NATO is warning that the unrest in countries such as Egypt and Tunisia could cause economic hardships and increase illegal immigration to Europe. Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the resulting instability also may have a negative impact on the Mideast peace process. But he noted that the turmoil does not pose a threat to NATO's member states. Rasmussen said Monday the alliance has close ties with Egypt and Tunisia and other moderate Mideast nations, but it has no intention of intervening in those countries. He urged European NATO members to stop slashing defense budgets, noting that current events "serve as a timely reminder that we cannot take security for granted, even in our immediate neighborhood."
II. EKATHIMERINI - Greece: Papandreou postpones Mubarak talks
Prime Minister George Papandreou has cancelled his proposed trip to Cairo on Sunday to hold talks with embattled President Hosni Mubarak. Papandreou said after a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels on Friday that he had informed his EU colleagues that he would be flying to Egypt. "I have decided to go to Cairo, probably on Sunday, to carry there the EU's spirit and current debate as well as Greece's thoughts,» Papandreou said. "I have informed my (EU) colleagues, they think this is a positive initiative," he added. "I want to carry a message to President Mubarak and have talks with him." Papandreou said he spoke on the telephone on Friday with Mubarak and other leading Egyptian figures. However, a statement from the prime minister’s office in Saturday said that Papandreou has postponed his planned visit because of developments in Egypt. No alternate date for the visit has been set. Papandreou has consulted by phone on Saturday's developments in Egypt with the prime ministers of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The UN Security Council will discuss the situation in Kosovo and the latest report by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at a meeting scheduled for February 16. According to the UN website, Ban states in his report that the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is willing to support an investigation into human organ trafficking, and he hopes Belgrade and Priština will soon establish a dialogue. The report covers the period between October 19, 2010 and January 15, 2011. UNMIK handed over its findings on organ trafficking to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia back in 2003, Ban writes, adding that all of those files were given to the EU Mission in Kosovo late 2008 and early 2009. The secretary general regrets that the collapse of the government coalition in Kosovo and the subsequent elections have postponed the start of the talks with Belgrade. He hopes the dialogue begins as soon as possible and that the events in Kosovo lead to political stability. Ban describes the situation in Kosovo as relatively calm, but potentially unstable, where organized crime is still a cause for concern and where smuggling and drug trafficking are particular problems.
The leader of Islamist rebels suspected of bombing Moscow's main international airport last month is pledging to step up deadly attacks in Russia. In a video message posted Sunday on a pro-rebel website, Doku Umarov stopped short of claiming responsibility for the January 24 airport bombing, which left 36 people dead. But the self-titled Emir of the North Caucasus vowed to deliver "a year of blood and tears" to Russia, saying that there were dozens of rebels prepared to carry out attacks. "I won't tell you there are hundreds of us prepared for Jihad. But 50 or 60, God willing, we will find," Umarov said in Russian, wearing camouflage combat fatigues. "Those operations will be conducted monthly or weekly, as Allah allows us," he said... Sunday's video message from Umarov was posted on a website that often carries messages from the rebel leadership. Sitting beneath a black flag and flanked by two other bearded rebels, Umarov names the young man to his left as "Mujahedeen Seifullah." He said the man was being sent on a mission, although it is not clear from the video if this was the suspected Moscow airport bomber, or when the message was recorded. "I would like Putin and Medvedev and all other kaffirs and enemies to understand that there are many of us who will follow in our footsteps and give their lives for Allah," Umarov said.
Russia will consider the sense of observing of the strategic arms reduction treaty (START) if the U.S. or NATO change the scale of their missile defense systems, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Ryabkov said Monday. He said if the U.S. continues to build up its missile defense system, Moscow will have to take measures of a “military technical” nature. Ryabkov stressed that the link between offensive and defensive weapons is binding under START. The new agreement obliges Russia and the U.S. to cut the total numbers of warheads by one third and the numbers of carrier missiles by more than half.
VI. FINANCIALMIRROR - Cyprus rejects Franco-German proposals on economic governance
Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou has said Cyprus was among EU member states, which expressed their opposition to positions put forward by France and Germany with regard to taxation and social policy issues, during the EU summit held on Friday. Stephanou said that such positions could not be accepted because they undermine the welfare state. “Issues concerning social benefits, taxes and other relevant matters have to do with each state’s national policies and neither the Lisbon Treaty nor the acquis communautaire provide for something different than that,” he added. The Spokesman said that the discussion at the Council has shown that many countries to do not accept the proposals put forward by Germany and France and that these reactions will determine the outcome of the discussions among EU member states.
VII. PRAVMIR - Zacchaeus Sunday: Coming Up Short
In the beginning chapters of the book, Unseen Warfare, St. Theophan tells us plainly, “If a man wants to realize his weakness from the actual experience of his life, let him but for one day observe his thoughts, words and deeds. He will undoubtedly find that the greater part of his thoughts, words and deeds were sinful, wrong, foolish and bad.” This simple truth is offered to us not as condemnation, but as a simple tool for realizing what need we have of being perfected by Christ—regardless of how satisfied our ego is with our current, imperfect state. After humbly realizing and accepting our terribly imperfect state, we utilize additional tools of virtue: private prayer, attending services, fasting, prostrations, keeping vigil, good works, bridling the tongue, and amyriad of other practices of personal asceticism. And yet these too are the means, not the end, for, as St. Theophan continues, “I tell you plainly: the greatest and most perfect thing a man can desire to attain is to come near to God and dwell in union with Him.” Yet a man’s effort at every virtue cannot of itself perfect this drawing near to God and dwelling in union with Him. To man’s voluntary effort must be added the grace of God, which is encountered in its fullness only in the sacramental life of the Church. It is the gifts of grace, primarily conveyed in Baptism, Chrismation, Eucharist and Confession, that begin the process of perfecting a human being, drawing him near to God and initiating eternal and infinite union with Him. To refuse to acknowledge our own imperfection, to refuse a life of virtuous practices, to refuse the fullness of grace offered by Christ through His holy Church, to refuse to enter into Confession for the sake of receiving the Eucharist and renewing our Baptism and Chrismation, is to freely choose a destructive existence in everything “sinful, wrong, foolish and bad.” St. Gregory of Nyssa, in his Great Catechism, observes that a Christian who is baptized but experiences no change in his life is, in the words of St. Paul, “a man who thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, and deceives himself.” In addition, St. Gregory offers us the example of Zacchaeus, from whom we can learn what it means to realize our own imperfection, make a voluntary effort to be united to Christ, and experience the beginning of perfection through obedience to Christ, repentance, and transformation. Initially, Zacchaeus comes up short in a lot of ways. He’s not tall enough to see over the crowd, he is a tax collector, made wealthy by extortion, and despised by the people. Yet when he hears that Christ is about to pass his way, “he wanted to see who Jesus was.” This is the initial act of faith that we must never abandon.Who is Jesus? If He is the Son of God, our lives are about to be transformed forever. Does each of us believe He is the Son of God? The real answer to this question is manifested in our thoughts, words, and deeds. Thorough repentance often includes admitting that we ‘know’ Jesus is the Christ but we don’t truly ‘believe’ this. Zacchaeus wanted to know who Christ was, so he climbed the tree. When Christ calls him down from the tree, “he made haste and received Him joyfully.” And when reviled for his sins, Zacchaeus repents and makes a radical change of life. After the Resurrection, Zacchaeus became a disciple of the Apostle Peter, who eventually appointed him bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, where he faithfully served the Gospel and died peacefully. We too come up short most of the time. Often as well, when we look inside ourselves, the chaos within paralyzes us rather than motivating us to action. We must be a people of action. Do I believe Christ is the Son of God? Yes! Have I been baptized into his Church and for the remission of sins? Yes! Do I confess my sins for the renewal of my Baptism and in preparation for holy Communion? Yes! Do I pray regularly in church and privately for discernment of my own condition, the illumination of my soul, and the continual advancement of my salvation? Yes! Do I observe my life and actively work, study, and discipline myself consistently for the eradication of sin and ever-increasing spiritual understanding? Yes! We do not need self-help books; we have Christ and His holy Body, the Church. To procrastinate or ignore this simple reality is to choose ignorance over knowledge, death over life, emptiness over fulfillment, mortality over immortality, and in the end hell rather than heaven. Like Zacchaeus, we too must want to know who Christ is and enter into communion with Him. Now is the time to take action. Today is the day of salvation. For in the end, even a lifetime is too short.