U.S. Vice President Joe Biden offered Serbia a fresh start in ties Wednesday, saying that the U.S. "does not expect" Serbia to recognize Kosovo's independence as a "precondition" for European Union membership. "The United States does not, I emphasize, does not expect Serbia to recognize the independence of Kosovo," Biden told a joint Belgrade media conference with Serbia's pro-Western President Boris Tadic. "It is not a precondition for our relationship or our support for Serbia becoming part of the European Union," he said in a prepared speech. "We can agree to disagree provided that we have reasonable expectations for one another," he said of a dispute between the two sides over Washington's support for Kosovo's split from Serbia last year.
Armenian lobby organizations, disappointed by U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to refrain from recognizing the 1915 incidents as “genocide” in his annual April 24 statement, have increased efforts to have their claims regarding the 1915 incidents recognized by the U.S. Congress. "Reaffirmation of the Armenian Genocide will not be sidelined in the 111th Congress." Turkey has warned that the introduction of the resolution could harm both efforts to improve ties with Armenia and bilateral relations with the United States.
"Normalisation of Turkish-Armenian relations and the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute are two separate processes which should continue in parallel but along their own paths."Ankara and Yerevan have been engaged for months in high-level talks aimed at establishing diplomatic relations after a century of hostility and last month announced a "road map" to reopen their borders. But after Turkey's Muslim ally Azerbaijan condemned the reconciliation moves, Ankara said there would be no progress until the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was resolved.
The United Nations report on the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, which will be distributed as an official document on Wednesday and the report which was distributed unofficially to members of the Security Council on Friday contains two amendments. The report concerns the renewal of UNFICYP (UN peace-keeping force in Cyprus) mandate for a further six months, and was submitted to the Security Council members. The first amendment is the removal of an entire paragraph which referred to the decision of the European Court of Justice on the Apostolides vs Orams case. In the second amendment in the observations of the UNFICYP report, the paragraph which notes that the “establishment of economic, social, cultural, sporting or similar ties and contacts will impact positively on the ongoing efforts” and would “help ease the sense of isolation felt by the Turkish Cypriots”, the reference that “such contacts would not amount to recognition” was removed. Reports from the UN note that it is unprecedented that such changes have taken place in a draft report which was unofficially distributed.
The Cypriot finance minister said there is good reason to be upbeat about the nation's economy. His case is based on a number of positive factors, such as low public debt, falling inflation, one of the smallest proportions of the working population out of work in Europe and the only national economy in the European Union currently enjoying growth. In addition to this, the banking system does not need support from the government, unlike other European countries. Homework, research and legal advice are vital everywhere, even though the north of Cyprus is an "extreme" case, he warned. A recent court ruling stripped a British couple of land they had bought in Northern Cyprus, declaring it belonged to a Greek Cypriot forced to flee south in the 1974 war.
With quiet campaigning and moderate talk, Hezbollah is building its strength for Lebanon's June 7 parliamentary elections - and the Hezbollah and its allies stand a good chance of winning. That could mean a stunning shake-up for one of the Middle East's most volatile countries. The US and Israel consider Hezbollah a terrorist organisation, and their biggest fear is that a win by the group and its allies would increase the sway of Iran and Syria. Hezbollah's leader has even said that if the coalition wins, it would invite its opponents to join in a national unity government to ensure stability. Under Lebanon's complex political system, no group can rule alone. The 128-member legislature must be half Christian and half-Muslim, with the Christians divided among Orthodox and Catholic parties and Muslims among Shiite, Sunni, Druze and Alawite sects. Moreover, in any government, the prime minister must be a Sunni, so Hezbollah would need allies from that sect.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I discussed opening a representative office of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Ukraine in the format of a churchyard or a culture and information center. The Ukrainian president and the patriarch also discussed preparations for the All Orthodox Council and meetings between representatives of local Orthodox churches that should take place ahead of the event, the press service said. The Ukrainian president said he is convinced that the Ecumenical Church and the personal wisdom and efforts of the patriarch himself play a most important role in all unification processes.