While all fingers are pointing towards Greece and its crisis, dominating the front pages of world news, the other countries with similar situations “remain under the radar” and are mostly reported on the back pages of the news. “Greece’s woes have revealed a Euro-elite more interested in blame-shifting than tackling the economic crisis” Daniel Ben-Ami reports. Worries that the crisis may spread to other weak euro zone countries makes it seem that there was never a crisis before Greece. The crisis has already spread even before Greece was recognized. Greece was not the leader of this crisis but the one targeted first. “Greece is only one of 19 countries that have financial troubles” according to the international economic forecaster, Bob Chapman. He continues to say “Greece is being used as a scapegoat, public debt to GPD at the moment is approximately as that of the United States”. As chaos ripped through Europe in April with the Volcanic ash and continues to threaten the future of tourism in the summer, Iceland is certainly not considered the villain but Greece troubles are. Just as Iceland has no responsibility for the volcano, Greece does not have responsibility for the global economic crisis and can only take a small part of the euro zone crisis. This hypocrisy is validated even further as the rating agencies are being blasted for their reporting mechanisms for Greece from prominent. The European Commissioner, should be applauded, when on May 4th he "told credit rating agencies to watch their step when judging a country's financial health, saying they would probe their work and could even set up a central agency to take on their job" It is the clearest warning yet from the 27-country bloc's executive to an industry that senior European officials have criticized privately for being too harsh in downgrading Greece. Reuters reported on May 3rd that "The European Union may propose rules within weeks to cap the size of individual trades by speculators in derivatives, blamed for exacerbating the economic crisis, said sources with knowledge of the matter. Under the plans, the new regime could allow watchdogs to limit big trades in derivatives such as Greek debt default insurance. Some suspect speculators accelerated the rising cost of this insurance, pressuring Athens to turn to European neighbors and the IMF for a 110 billion euro bailout." The Times Online reported that a similar concurrence "Like many Greeks, Mr. Michalos takes blame for the decades of excess that have led to near disaster, but also is unhappy about the way that the country seems to have been rounded upon. “We are the scapegoat,” he said. “We represent only two percent of the euro zone GDP and Spain has tremendous problems with its private debt.” Germany is drawing profit from a lower euro, he added." The quote of Robert Cook should be kept in mind “Say and do something positive that will help the situation; it doesn't take any brains to complain." It is said that Serbia is doing its part by helping encouraging its citizens to vacation in Greece helping to bring in more tourism revenues. Other countries are doing their part as well. Belgium Parliament voted already for 1 bn euro aid towards Greece, along with the 60 million euro aid from Cyprus. This “call to action” of these countries should be recognized worldwide. It is funny, to say at least, that FYROM, Romania and Bulgaria issued Travel warnings to Greece, when their own problems exist. Protests happen on a daily basis around the world so one might ask why every protest of Greece is publicized more. This month alone it has been reported, although in very few newspapers comparably, the protests that exist; Tens of thousands of demonstrators in more than 70 US cities turned out over the weekend in protest of a new Arizona immigration law, Near daily protests have been held outside parliament in Egypt on a variety of economic issues, including demands for an increase in the minimum wage; Thousands of Bangkok workers and hundreds of businesses have seen their incomes drop as protests have clogged a central part of the city for weeks; Thai protesters hold out for more talks; Georgian opposition began protests in Tbilisi against declaration of May 6, Albanians take to the streets etc... OSAC reports in February 2010 highlight the safety of Greece. “Statistics suggest that violent crime in Greece is considerably less prevalent than in other European countries. Athens is safer in terms of violent crime than comparably sized metropolitan cities” Greece is known for its natural beauty and the cultural monuments. Violence never was and never will be a characteristic of the kind and hospitable people of Greece. Greece is the fourth most popular tourist destination for Europeans in 2010, according to the Euro barometer survey. Travel Advisers most recently declared for its Traveler’s Choice Destination Awards on Wednesday that Oia Greece is the best romantic destination in the world. During the Scandinavian Trade Fair for Travel TUR 2009, held in Goteborg in Sweden (19-22 Mar), RES magazine a leading travel publication in Scandinavia, awarded Greece as the “Best travel destination for families with children. Daily Frappe says that “Greece was recently placed in 24th place among 124 countries in the overall rankings for the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index presented on Thursday by the World Economic Forum. U.S. magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, recently published a multi-page tribute to the beauties and wonders of Greece. It also stated that “The Greek island holiday destination of Mykonos has been voted the best place to go for a European getaway in a magazine poll. Travel and Leisure picks three hotels in Greece in their “Worlds Best Hotels” 2010. So many publications cannot be wrong. With that being said, it is the responsibility of the Greek citizens, together with the Greek Government, to alter this image immediately. Furthermore, Greece should recognize the economic damage that will be done with strikes and demonstrations which will discourage visitors to come to Greece. Along with the volcanic ash threat on the air transportation, world economic woes, tourism is really being threatened. Whatever rights the people have to protest against austerity measures, it should cease for the benefit of the country. Other displays of dissatisfaction can be chosen to show the pain being caused by the austerity measures. We hope that the Greek Party leaders will do their job, and they will advise their members for the fatal behavior. “Greece is being scapegoated. The market reactions are generating problems, which are primarily built up on speculation, but which then turn into reality,'' Deutsche Bank's former chief economist Norbert Walter said in an interview with the Austrian daily Der Standard on April 29th.
II. WASHINGTONTIMES - Cyprus has a long and ingrained Greek history
Cyprus gained its independence from the British Empire in 1960, but even the British Ministry of Defense could not deny that for 3,500 years, Cyprus' Greek identity of language and culture has been retained. Over the centuries, numerous empires have come and gone, and quite a few ethnic communities have blossomed in Cyprus: Armenians, Latins and even Arab Maronites. But it was the yoke of the British Empire that sought to force the impression of "two peoples" on the island in order to implement its partition plans. During the 1955-59 struggle to liberate Cyprus, not a single Turkish Cypriot participated. Instead, the British, with the aid of Turkey, established the Turkish terrorist organizations Volgan and TMT to attack Greek Cypriots and other communities, including even the Turkish Cypriots. It was the British who recruited the Turkish Cypriots into their police and security forces to crack down on anti-colonial activism. The Turkish military invasion did not protect anyone's interests but those of the mass murderers and rapists who pillaged the property of anyone who was not Turkish. Scores of Greek and Armenian monasteries and churches have been forcibly converted into hotels and casinos, and the Turkish military recently went so far as to bulldoze a Neolithic settlement in order to plant Turkish flags. In his letter, Timur Edib, former president of the Maryland American Turkish Association, talks of the "balance" the Green Line has lent to Cyprus. Balance? Hardly. Just ask the multitudes of nationalities that were displaced forcibly or murdered by the Turkish military on the "Turkish-and-only-Turkish" side of the Attila Line.
There will be no photographing, joint statements, or indication of functions at the EU-Western Balkans conference in Sarajevo in June. UN mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, representatives will be present, according to Belgrade daily Danas. Foreign Ministers Vuk Jeremić and Skender Hyseni, appointed by the Kosovo Albanian government in Priština as its foreign minister, will be seated at the same table at the meeting, accroding to the same newspaper report today. The daily writes that it learned from the Serbian and Kosovo governments that they agreed to the so-called Gymnich format of the conference, considering that this meeting will be held on a ministerial level unlike the one in Slovenia recently, where presidents and prime ministers were invited. Belgrade snubbed the informal gathering in Slovenia, saying that Kosovo Albanian officials could only take part as Kosovo-UNMIK, and without violating UNSC Resolution 1244 in the process. “A model of participation of officials from Priština which is acceptable to Belgrade has been found, which includes personal presence of ministers without stating of their functions. Also, it has been agreed that there will be no photographing before and after the meeting, or joint statements for the public afterwards. This Gymnich model was the only solution under which we have agreed to sit with the representatives of authorities in Priština at the joint meeting, of course, in the presence of representatives of the EU mission in Kosovo,” State Secretary with the Kosovo Ministry Oliver Ivanović told the daily. Back in Belgrade, Serbian Deputy PM Božidar Đelić was quoted as saying that the ultimate achievement of the upcoming meeting in Sarajevo should not be only that it was held, but that Serbia and other countries, based on new EU development plan “Europe 2020“, create similar programs where concrete projects in five areas would be visible. According to Chief of the EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert, the EU wants all of its partners in the region to participate at the regional conference in Sarajevo, since, according to him, the idea is to send a message that the entire Western Balkans has a European perspective.
IV. BALKANINSIGHT - NATO To Continue Open Door Policy in Balkans
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Friday in Romania that the Alliance will continue its open door policy as regards countries in the Balkans and would like all the states in the region to join the European Union and NATO. Rasmussen, who is on a two-day official visit to Bucharest, added that Ukraine and Georgia could also become NATO members if they want to and if they meet the necessary criteria. "Our position concerning future members, decided at the Bucharest summit in 2008, remains unchanged. The Membership Action Plan, MAP, does not guarantee future NATO membership but it is a framework and an opportunity for a country to take the path of reform to meet the criteria required for membership," Rasmussen said. Last month, NATO extended a MAP to Bosnia, but attached conditions to its implementation. Membership action plans are intended to expedite candidate countries' progress toward joining the 28-member military alliance and are seen as a key stepping stone on the way towards full membership. Under the plan, the NATO membership aspirants are provided with individually-tailored advice and support. The plan also serves as a means to monitor their progress and provide feedback on reforms. NATO comprises 28 member states, including the Balkan countries of Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey. Bosnia and Macedonia hope to join the alliance in the near future, while Serbia has still not firmly established whether it will seek NATO membership.
At a news conference Wednesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Rasmussen said he was in favor to link and expand NATO's missile defense systems to protect the entire continent. "NATO is already building a missile defense system to protect our armed forces when they go out on mission," Rasmussen said. "The cost of expanding that system to cover not only our soldiers but also our populations … is less than ($258 million) over 10 years spread among the 28 NATO countries." For that money, Europe will get "full coverage geographically, as well as protection against the threats we can envisage today," he said. Rasmussen said the comprehensive shield was needed to defend a "growing threat" from Iran. The system would be different from that proposed by Washington but could rely via a command-and-control system on those in place or under construction, he added. Rasmussen said Russia should be involved in the plans from the start. "We would very much like to explore the possibilities, to cooperate, to link the systems," he said. "In the coming months we will have discussions on that within the NATO-Russia Council." He added NATO ministers would decide over such a shield at a summit in Lisbon in November.
Russia's parliament on Friday defeated a motion that would have prevented Americans from adopting Russian children. The motion was put forward in reaction to the case of Artyom Savelyev, an 8-year-old Russian boy sent back to Moscow alone last month by his adoptive mother in Tennessee. The mother claimed the boy was violent and that the orphanage had lied about his condition. Russian physicians said they found no mental issues with the boy. Savelyev' return led to calls for more control over foreign adoptions and a freeze on all adoptions to Americans until the United States signed a bilateral agreement allowing Russia to better monitor and control adoptions. A motion to freeze all adoptions to the U.S. pending the signing of such an agreement fell 98 votes short Friday in the State Duma, the lower house. After a month of conflicting signals, Education Minister Andrei Fursenko confirmed earlier this week that Russia had not suspended U.S. adoptions, which he said required legislation to be passed by parliament or a presidential act. The dominant Kremlin-friendly party, United Russia, voted against Friday's motion, saying it did not make sense given Americans' willingness to discuss an agreement. "If an agreement is not signed, we will be the first to submit a freeze bill to parliament," deputy Natalya Karpova said. Some 1,800 Russian children were adopted in the United States last year, according to the Russian Education and Science Ministry. U.S. citizens have adopted nearly 50,000 Russian children since the early 1990s, the ministry's Alina Levitskaya told the State Duma on Friday.
Europe applies double standards in dealing with measures of freedom of expression in society. This is the charge launched by the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow, concerned that this fundamental right is not fully applied to religious communities. The deputy head of the Department for External Church Relations of the Patriarchate, the abbot Philipp Ryabykh, told Interfax news agency: “In the Western world the right to criticize every religious point of view is often claimed, but at the same time symbols of faith are censored and the religious approach to political and social life of citizens censored”. This is how the priest responds to the words of Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, according to whom criticism of governments and religions, "their myths and ideas”, meet European democratic standards. The religious outlook of many problems Ryabykh continues, "is often not considered in the same way as that based on scientific method or humanism, and indeed it is relegated to the realm of mythology, an insult to people who believe." Furthermore the priest points out that "religious language is censored in public life, thus Christmas becomes a simple holiday season, the Christmas tree is removed from public places as well as the crib to the point that they are even proposing to remove the crucifix from schools. " Europe "often calls for respect for freedom of expression and yet it restricts the right of believers to be in society with their views." Father Philipp calls for guarantees for the rights of religious communities to freely express their concerns on issues of bioethics or same-sex marriages: "If we build a society in which religious believers can also speak freely, we will have achieved the desired result for Europe." In a recent article Jagland reiterated, "Freedom of speech and expression is the very essence of European identity."