While the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may no longer be seen as the “only problem in the region,” it is still – even with the turmoil roiling the area – “a major impediment in addressing other issues that threaten regional stability,” the head of NATO said Wednesday. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the secretary-general of the alliance, told the Herzliya Conference that “the lack of a solution to the Israel- Palestinian conflict continues to undermine the stability of the region.” Rasmussen stressed that NATO was neither involved in the Middle East diplomatic process, nor seeking a role. However, he said that NATO would consider possible involvement if three conditions were met: a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace being reached; both parties requesting NATO help in implementing the agreement; and the UN endorsing NATO involvement. “Of course, at the moment, these three ifs are far from being met,” he said. Rasmussen met earlier in the day for over an hour with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and discussed expanding cooperation between Israel and NATO in a wide range of fields. Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office would not say whether the possibility of US-led NATO forces along the Jordan Valley in the event of a peace accord was discussed. While this was something that both former prime minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly agreed upon in the past, Netanyahu said on a number of occasions, even before the tumultuous events in Egypt, that there would have to be some kind of Israeli presence on the eastern border of a future Palestinian state, and that a thirdparty force would not be sufficient. The events in Egypt, government officials have said in recent days, have only reinforced in Netanyahu’s mind the need for an Israeli presence along the Jordan River. Rasmussen also met Wednesday with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who said that the recent events in the region obligated rethinking long-standing security conceptions, and necessitated thinking “out of the box.” According to a statement issued by Lieberman’s office, he told the NATO secretarygeneral that the events proved that the West, especially NATO, had only one reliable ally in the Middle East: Israel. He said now was the time to strengthen the cooperation between Israel and the alliance.
II. RIANOVOSTI - Russia, NATO discuss anti-missile defense
Russia and NATO began talks in Brussels on Thursday on the creation of European anti-missile defense. NATO and Russia agreed to cooperate on the missile defense project at a summit in November 2010. The parties agreed to formulate terms for missile defense cooperation by June 2011. "These talks are very important and should lay the groundwork for determining the scope of possible cooperation in the European missile defense project," Russia's ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said on Wednesday. Moscow insists on setting up a joint European missile defense network with NATO to ensure that the planned placement of elements of a U.S. missile defense system in a number of European countries will not threaten Russia's national security. NATO, however, proposes creating two separate systems that would exchange information.
III. FINANCIALMIRROR - Greek Foreign Minister to visit Cyprus
Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Demetris Droutsas will be visiting Cyprus on February 14, to discuss developments in the Cyprus problem and the next steps in the process for a solution. Droutsas is expected to be received by President of the Republic Demetris Christofias and to meet with Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcos Kyprianou. On February 17, Droutsas will be flying to New York for a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. On their agenda will be the Cyprus problem, developments in the Middle East and the issue of the name of FYROM. In view of his meetings, Droutsas met in Athens on Thursday with the UN Secretary General's Special Adviser on Cyprus Alexander Downer, to hear his views and assessment concerning the Cyprus problem. According to Spokesman for the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gregoris Delavekouras, the purpose of Droutsas' meetings is to discuss the Cyprus problem and express Athens' concern over the slow pace of the talks for a settlement and the absence of any will on the Turkish Cypriot side for substantive talks. Delavekouras noted that Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu should sit at the negotiating table with constructive positions and a will for progress, having first committed himself clearly to the basis of a solution. Referring to demonstrations by Turkish Cypriots in the occupied areas of the Republic of Cyprus, Delavekouras said that they reflect a reality and a situation that is not viable, which has been formed as a consequence of the Turkish occupation and the oppression of the Turkish Cypriots by the Turkish troops. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. President Christofias and Eroglu are currently engaged in UN-led negotiations with an aim to reunify the island.
IV. RADIOSRBIJA - Cooperation of Greece, Serbia in Euro-Integrations
Officials of the Serbian and Greek ministries of foreign affairs had talks in Belgrade on intensifying the cooperation of the two countries in the fields pertinent to the continuation of European integrations of Serbia. The meeting was held as part of realizing the Memorandum on Cooperation between the two countries, signed by heads of diplomacy Vuk Jeremic and Dimitris Droutsas, July last year. The Greek Embassy underlines that the cooperation in the domain of Serbia’s association with the EU is important part of activities prior to the Greek chairing of the Union in 2014, when the summit of Balkan countries’ leaders with European ones is planned in Thessalonica. The Greek Government has announced it will ask the EU partners to adopt a plan to enable the West Balkan countries to be admitted to the Union in 2014, on the centennial of WWI.
V. B92 - Bosnia extends Croat's detention
The Bosnia-Herzegovina court decided on Wednesday to extend the extradition detention for Croatian citizen Tihomir Purda to six months. The decision came so that the court could have enough time to decide on the request for Purda's extradition filed by Serbia, where he is charged with war crime committed in Vukovar in 1991. Croatian electronic media reported spokesperson of the court Selma Hadžić as saying that following the Wednesday discussion, the Trial Chamber decided to comply with the detention extension request filed by the Bosnian Public Prosecutor's Office, as Purda's extradition prison of up to 40 days is due to expire on February 14. Purda's attorney Josip Muselimović announced that he will appeal the court decision since, as he said, there are no grounds for either detention or extradition of his client. The law on international legal assistance states that there can be no extradition if there is no final verdict or well-grounded suspicion that the crime has indeed been committed, which is lacking in Purda's case, Muselimović said. Purda is being kept in prison ever since his arrest on January 5, when he was captured on a warrant issued by Serbia as he was trying to cross the border between Bosnia and Croatia. Croatia could not file a request for Purda's extradition as the Croatian Public Prosecutor's Office carried out an investigation into Serbia's charges against him and established that Purda is innocent. Serbia points out that Purda has admitted to having committed the crime he is charged with and admitted that he and several other soldiers shot at a group of wounded members of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) in Vukovar in November 1991 and killed two of the JNA soldiers, while one more died in the hospital soon afterward. The conclusion on the potential extradition will be adopted by the BiH Criminal Chamber, but the final decision will be made by Bosnian justice minister.
Wildfires that swept through southern Greece in 2007 claimed 84 people, over 25,000 cattle and sheep and destroyed more than 667,000 acres of farmland, homes and forests. Three years later, small family farms on the Peloponnese Peninsula may become the next victims of the disaster as Greece's economic struggles and the difficult farming conditions challenge the economic viability of the region's small farms. A $300,000 grant from the Greek Fire Relief Fund of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America to International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) aims to help young families in the Prefecture of Ileia to modernize their small family farms and help them become economically viable. The six month project will focus on the areas around Zacharo, Oleni, Pinia, Andritsena, and Alifira... Two hundred young farmers and their families in Ileia will receive grants to assist them in meeting short-term agricultural needs or in improving their farming equipment. The grants will be repaid through in-kind support provided by the farmers to meal distribution centers of the Church of Greece and the Municipality of Athens. The advanced age of many farmers in the Peloponnese region discourages them from investing in their farming facilities and from adopting new practices, which are critically needed in order to meet the demands of international markets for farming products. By providing assistance to young people with families, the grants are intended to help families maintain their farms rather than being forced to migrate to urban areas. In addition to the grants, farmers in fire-stricken areas will receive assistance through soil analysis. Priority will be given to farmers who produce olives, grapes and vegetables. Technicians will take samples from the farmers' fields and perform the tests. Using data gathered through the soil tests, technicians will provide instruction to farmers on how to use the data to improve their yield. The soil laboratory, constructed by IOCC beginning in 2008 in Pyrgos, the capital of the Prefecture, was funded through a grant from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and The Pancretan Association of America. It has been in operation since the middle of 2009 to provide for reliable, local testing of soils for farmers in the region. To date the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese has provided a total of more than $3.6 million to fund projects carried out by IOCC following the fires in Greece. In addition to the soil lab, emergency provisions of animal feed and forage seed were provided to more than 2,000 Greek farmers in the provinces of Ileia and Arcadia who lost livestock and pasturelands in the fire. New equipment was also provided to firefighters in the region. IOCC, founded in 1992 as the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), has implemented programs in more than 35 countries around the world.
VII. ORTHODOXWAYOFLIFE - Staying on the Path
There are many forces at work which will try to lead us astray from living a God-pleasing life. It is important to continually pay more attention to the inner nudging of our conscience than to external things. This is not to say we should ignore or separate from external events, as this is also a reality of our life. But first and with the highest priority is giving our attention to our inner life directed toward our relationship with God. Saint Theophan reminds us that this takes courage -- Provide yourself with only one thing, strong encourage: no matter what happens, stay with what you have begun... no matter how life goes, whatever successes and failures there are, you should give all of this over to God's will. When we examine the lives of saints we see that they have been led, often through great difficulties, with God's love. We see that when they devote themselves to perfecting their way of life through God, God leads them to perfection in differing ways. Living a life focused on God does not necessarily eliminate the difficulties of life in this world. We will surely encounter numerous difficulties, both inner and outer. These are all things that God allows to happen for our benefit. There is one potential danger, however, and that is one of becoming overconfident when we do not encounter such difficulties. Saint Theophan says, Those who do not encounter inward or outward impediments and who see that everything is going smoothly began to fantasize that this is the way things are, and they suppose they have driven out all adversaries, who were unable to show themselves. As soon as such thoughts have settled in, the adversary immediately enters and begins fabricating vainglorious dreams from which are born self-conceit, the falling away from God's help, and the cessation of searching and striving after this help. Therefore, it is important never to let up. Our entire life is one that involves spiritual warfare. We must constantly be alert and humble, recognizing that there is an enemy who is continually trying to distract us from the path.