have nosedived since the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla raid.

Israel Hayom reported earlier this week that Israel was livid over Hamas’s headquarters in Turkey and had urged NATO to take action against Ankara over the matter. The paper said that Jerusalem had formally sent messages to NATO through several channels saying it was inconceivable that a NATO member country would maintain ties with a terrorist organization.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon raised the issue during a meeting with outgoing US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel when they met in Washington last month.
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Israel-slams-Ankara-This-is-no-way-for-a-NATO-state-to-act-383083

TV Stars From Italy Flock to Low-Cost Albania Amid Recession

By Marco Bertacche and Daniele Lepido Dec 1, 2014 12:57 PM GMT+0100

Photographer: Gianni Fiorito/Janus Films via Bloomberg

Toni Servillo and Sabrina Ferilli in "The Great Beauty." The film is directed by Paolo... Read More

More than 20 years after Albanian refugees began arriving on rickety boats in southern Italy, fading Italian television stars are starting a counter-trend, flocking to Albania as the advertising market at home dries up.
Sabrina Ferilli, 50, known for her role in “The Great Beauty,” winner of this year’s Academy Award for best foreign film, is the latest veteran celebrity to sign on at Agon Channel Italia, which begins broadcasting today from Tirana following a glitzy premiere show last week that included an appearance by Nicole Kidman.
Agon, which will beam programming into Italy, is owned by entrepreneur Francesco Becchetti, who said he invested 40 million euros ($50 million) in studios in Tirana, Albania’s capital, where he employs about 500 people.
“If you want to do TV nowadays, the project needs to be viable,” Becchetti said at a press conference in Milan last week. “Even if you pay your Albanian labor force twice the average salary, that still allows you to attract important stars and secure an Italian TV audience.”
Italian broadcasters are cutting costs as the country’s ad market has failed to recover from a 15-year low and its recession enters a fourth year. Mediaset SpA (MS), Italy’s largest private broadcaster, is slashing 450 million euros in costs, while state broadcaster RAI SpA faces budget cuts as part of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s drive to rein in spending and tame Italy’s 2.13 trillion-euro debt.

Foreign Community

Agon is one of 400 Italian companies operating in Albania, where more than half of the 3 million population speak at least some Italian due to the countries’ proximity and the ease of picking up Italian TV signals, according to the Italian embassy. Cement maker Italcementi SpA (IT), one of the first foreign investors in Albania after the old regime fell, has a local unit that’s a top 10 company. Intesa Sanpaolo SpA’s Bank Albania, formed through acquisitions, is the country’s third-largest lender.
Almost 500,000 Albanians live in Italy, the second-biggest foreign community, including about 50,000 who fled chaos and a crumbling economy after the country’s communist regime collapsed in 1991. About 20,000 arrived by ship in the port city of Bari on Aug. 8, 1991 alone. The average Albanian salary today is one sixth of the Italian level, according to the country’s statistics institute.

Trend Reversed

Last year the trend reversed for the first time. About 16,000 Albanians arrived in Italy in 2013, according to statistics institute ISTAT. That’s less than the 19,000 Italians who moved to Albania, adding to 46,000 Albanians who repatriated, Minister for Social Well-being Erion Veliaj said in a Corriere della Sera interview Nov. 11.
Some are employed in the more than 50 call centers set up for energy companies Eni SpA (ENI) and Edison SpA and phone operators Fastweb SpA, 3 Italia, Tiscali SpA (TIS) and Vodafone Group PLC. (VOD) Fastweb is a unit of Swisscom AG, and Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (13) controls 3 Italia.
The World Bank forecasts that Albania’s economic growth will accelerate to 2.1 percent this year. That’s down from rates above 3 percent until 2011 when Italy, by far the country’s biggest trading partner, entered a recession. Still, Italy is only the fifth-largest contributor of foreign direct investment in the country as some big companies are hesitant to invest due to lack of infrastructure and clear property laws, the Italian embassy in Tirana said on its website.

Italian Celebrities

Becchetti, an Italian, said he’s undeterred by conditions in Albania. “We started a year and a half ago with an empty warehouse in Tirana that’s now become a Hollywood-level studio,” said the businessman, who also owns U.K. soccer club Leyton Orient and plans an on-air talent show to pick players for the team. “If the channel is successful, the studios will be doubled to create a TV production district for other channels as well,” he said.
The Albanian-language version of Agon Channel started in 2013 and has in the past employed Italian celebrities, who are well-known in Albania, as well as former CNN Rome correspondent Alessio Vinci.
Simona Ventura, known in both countries for her turn as a judge on the Italian version of talent program “X Factor,” on Nov. 26 hosted Agon’s inauguration show with Kidman guest starring. Becchetti’s target for free-to-air Agon Channel Italia is a 1 percent market share in Italy and 20 million euros in ad revenue the first year, he said.

Ambitious Goal

“That’s an ambitious goal but not impossible,” said Francesco Siliato, a professor of media and telecommunications at Milan’s Polytechnic University. Cielo TV, Sky Italia’s free-to-air channel, which also airs some programs from its pay network, has a 1.3 percent share and 29 million euros of revenue, he said. Italy’s total ad spending fell 3.2 percent in the first nine months of 2014, on course for a fourth straight annual decline, according to figures from researcher Nielsen.
The channel’s programming includes news bulletins directed by a former RAI correspondent, a talk show hosted by Ferilli, quiz programs, and talent shows, including one for bodyguards.
“This is globalization, a Europe that can give opportunities to us, the TV professionals,” Ventura, 49, said after the Milan press conference.
To contact the reporters on this story: Marco Bertacche in Milan at mbertacche@bloomberg.net; Daniele Lepido in Milan at dlepido1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jerrold Colten at jcolten@bloomberg.net Dan Liefgreen

Construction of long-awaited mosque in Albania to begin

Ethem Bey Mosque in Albania

New mosque in capital Tirana will be largest in Albania

World Bulletin / News Desk
Albanian Muslims have been waiting for a large mosque to be built in the capital Tirana since the 1990s, and their dream is now coming true.
The head of the Albanian Muslim Community, Skender Brucaj, told the Anadolu Agency that all the obstacles for the construction of Albania’s biggest mosque are now over.
Last week, the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, handed Brucaj the permit for the building.
The cornerstone for the mosque, which is located near Albania’s parliament building, was put in place in the early 1990s, but building did not continue due to legal and financial obstacles.
The large mosque in the Muslim-majority country will finally be built, after the Roman Catholic and Orthodox communities constructed their churches in previous years.
Brucaj said that construction will begin within a short time, without giving an exact date.
“This is a joint project undertaken in cooperation with Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate,” Brucaj said, adding that the latter will supply the financial support necessary for the building.
In Albania, there is huge demand for this mosque. From 1967 to 1990, the ruling communist party either closed down or destroyed all the churches and mosques in the country, as it was declared an atheist state.
Prime Minister Edi Rama, while handing over the permit for the mosque, said that nearby the new mosque, an inter-religious museum will be built.
Albania is often regarded as a role model to the world for inter-religious coexistence, as Muslims, Catholics and Orthodox Christians have lived in peace for centuries in the country.

Prosecution asks court to order Seselj to return

Source: Beta

THE HAGUE -- The Hague Prosecution has asked the Trial Chamber of the Hague Tribunal (ICTY) to order war crimes indictee Vojislav Seselj to return to the detention unit.

(Tanjug, file)

He was last month granted provisional release on medical grounds.
The prosecution said that Seselj's behavior while in Serbia had "undermined" the spirit of that decision, made at own initiative and for humanitarian reasons by the chamber presided over by Judge Jean Claude Antonetti.

The prosecution demands that the decision now be revoked and Seselj ordered to return.

The prosecution also wants a debate on his health condition to be held after that, and about the conditions under which he could possibly once again be granted provisional release.

Turkey cautions Greece, others to avoid tension in eastern Med

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu (R) and his Greek counterpart Evangelos Venizelos speak to the media after talks in Ankara on Saturday. (Photo: AP)

November 30, 2014, Sunday/ 15:58:01/ TODAY'S ZAMAN / ISTANBUL

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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has called on Greece and the other countries that recently announced a new regional energy cooperation deal to avoid raising tension related to energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean.
Referring to Greece, Greek Cyprus, Israel and Egypt, Çavuşoğlu said over the weekend that they are independent countries and have the right to cooperate; however, he said Turkey has warned these countries to avoid taking steps that will escalate tension.
Addressing a joint press meeting with Çavuşoğlu, Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos said the alliance does not have a hostile approach to Turkey.
“It is not of a hostile nature against Turkey, and I had the opportunity to say this in my recent interview with a Turkish news outlet: The invitation for Turkey to participate is always open, based on respect for international law and, more specifically, for the international Law of the Sea,” Evangelos was quoted as saying by the Greek Foreign Ministry.
Çavuşoğlu reiterated Turkey's calls for a joint committee or a private company of Turks and Greek Cypriots that would protect the rights of both sides with regard to the use of the island's natural resources.
Turkey recently sent a seismic research vessel called the Barbaros to the region, which Greek Cyprus considers a violation of its territorial waters.
Turkey's foreign minister criticized Greek Cyprus for not focusing on the peace talks and violating the rights of Turkish Cypriots by conducting unilateral oil and gas searches.
Evangelos responded to Çavuşoğlu's remarks by saying the rights of “the Republic of Cyprus” should not be violated and expressed support for the reopening of peace talks in the long-divided island.
In early October, the Greek Cypriot government suspended talks on reunifying the ethnically divided island in response to Turkish plans to search for oil and gas in waters where the Cypriot government has already licensed companies to drill to search for oil and gas.
Last week, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Turkey will not allow Greek Cyprus to monopolize the natural resources in and around Cyprus and vowed not accept a fait accompli in the gas row. “No one can shut us out of the Mediterranean. We may conduct drilling if necessary,” Davutoğlu added.
During the bilateral meetings, Çavuşoğlu and Evangelos also touched on the minority issues in Turkey and Greece, fighting against terrorism and illegal migration.

From Albania to Panama, we reveal the travels of Craig Whyte

• Nov 30, 2014 09:45
• By Craig McDonald

FROM Croatia to Costa Rica - we reveal how Craig Whyte has moved from country to country since his involvement with Rangers made the headlines.

SNS/Sammy Turner

Craig Whyte leaves Glasgow Sheriff Court after being released on bail

FRAUD suspect Craig Whyte spent time in the Balkans this year as prosecutors built a case against him.
Whyte has moved from country to country since his involvement with Rangers ended in disaster.
We can reveal the list of countries where he spent time since then ranges from Europe to the Far East and central America.
Whyte was arrested after arriving in the UK on Friday from Mexico where he had been detained.
He had flown into the central American country from Japan en route to Costa Rica where he formerly lived and where one of his three children was born.
We can also reveal his Swedish girlfriend – with whom Whyte is reported to have had a relationship since splitting from wife Kim – has not seen or heard from him for almost two years.
A source told the Sunday Mail: “In the last couple of years Craig Whyte is believed to have been in Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, France and Japan.
“There may be others. He has connections with central America going back over a decade when he stayed there after getting married in Florida.
“He didn’t really like it in Costa Rica. There were connections with Panama and Mexico as well. But he just didn’t like that part of the world and had no fondness for the people.
“He’s not been in Monaco since his dealings with Rangers made the headlines. The authorities in Monte Carlo don’t care for negative publicity.
“This year alone he has been in Albania, Croatia and Montenegro, moving from country to country, and has also popped up in France.”
Whyte was detained by Mexican authorities on Thursday after flying in from Japan where a passport check flagged up the warrant out against him.
It’s believed Whyte travelled alone for much of the past two years after Swede Izabella Andersson confirmed that their relationship had ended.
Izabella, who has links with Monaco and London, told us last week: “I haven’t seen or heard from Craig Whyte since January 2013.”
Whyte bought Castle Grant, near Grantown-on-Spey, for £800,000 in 2006 with a 110 per cent mortgage but it was repossessed in April after he failed to pay the £7000-a-month fees.
He took control of Rangers in May 2011 but they went into administration the following February.
He was released on bail after a court appearance on Friday over his allegedly fraudulent takeover of the Ibrox club.
Whyte, 43, was granted bail by Glasgow Sheriff Andrew Normand after a 45-minute hearing held in private. He is due in court again next week.
He is accused of funding his Ibrox takeover by selling off season tickets and pretending to then owner Sir David Murray the cash was his own. He’s also accused of failing to pay VAT and National Insurance which led to Rangers going into administration.
Four other men have already appeared in court charged with fraudulent activity following the investigation into the sale of Rangers.
A second arrest warrant was issued for Whyte earlier this month after he failed to attend a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London in a separate case.

"Kosovo army plan doomed to fail without Serb backing"

Source: Blic

PRIŠTINA -- Agim Ceku's announcement that Kosovo will soon have its army "is doomed to fail" - as it requires a law that will not be supported by Serb representatives.

The Belgrade-based daily Blic writes that Ceku spoke about "a speedy transformation of the Kosovo Security Force into the Armed Forces of Kosovo, immediately after the new Kosovo parliament is formed."
But a law regulating it would have to be supported by two-thirds of assembly's members, and also at least two thirds of those representing minorities.

Considering that Serbs make up one half of that group, "it would mean that some of them would have to vote in favor," writes the daily, and quotes Serb representatives as "negating that possibility."

"This is nothing new. They tried to do the same last year also, and of course did not receive our support," said Slobodan Petrović from the Serb List, who is one of the deputies of Hashim Thaci, the outgoing prime minister of Kosovo.

He believes that the topic has been revived now in the context of the ongoing negotiations to form a new government in Priština, and adds that "as far as the Serb List is concerned this is not an issue."

"If somebody else was deciding on it, then we could be afraid. But since it is us, we have no reason for fear," Petrović said.

Nenad Rašić from the Progressive Democratic Party dismissed the announcement as being "more a case of propaganda, pushed ahead of the Albanian Flag Day holiday."

The daily writes that there is "not much information about the transformation of the KSF into an army - other than that the number of its members should grow from 3,000 to 5,000."

Ceku - a former member of the Yugoslav People's Army, the Croatian police formation ZNG, the Croatian Army, and the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, now the outgoing minister for the Kosovo Security Force - said recently that "the process has widespread support ad powerful international allies."

Asked for comment, a NATO spokeswoman said that this was "an internal affair, up to the local institutions."

Serbian Defense Minister Bratislav Gašić sees Ceku's statement as "an expected provocation":

"Serbia is committed to the road toward the EU and respects all signed international agreements, as well as Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council, which clearly states that no new armed forces can be formed in our southern province."