The Government Spokesman Mr Stefanos Stefanou, invited to comment on information according to which the “give and take” process is expected to start very soon, said: “We are still at the first stage, what we call the first reading. We have to finish this and then we will see. Of course a second reading will follow” he said and added: “Let us not forget that when certain information comes into the limelight, we have various press reports and several people who appear to be promoting certain views or saying that the negotiation process is of Cypriot ownership. The leaders of the two communities will decide how they will deal with the process with the aim to assist the solution of the Cyprus problem. There is lot of speculation and rumours, and I am sure that they will continue, as to when the “give and take” process will start, what it will include and when the referenda will take place. Certainly the time factor is important because the passing of time consolidates the occupation. We have also said however, and this is our position, that what is important is the quality of the solution and that we want to achieve a solution the soonest possible, which will solve the problems created in 1974, a solution that will heal the wounds and offer the possibility to all Cypriots, Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Armenians, Maronites and Latins handling our fate to also construct our future, without giving the opportunity to foreigners to intervene in our country’s internal affairs”. The Government Spokesman noted that “we have suffered enough from interventions as well from imposed solutions”. “The process is Cypriot, we will decide on how to proceed and the aim is to reach a mutually acceptable solution, which will be submitted at simultaneous and separate referenda. We need to repeat this again and again in order to remind some people that we have an agreed process and that it is not others who will decide on how we will proceed”.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev flew to the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia on Monday for his first visit since last year's war, ignoring a plea by Washington to respect Georgia's borders. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, whose government claims the region, described the visit as an "immoral gesture." Medvedev was greeted by thousands of cheering supporters in the regional capital Tskhinvali. He held talks with regional leader Eduard Kokoity, inspected military hardware at a Russian military base and promised economic and military aid. "I want to express my gratitude for inviting me to visit this new country ... which appeared as a result of difficult, dramatic events," Medvedev told Kokoity in televised comments. "I think that this first short visit by a Russian president will create a foundation for... friendly relations." Russia recognized South Ossetia and the rebel Georgian region of Abkhazia as independent countries after its army repelled a Georgian attempt to retake South Ossetia in a five-day war last August. During talks in Moscow last week, U.S. President Barack Obama asked Medvedev to respect Georgia's territorial integrity in a clear reference to South Ossetia and Abkhazia. During talks Medvedev pledged economic and military aid for the region of 70,000, where thousands are still homeless and thousands more unemployed. "We have a whole series of projects to revive the economy and the republic's social sphere. There is a need for support and cooperation in defense."
The European Commission is due to offer visa-free travel to the citizens of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro this week, triggering criticism of the plan's alleged inconsistencies and bias against Muslim minorities in the Western Balkans. Citizens of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro will be offered free travel within the EU's Schengen area from the start of next year, under plans due to be unveiled tomorrow (July 14). The proposal will have to be formally approved by the EU's 27 justice ministers, although unanimity will not be required. Schengen area countries include all 27 EU member states with the exception of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Bulgaria and Romania, plus a number of non-EU countries such as Norway and Iceland. The Young European Federalists (JEF), said the move - despite going in the right direction - would create new divisions and unfairly punish citizens in the Western Balkans. The consequence of offering visa-free travel to the three Western Balkan countries will penalise Muslim Bosniaks and the citizens of Kosovo. It is likely to be interpreted by the population as "anti-Muslim". JEF points out that while Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats will be able to claim dual citizenship and visa-free passports, Bosnian Muslims will not have that opportunity. As for Kosovo, its citizens will remain excluded from the visa liberalisation scheme. Acknowledging EU divisions over the legal status of Kosovo (Spain, Slovakia, Cyprus and Romania have not recognised its independence). BACKGROUND: Schengen area countries include all 27 EU member states with the exception of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Bulgaria and Romania, plus a number of non-EU countries such as Norway and Iceland. Liechetenstein, Switzerland and Cyprus are yet to implement the visa-free agreement with the EU. Up to now, except for Croatia, all the Western Balkan countries and Turkey are included on the so-called Schengen visa 'black' list, which requires citizens to obtain visas before traveling to the EU's border-free area. Historically, the citizens of the former Yugoslavia enjoyed visa-free travel throughout Europe. Last year, the European Commission put in place a 'roadmap' and 'benchmarks' for visa liberalisation for Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Kosovo appears to be a 'sui generis' case, as it is not recognised by all EU countries.
When Greek police bulldozed a makeshift migrant camp in the western port city of Patras Sunday, they highlighted one of the lesser known consequences of the conflict in Afghanistan. Most of the camp dwellers were Afghans. Many had paid several thousand dollars to people smugglers to get there. The camp had been there for 13 years. Recently it housed as many as 1,800 refugees waiting to be smuggled by boat to Italy. Earlier arrests had reduced the number to about 100 when the police struck. They flattened plastic and cardboard shelters, sparing only a temporary mosque and a tent for volunteer medical services. Last year Greece arrested more than 146,000 illegal immigrants and 2,000 people smugglers. Last month, in the wake of the success of the right-wing Laos Party in EU parliamentary elections, the government passed a new, tougher immigration law. Smugglers now face five years in prison and illegal immigrants can be detained for six months before deportation. New "reception" centers will be set up to house the illegal immigrants currently scattered around Athens. Illegal immigration has fuelled a popular backlash in many EU countries, boosting support for right-wing parties such as the British National Party. It has also heightened tensions between Greece and Turkey, adding to both countries' list of mutual grievances. Most refugees, coming from Afghanistan and also Iraq, transit Turkey on their way to the EU via Greece. When detained they are shipped back to Turkey. Athens and Brussels have criticized Turkey for not doing more to control illegal immigration. Turkey has responded that it lacks the resources to do more and is suffering for what is essentially an EU problem. EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot has promised Turkey financial aid to address the problem but has not yet specified the amount or when it will be delivered. Most of the immigrants arriving illegally in Greece do not plan to stay there. Most had hoped to get to Italy, with France and Britain being favored onward destinations. With the destruction of the Patras camp and tighter security against people-smuggling at the port there, more are now likely to head north for the land border with Bulgaria or Macedonia.
Turkey and four EU countries are to sign a landmark agreement overnight aimed at reducing Europe's reliance on Russian energy by running a gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea region to the EU via Turkey. The prime ministers of Turkey, Austria, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary were to sign the deal to allow the EU- and US-backed Nabucco pipeline to cross their territory. It will be built by a private consortium. The Nabucco project -- a 3300km pipeline to pump gas from Azerbaijan to Europe via Turkey -- has been given additional urgency by the payment dispute between Russia and Ukraine, which saw supplies to a dozen EU countries suspended in the depths of the last northern winter. The project has been dogged by fears that it could turn out to be an E8 billion ($14.4bn) white elephant. Delays in securing start-up funding and political agreement mean that Nabucco will not be ready until 2015. Even then Russian efforts to buy up Azerbaijan's reserves and the unpredictability of potential suppliers, including Iran and Turkmenistan, mean there may not be enough gas to make the pipeline viable. Furthermore, Russia is planning its own E10bn Caucasus pipeline, called South Stream, to bypass Ukraine and deliver gas to southeastern Europe under the Black Sea, although it is still struggling to forge agreements with transit countries. Nabucco was conceived to diversify Europe's gas supply after Russia turned off the taps during the winter of 2006 in dispute with Ukraine, through which the gas flows. With a capacity of 31 billion cubic metres a year it would supply only 5 to 10 per cent of EU demand but it would break Russia's monopoly over countries that have suffered during the winter cut-offs, such as Bulgaria, Slovakia and Romania. The project is rich in geopolitical significance, not least because Russia is quick to use its huge energy reserves as a political tool. In May, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan held off their support for Nabucco at a meeting in Prague. However, Turkmenistan said last week it was now ready to provide gas for Nabucco.
A series of car bombs targeted seven Chaldean and Orthodox churches of Baghdad tonight. The worst hit church is the Chaldean Church of St Mary, in Sharaa Philistine, where the patriarchal vicar of Baghdad, Mgr. Sleimon Wardouni officiates. The car bomb exploded on the road that runs alongside the church and left four dead and dozens wounded many seriously. The other churches, because of their distance from the road, suffered slight damage and some wounded, other churches have not reported damage to people or buildings. The other churches targeted were: the Chaldean Church of Saint George in the district at Madidi, that of St. Joseph in Nafak (Chaldean), the Church of the Sacred Heart (Chaldean), the church of St Peter and Paul (Syrian Orthodox), and Assyrian church of Saint Mary. A seventh church, that of St. James in Dora it seems is still in flames hours later. Only days ago, Msgr. Wardouni had issued a statement to AsiaNews, emphasizing the relative calm that there was in the capital and in Iraq after the departure of American soldiers. Some journalists in the capital say that the police suspect Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of Al Qaeda in Iraq, of being behind the attacks motivated by revenge for the "martyr of the veil" in Germany. Marwa el-Sherbini, 32 years old and in the third month of pregnancy, was killed in a knife attack in a Dresden courtroom by a German of Russian origin who she had sued for defamation. In the Islamic world she is being called the "martyr of the veil."
His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew welcomed His Beatitude Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to the Phanar on July 4-6, 2009. This was the first official visit of Patriarch Kirill to the Mother Church of Constantinople as Patriarch. Shortly after his election as Primate of the Russian Church, he had announced his intention to follow the traditional ecclesiastical protocol for Heads of Churches, that is, to make a visit to the other Heads (Greek, Prokathemenoi) in the proper order, beginning with the Ecumenical Patriarch, the Archbishop of Constantinople and New Rome. The spiritual leaders of the Churches of Constantinople and Moscow concelebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George, manifesting the unity of the Church in the Mystery of the Divine Liturgy. The Ecumenical Patriarch stressed the historic role of coordinating between the various Orthodox branches, as well as the respectful relationship of the Russian Orthodox Church with the Ecumenical Patriarchate through the centuries -- from the Christianization of the Slavs in the tenth century to the transmission of Orthodox monasticism and spirituality in the lives of the Saints. As a way forward, the Ecumenical Patriarch proposed that all Orthodox Churches should look to Pan-Orthodox unity and cooperation, which will be manifested in the preparations for and process toward the Great Council. Moreover, the Ecumenical Patriarchal underlined the successful deliberations and exemplary collaboration at the recent Pre-Conciliar meeting in Geneva: "Still fresh in our memory as an example of this strong will among our Churches, for the sake of securing at any cost the unity of our holy Orthodox Church, is the wonderful unanimity realized during the recent 4th Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference, which took place at our Patriarchal Center on Chambesy-Geneva, where important decisions were taken to resolve the question of the Orthodox Diaspora, thereby removing one of the more serious hurdles in the journey of our Orthodox Church for the realization of the Holy and Great Council, which was decided with Pan-Orthodox consent." In response, Patriarch Kirill emphasized the pioneering role and contribution of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew: "Yesterday, we had the opportunity to discuss the importance of Pan-Orthodox unity. I would like to emphasize your personal role in coordinating this dialogue at a very difficult time. ... It is very clear that our two Churches have the potential to permit us to preserve our inter-Orthodox relations for the benefit of all Orthodoxy. ... Such relations are not a modern issue for the ecclesiastical hierarchy; they arise out of the very nature our hierarchy, of the church and of the Episcopal ministry." During his homily at the Patriarchal concelebration of the Divine Liturgy, His All Holiness stated, "Your Beatitude and Holy Brother, everyone has their eyes focused upon us, expecting us to lead them by word, but especially by our example, in the way of reconciliation and love that is so imperative today. This is why it is crucial that we demonstrate an unswerving readiness above all to promote in every way our Pan-Orthodox unity. We already share the same faith, articulated and proclaimed by the Holy Synods. We have the same worship, as this was formulated in this City and then transplanted to the other Orthodox Churches. We have the same canonical order, unalterably defined by the order and regulations of the holy Ecumenical Councils. Our unity is based on these foundations. The structure of our Church into Patriarchates and Autocephalous Churches in no way implies that we constitute Churches and not a Church. Of course, the Orthodox Church does not have at its disposal a primacy of authority; however, it also does not lack a coordinating body, which does not impose but rather expresses the unanimity of our local Churches. This ministry is realized humbly -- out of a long and sacred tradition -- by this martyric Throne in absolute faithfulness to the prescriptions of Orthodox ecclesiology." Together with His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch, Patriarch Kirill consecrated the church of the Russian Consulate General in Istanbul. Patriarch Kirill stated: "The unity of the Ecumenical Church is revealed in the communion of the local Churches. All of them are linked in the bond of love. Yet, at the same time, we must not ignore the fact that the Church of Russia is especially connected with the First -- in the canonical order of the sacred Diptychs -- Patriarchal Throne of Constantinople. It is from here that we received the illumination of the light of faith and the principles of theological wisdom, architecture and iconography, as well as liturgy and all the diversity of the church's structure."