I. FRANCE24 - Nana Mouskouri offers pension to debt-riven Greece
Greek diva Nana Mouskouri has offered to donate the pension she gets as a former member of the European parliament as part of a drive to help the country tackle a huge debt crisis, the finance ministry said on Tuesday. The donation follows widespread calls for rich Greeks to contribute to a national fund to help Athens emerge from the debt burden. Mouskouri, who served as an MEP between 1994 and 1999, said the offer stemmed from her "duty to the country," and stressed she was "very worried" by the bashing Greece's image had taken. "I do not want Greece to be treated like a cancer," said Mouskouri, quoted by the daily Eleftherotypia. She said she wanted to continue donating her pension "until the country emerges from the economic crisis." A trained opera singer, Mouskouri started out with a jazz repertoire and has sung in several languages. Her signature tunes include "White Roses from Athens," and the love song from the cult French musical "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg." Greece's deficit is more than four times the limit allowed by the European Union, and amounts to an estimated 12.7 percent of its GDP (gross domestic product). Athens has pledged to cut the deficit by four percentage points this year but there are widespread concerns that it will fail to meet that target.
II. B92 - Serbia will have to choose Kosovo or EU
Vice-President of the U.S. Institute for Peace Daniel Serwer said that Serbia won’t join the EU unless it "de facto recognizes Kosovo". “Belgrade has the right not to recognize Kosovo and no one will force it to do so, but Serbia cannot expect to be an EU member-state and keep Kosovo – it’s one or the other,” Serwer told Voice of America. However, he said that the "EU cannot tell Belgrade that, because there are five of the 27 EU member-states that do not recognize Kosovo independence, but I think that the stance of the majority will take over in the end.” He went on to say that the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – that is deliberating the legality of the Kosovo Albanian UDI – does not impose any obligations, "but is only advisory", and added that "it would be good if it could lead to solving the Kosovo question". “Belgrade asked the court to give an opinion on the question and I believe that it should respect the decision and act in accordance with it, whether positive or negative. On the other hand, Priština did not want it and was against sending the case to the International Court of Justice, therefore Kosovo already has more right to reject its decision than Belgrade,” said Serwer. He added that the "time has come for direct talks without mediators between Belgrade and Priština, based on equal footing". Serwer said that northern Kosovo is "under Belgrade’s direct control" and that he "would not refer to it as parallel institutions, but Serb institutions", adding that this has been the case since the end of the war and that is how it will stay "until the international community does something to change the situation". In this context, the U.S. analysts expressed his support for the plan of Pieter Feith "that would give Serbs in north Kosovo a high level of autonomy". The so-called strategy for integration of northern Kosovo, seeking to place the Serb areas under control of the Kosovo Albanian government in Priština, has been rejected by Serbs in the north, and official Belgrade.
III. BUSINESSWEEK - NATO Plays Down East’s Worry After French Arms Sale to Russia
NATO played down security concerns in eastern Europe provoked by France’s decision to sell four warships to Russia, which fought a war against would-be alliance member Georgia less than two years ago. In announcing the sale of the Mistral-class amphibious assault ships this week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the West needs to trust Russia and shed Cold War-era stereotypes. The sale was denounced by eastern European governments, especially the Baltic Sea states that were once part of the Soviet Union, as an unwarranted gesture to Russia that threatens European security. “I understand very well the concerns raised by a number of allies and I think it’s understandable taking into consideration history as well as recent events, but I take it for granted that Russia will not use or misuse such military equipment against any neighbor,” North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a Brussels press conference today. The sale of the 200-meter (656-foot) ships, capable of transporting as many as 700 combat troops, 16 helicopters and 60 armored vehicles, would mark Russia’s first big-ticket weapons purchase from a NATO country since the Cold War. Sarkozy, who brokered the cease-fire that ended Russia’s five-day war against Georgia in 2008, said March 1 after endorsing the sale that Russia is a “strategic partner” and “friend of France.” Rasmussen said there was no need for France to clear the sale with allied headquarters in advance and promised that “NATO has all necessary plans in place to protect and defend all allies.”
The former head of Parliament, and now a prominent leader of the Georgian opposition, Nino Burjandaze is striving to change the face of Georgian politics forever. Burjandaze, the leader of the “Democratic Movement for United Georgia” party, is in Moscow for a series of meetings with Russian officials in the latest effort to normalize relations between the two countries, as well as to cement Burjandaze’s credentials as a plausible replacement for current Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. Nino Burjandaze, who some say is the Yulia Timoshenko of Georgian politics, was a key ally of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili during the 2003 Rose Revolution. But today she is a bitter critic of the government and is now looking to shore up her international standing with a trip that will also take her to Europe and the United States. “While most of the opposition forces are busy with the upcoming Tbilisi mayoral elections, and while the current government is busy with blackening the names of the Opposition leaders, I’m busy with big politics,” Burjanadze said. The former Parliament Chairwoman said that she was going to Russia in order to defend Georgia’s interests because Russia is not only a neighboring state, but a large and powerful country whose position on all issues has tremendous bearing on all Georgian people.
V. ASSOCIATEDPRESS - Germany, England, Greece move up, US down FIFA rankings
Germany and England have moved up one place in the latest FIFA rankings while former European champion Greece is back in the top 10 for the first time since June 2008. Current European champion Spain still leads the rankings ahead of Brazil, the Netherlands and Italy. But Germany has moved up one spot to fifth, England has risen one place to eighth and Euro 2004 champion Greece goes up two to 10th, replacing Egypt, which raced up the rankings after winning the African Cup of Nations in January, but has slipped to 17th. The United States, which visits the Netherlands in a friendly on Wednesday, has gone down four spots to 18th. Portugal slipped to sixth and Argentina to ninth.
VI. CRETEGAZETTE - A Museum For Bishop Eirinaios Galanakis In Kissamos
A new museum has opened in Kissamos in western Crete earlier this year. The museum is dedicated to the former Metropolitan Bishop of Kissamos, Eirinaios Galanakis, also known as the Grandfather of the Orthodox Religion. The Eirinaios' museum was inaugurated by Patriarch Bartholomaios from Constantinople. The museum is located in downtown Kissamos (Kastelli) and it was established to promote and spotlight the vast offerings and services of the former bishop. In the museum, visitors can see many personal items of Eirinaios, such as canonicals, clerical clothes, books, even his bed, as well as a rich selection of pictures from his early youth to his late years. There are also videos with personal moments of this great for Kastelli man. Eirinaios Galanakis was born in 1911 in Nerohori Apokoronou in Crete, and was named Michail. He studied at the Theological School of the University of Athens and he worked as a teacher in high schools in Chania prefecture. In 1943 he was arrested by the German forces in Greece, due to his speeches for resistance and freedom at the Church mass, but was saved by the Bishop of Apokoronas. In 1946 he was consecrated a deacon and received the name Eirinaios and in 1957 he became Metropolitan Bishop of Kissamos (or Kastelli Kissamou, as the town is also known). His bright mind, his love for arts and culture worked like a lighthouse in the region, encouraging people to be educated and well nurtured. He established numerous foundations and philanthropic associations, schools and craft academies, cultural associations and many more clubs and benefit societies. His writing chare has also been significant and impressive. From 1972-1980 Eirinaios Galanakis undertook a mission to re-establish and rejuvenate the Archbishopy in Germany, thus he worked in this country, establishing new Orthodox Churches and Archbishopies in Bonne and other regions and published a monthly journal for the Greek immigrants in Germany. He also managed to introduce Greek Theology in German Universities, and assisted the Greek workers and immigrants in Germany both spiritually and practically. In 1981 he returned to Crete to continue his work and deeds there until 2005 when he resigned due to advanced age.
VII. PRAVMIR - St. Gregory & Deification (Theosis)
This Sunday we celebrate[d] the memory of St. Gregory Palamas. Along with his feast on November 14, the Church has assigned an additional celebration on the second Sunday of Lent. On this day, standing between the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy and that of the Veneration of the Holy Cross, St.Gregory is venerated as the preeminent holy father who articulated, defended, and preserved the Orthodox teaching of deification—that is our potential to participate directly in the energies of God, which sanctify, perfect, and empower our personal struggle, both spiritually and physically, against sin, and grant us the gift of virtues unto eternal salvation and likeness to Christ. He is also preeminent in the defense of those struggling righteously in the world as parish communities and our free access to the spiritual wisdom that was many times reserved for or practiced exclusively within monasticism. St. Gregory was a monk, ascetic, prolific author, and tremendous theologian who was called out of monastery life, by the providence of God, and made archbishop of Thessaloniki during very difficult times. As a result of his being made a shepherd of those living in the world, the profound monastic teachings on the spiritual/ascetical life were presented and preserved within the context of the parish family to a degree never before experienced. Time and time again, over the centuries, it is to the writings of St. Gregory that the Church has turned in order to correctly understand how monastics and married, monasteries and parishes, are all called to the same goal of union with God, albeit by spiritual paths that vary in their specific experience by each person. Being a monastic elder and episcopal shepherd of parish flocks, St. Gregory strives constantly to strike the balance between hidden monastic wisdom that must be made available to the faithful in the world and the righteousness of those in the world, who tread a much more complex path than do the monastics and whose marriages and families must be viewed honorably within the monasteries. Considering the Apostle John as symbolic of monastic devotion to Christ, and the Apostle Peter as the symbol of married Christians, St. Gregory says, “Though Peter had a mother-in-law he did not lag behind the virgin John when both ran to the tomb. In some ways Peter even surpassed John, for he was appointed the leader of leaders. For when desire is redirected from the flesh to the spirit it raises all to great heights.” Whether with spouse and family, in celibacy or in monasticism, may we all strive to attain true purity and holiness, encountering Christ as He wills to appear along our path, and to be joined to Him in the end.