The opening of the Acropolis Museum in Greece this summer has reignited a controversy over some of the sculptures that adorned the Parthenon, the most famous monument of ancient Greece. A number of artifacts, including about half of the Parthenon Frieze, now reside in the British Museum — but many Greeks argue they should be returned to Athens. Lynn Sherr speaks to a group of students at the American College of Greece, who believe passionately the sculptures should be returned to their homeland. Sherr also interviews Dimitris Plantzos of the University of Ioannina, who says that the issue is about Greek identity, not scholarship — and holds the view, unusual in Greece, that the sculptures don’t need to be returned.
United Nations-brokered negotiations to solve the Cyprus problem are making slow progress, increasing the risk that the divided island will never be reunited as a federal state, according to the Turkish Cypriot leader. “It’s the last chance for a solution,” Mehmet Ali Talat told the Financial Times in an interview on Tuesday. “Time is not in favour of a solution. How many attempts are we going to make, only to fail?” Talat suggested that international pressure for a deal was growing, and accused France and Russia – two of the UN Security Council’s five permanent members – of being biased in favour of the Greek Cypriots. US and European Union officials say that, if the 12-month-old Cyprus talks were to fall apart, it would darken Turkey’s EU membership prospects and damage efforts to construct a closer operational relationship between the EU and Nato.
The President of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) Gjorge Ivanov considered madness his country to accept name with geographical definition for common usage, AHA-MPA agency informed, citing publication in Macedonian Dnevnik newspaper. Ivanov said this during news conference for journalists who have covered his visit to Germany and meeting with German President Horst Köhler. “There is no legal act with which Greece can force Macedonia to accept Athens position,” Ivanov pointed and noted that Skopje would never yield its position on double formula in negotiations on name dispute. According to FYROM President Greece is the one that has not wanted the issue to be solved.
Dmitry Medvedev has refused to rule out running for a second term as Russia's president, Russian news agencies say. He said "fate" had decreed his first run for office, and he would not "guess in advance or rule out anything". President Medvedev's comments come amid speculation over his ambitions and those of his powerful mentor and predecessor, Vladimir Putin. Last week Mr Putin hinted that he was thinking of coming back in 2012, when Mr Medvedev's current term expires. Mr Putin added that the two men - who he said were "of the same blood, with the same political views" - would not compete, but would reach an agreement on who would run.
The application deadline for participation in a public debate on the issue of legality of independence of Kosovo before the International Court of Justice expires today and the court is to subsequently publish the number of states that have filed their applications, with a schedule of oral presentations. The public debate starts on December 1 and all the UN member-states, whether they have made submissions or not, will be entitled to take part in it. Kosovo authorities are also entitled to expound orally on their submissions and respond to opponents’ arguments. In the first phase of the process, initiated last year by the UN General Assembly at Serbia’s initiative, 35 countries, including Serbia, made submissions. In the second stage, which expired on July 17, responses to submissions and ICJ arguments were filed by Kosovo and 14 states. All the documents are confidential for the time being and the ICJ will decide if they are to be published at an oral debate or later.
The Ras-Prizren Eparchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church asked the international community to protect the Orthodox monastery of St. Peter Koriski, near Prizren, which the Kosovo Albanians damaged. According to a press release, monks of the Serbian Orthodox Church learnt that the Kosovo police arrested six Albanians on suspicion that they dug a tunnel in the ruins of a monastery in search of some hidden treasure. Representatives of the Eparchy then visited the monastery, which was, as it is pointed out, systematically destroyed since 1999. The Eparchy statement is accompanied by photos showing destroyed frescoes, holes from bullets and graffiti UCK (KLA - Kosovo Liberation Army) on the walls of the crumpled monastery. The Eparchy criticized the Kosovo police because it did not inform it of arrests or new damage on the Serbian sanctity. It is clear that the attacks and destruction of the Serbian cultural heritage in Kosovo continue, the communiqué emphasizes.
In an interview today in Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, Archbishop Paolo Pezzi said the miracle of reunification “is possible, indeed it has never been so close.” The archbishop added that Catholic-Orthodox reunification, the end of the historic schism that has divided them for a millennium, and spiritual communion between the two churches “could happen soon, also within a few months. Basically we were united for a thousand years. Then for another thousand we were divided. Now the path to rapprochement is at its peak, and the third millennium of the Church could begin as a sign of unity.” He said there were “no formal obstacles” but that “everything depends on a real desire for communion.” Archbishop Pezzi, 49, whose proper title is Metropolitan Archbishop of the Mother of God Archdiocese in Moscow, said that now there are “no real obstacles” on the path towards full communion and reunification. On issues of modernity, Catholics and Orthodox Christians feel the same way, he said: “Nothing separates us on bioethics, the family, and the protection of life.” Also on matters of doctrine, the two churches are essentially in agreement. “There remains the question of papal primacy,” Archbishop Pezzi acknowledged. Prospects for union with the Orthodox have increased markedly in recent years with the election of Pope Benedict XVI, whose work as a theologian in greatly admired in Orthodox circles. Relations have also been greatly helped by the election of Patriarch Kirill I earlier this year as leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is by far the largest of the national churches in the Orthodox Church.