I. KATHIMERINI - Greek, Turkish Aegean pact in the works
Athens and Ankara have agreed, in principle, on a resolution to their disagreements in the Aegean, sources have told Kathimerini. The likeliest scenario is that Turkey lifts its objections to Greece extending its territorial waters in the Aegean to 12 nautical miles but that this extension only applies to the coastline of its mainland, not the Greek islands. Practically this scenario would mean that Greece secures control of less than 80 percent of the Aegean. Sources say that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is keen for a consensus on the Aegean to be reached by the end of the year. During Erdogan’s visit to Athens on the weekend, Prime Minister George Papandreou reiterated Greece’s concern about ongoing transgressions of its air space by Turkish jets and urged Erdogan to make good on pledges to curb this activity.
II. CHANNELNEWSASIA - NATO chief sees no speedy end to Greece-FYROMacedonia name row
A solution to a two-decade name row between Greece and Macedonia that has blocked the latter's NATO entry is unlikely to be resolved before an alliance summit next month, NATO's chief said on Saturday. "I have no indication that a solution could be possible before the Lisbon summit," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. Athens and Skopje have been at loggerheads over the right to the name Macedonia since the former Yugoslav republic proclaimed independence in 1991. Greece, which has a northern province of the same name, has barred Macedonia's European Union and NATO integration until an agreement on a new name is reached. UN-led negotiations on the issue have so far failed to produce results. Last week, the EU's president had spoken of a "major opportunity" to come to conclusion soon, without giving further details. "I believe there is a major opportunity to come to conclusion soon...and this unique opportunity to finally come through to the European doors should not be missed," European Union president Herman Van Rompuy told reporters in Skopje. In 2008 Greece blocked Macedonia's NATO membership and, though Skopje has been an EU candidate since 2005, has also opposed the start of accession talks with Brussels. Macedonia was recognised by the United Nations in 1993 under the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). More than 120 nations, including Russia and the United States, have recognised the landlocked Balkan country under its constitutional name Republic of Macedonia. NATO leaders are due to meet on November 19 and 20 in Lisbon to discuss a new framework of coordination between the European and North American allies, as well as plans for a missile defence system disputed by Russia. But Rasmussen noted on Saturday that the 2008 decision in Bucharest to block Macedonia's entry "still stands" and new members can only be admitted by unanimous vote.
III. YNET - US to Turkey: Israel won't be privy to NATO info
Ankara aims to prevent non-NATO members from accessing any information Washington may derive from the use of the missile defense system it intends to deploy in Eastern Europe and Turkey. According to a Monday report in the Ankara-based Zaman newspaper, Turkey asked the US to insure nations that are not members of North Atlantic Treaty Organization – including Israel – be barred for accessing such intelligence. The US reportedly agreed. The newspaper said that Ankara was not opposed to Washington's wish to deploy a part of the new missile defense system on Turkish soil, but added that it had expressed some concerns over the possible infringement on its relations with Iran. Turkey demands the project be used for defensive purposes only. Ankara also demands that Iran and all other neighboring nations, be excluded from any "threat list." The United States has been trying to garner support for the new missile defense system, which is to be deployed in Poland and the Czech Republic, since the Bush Administration, encountering fierce opposition in Europe, mainly from Russia. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, however, is in favor of the deployment.
Russia is willing to discuss NATO plans for a European missile defense system, though it wishes to have equal involvement in the creation of the shield. "The most important thing for us is firstly to define what are the real threats to Europe, and secondly is to see Russia put on an equal footing as a participant," Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov told Der Spiegel in an article published today. "It is only thus can an antimissile defense system be put in place which satisfies everyone," he said. NATO has invited Moscow to participate in talks regarding potential collaboration on a proposed alliance-wide missile defense infrastructure. The Kremlin has been wary of alliance and U.S. plans to build a European missile shield out of a concern that it would undercut Russia's own nuclear deterrent. An earlier Bush-era plan to field 10 long-range interceptors in Poland and a large radar base in the Czech Republic led to public expressions of frustration from Moscow. The Obama administration last year canceled that plan in favor of a revised approach that over a period of years would deploy land- and sea-based interceptors in locations around the continent. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said last week he would attend next month's high-profile summit in Lisbon, Portugal, where alliance members are anticipated to determine whether to officially include missile defense as a NATO objective. A 'yes' vote would prepare the way for an initiative to integrate and enhance the antimissile programs of member nations. The 28-member organization says the system would be structured to boost protection from potential ballistic missiles fired by nations such as North Korea and Iran. "For the moment, the stakes and the threats are viewed very differently," Serdyukov told the German magazine. "We don't share all the West's views on the capacities of the Iranian nuclear program," he said (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Oct. 23). NATO nation Turkey is being considered as the possible host country for a missile-tracking radar under the alliance system. Ankara, though, has questioned whether information collected by the system would be provided to nations such as Israel that do not belong to the alliance, the Jerusalem Post reported today. Washington has said that non-NATO states would not have access to such data.
V. AFP - EU close to embracing Serbia
Serbia looks set for a crucial step forward in its bid to join the European Union on Monday. Serbia's bid for entry tops the agenda at talks between the 27-nation bloc's foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday, with diplomatic sources confident of an accord to usher in the country that applied for membership in December. "We must reward President (Boris) Tadic who has made courageous choices and who manages with reason an unreasonable nation," said a top diplomat as EU capitals argued over a draft agreement circulating in diplomatic corridors. "The EU must give him a boost," said the diplomat who asked not to be identified, adding that debate among EU states on Serbia's adhesion were "difficult and at times difficult to digest." But the draft accord nonetheless opens the door to Belgrade to join the powerful EU club, diplomatic sources said. It calls for the European Commission to offer an opinion on Belgrade's application -- a first step in a country gaining formal status as an EU candidate, a process that generally takes around a year. But the draft agreement under consideration adds tough conditions in the later stages of accession. While calling for further progress in dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, it also demands a greater measure of cooperation with the ICTY. In its current formulation the draft also states that Serbia's path to accession will be blocked pending a unanimous decision from the 27 "that full cooperation with the ICTY exists". Several countries believe this is far too harsh, that we're setting too many conditions," said one diplomatic source. "Let's be realistic." In talks between the ministers overnight Sunday to Monday, all eyes will be on the position taken by the new minister from the Netherlands, which formed a new right-wing government this month. Should an agreement to embrace Serbia emerge as expected on Monday, the EU will be attentive to follow up in its offer to broker talks between Serbia and Kosovo. The two agreed in September to try to resolve outstanding issues though Belgrade has never formally accepted the independence of its former province. No starting date has been set for these talks but the EU is reported to want the process to kick off within weeks. Last week, Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci offered to start the dialogue before early polls in February that will be the first general elections since Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence from Serbia in February 2008. Kosovo has been recognised as a state by 70 countries, including the United States and the majority of the EU, but Serbia refuses it and still considers Kosovo as its southern province.
VI. CNN - Somali pirates thwarted off Kenyan coast
A cargo ship seized by Somali pirates off the coast of Kenya was freed Monday after one day under siege, and the German-based Beluga Shipping company said its crew of 16 was unharmed. The pirates were thwarted after the crew of the MV Beluga Fortune locked themselves in a panic room and switched off the main engine, cut off the fuel supply, blocked the bridge and reported the Indian Ocean attack to military forces, said Niels Stolberg, president and CEO of Beluga Shipping GmbH. The pirates, seeking a million-dollar ransom, were unable to maintain control of the vessel, and naval forces were able to come to the rescue, Stolberg said in a statement. The vessel continued its journey to Richards Bay, South Africa. "The excellent behavior of our colleagues on board made such a swift and happy ending of the capture possible," Stolberg said.
VII. PRAVMIR - Soul Mates
I was told about a Carolina Governor who was carrying on with a woman who was not his wife, and, when it became public, justified himself on the grounds that she was his “soul mate.” The term is used constantly now and some assume, unfortunately, that we should be constantly looking for this soul mate. This is utter rubbish, of course. There’s no such thing, at least not in the sense we use the term now. My dad taught me a great number of wise things before his untimely death, and one of them was that we don’t fall in love with “the one person” who was created for us; what usually happens is that we reach a point in life where we’re ready to have a family and the person who most closely resembles our vision of a spouse at that point is the one we focus our attention on. There is a lot of truth in that. I’ve seen it over and over as a parish priest. At one time that wasn’t a bad thing, either. We generally kept around folks who had been raised with the same basic values and background that we had. Our families often had known each other for some time. Expectations were shared. Now, people can share only four years of college (or a night in a bar) and an overwhelming lust – what a foundation! – but they say, “I’ve met my soul mate.” Real love, the kind that really works and is good for us, requires more than attraction and appreciation; it requires active, sacrifi cial love. Real love is not about self-actualization and self-discovery – that can be therapy, not love. Real love requires the Cross of Christ, because God is love. This is the tough stuff: we don’t want sacrifice, we want romanticism instead. A person who is set only on romantic love will never find true love. The romantic is ultimately the sad, melancholic figure at the edge of a cliff watching the crashing of the sea far below. Love is self-offering, and self-oblation. Could it be any different? Christ himself said that “a greater love hath no man than to lay down his life.” This is the ultimate definition of love. Most people immediately turn to I Corinthians 13, but the Gospel comes first. Yes, love is patient and kind, and so forth, because that is the way we sacrifice ourselves for the other person on a daily basis. Love is the Cross embraced personally for someone other than myself. That is not an easy task. It is a struggle to do it, but it is actually the true Christian struggle. Notice that the assumption behind the soul mate is that the other person is really oriented towards me. The desire for a soul mate is concerned with my happiness, my fulfillment, my completion. As fallen human beings, however, we are so fickle that what makes us happy this week will be bland next week. As long as my emotions and passions are the measure of love, then I will never find love. That is only found when we move outside of ourselves and willingly, deliberately offer ourselves to someone else. The special status of soul mates in the minds of many makes crystal clear why marriage and love seem to be failing left and right. We are celebrating romanticism and narcissism. Thank God we don’t allow people to write their own marriage vows in the Orthodox Church, because the ones I have heard are ghastly things that proclaim the opposite of love. “You are my fulfillment, my joy, my hope … .” Yuck. Why not be really honest and talk about the act of the will to commit oneself to one’s spouse. “I’m going to die for you every day, in little ways and big ones, until God takes away my breath.” That won’t wow them at Hallmark. How much better the old vows really are, because they are about giving and not about receiving. (It seems to me that our Lord might have said something like that.) Sentimentality goes hand in hand with this distorted notion of love and romanticism, because it is simply the syrupy side of self-love. It makes me feel good. To wit, if we were honestly Christian we would have to reply, “I’m sure Christ didn’t feel too good on the Cross, but he called that love. What do your feelings have to do with it?” I hinted that there is perhaps a good use of the term soul mate. And I believe that there is. In a perfectly true sense, a soul mate is a person who joins us in the spirituality of sacrifice and oblation. This is done sacramentally and mystically in the Church. These two become true soul mates, for their souls are directed together in the Cross which leads to suffering, death and resurrection. The Governor lost what could have been his soul mate because he opted for romanticism and self-fulfillment on his terms. He lost the possibility of real love. He traded happiness (something fleeting and undependable) for joy. “Joy cometh in the morning,” that is, after the dark night of oblation and sacrifice.