EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana urged Macedonia Tuesday to cast aside emotions over an 18-year name row with Greece that has frozen the ex-Yugoslav republic's integration into the European bloc. The name dispute was an "important issue that has to be solved, and I asked everybody to put their emotions aside," Solana told reporters here after meeting with Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. Solana called on the Macedonian and Greek governments to seize the opportunity of ongoing negotiations headed by UN special envoy Matthew Nimetz to resolve the issue. "I think that is a window of opportunity and I am asking the prime minister not (to) let this window of opportunity to go," he said at a joint media conference with Gruevski. Skopje and Athens have been at loggerheads over the right to the name Macedonia since the ex-Yugoslav republic proclaimed independence in 1991. A northern Greek province has the same name. Last year Greece used its veto to block an invitation for Skopje to join NATO and insists on solving the name dispute with its northern neighbour before giving the green light to its further integration into the European Union. Solana said Macedonia could expect "good news in the coming days" about its citizens obtaining visa-free travel to most of the 27-nation bloc's member countries. Gruevski expressed optimism of being able to fulfill remaining obligations to meet the criteria for the visa-free Schengen zone. "Macedonia is in the final phase of finishing off the benchmarks," the Macedonian leader said. The European Union is yet to set a date for membership talks to begin for Macedonia which was made an official EU candidate in December 2005.
Greek Cypriots reiterated on Tuesday their objection to any timetable suggested by Turkey and Turkish Cypriots, saying any solution must withstand the test of time. In response to the remarks made by Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Monday that Turkey wants to see Cyprus peace talks concluded rapidly and a referendum held by the end of 2009, Cypriot Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou, a Greek Cypriot, said more time will be needed for the two rival communities to work out a viable solution to the decades-long issue. "We are the first people who want a solution the soonest possible because we are the victims of the invasion and occupation since 1974 but we want a solution that is viable and that will withstand the test of time and will not collapse," Kyprianou told reporters before he left for Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, to attend a Non-Aligned Movement meeting. He viewed the Turkish position as "neither constructive nor creating a good climate." The internationally recognized Cyprus government only administers the Greek Cypriot south due to the division since the Turkish military intervened and occupied the island's north following a coup by a group of Greek officers. After a long stalemate, leaders of Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities re-started reunification talks in September 2008. The two leaders have met on a weekly basis in an effort to find a mutually acceptable solution based on a federal structure. Mehmet Ali Talat, the pro-solution Turkish Cypriot leader, will step down at the end of his term in April 2010. Many analysts believe that 2009 may be a rare chance for the two communities to find a way out of the impasse. Turkey, facing an overall review of its EU process at the end of 2009, wants to solve by then the Cyprus problem, a main obstacle to its EU membership.
Serbia stepped up security Tuesday in its tense ethnic Albanian-populated south after a second blast within a week left two people injured, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said. "The level of security and readiness of all security forces in this part of Serbia has been raised," Dacic told reporters after the blast. Two ethnic Albanians, a woman and a 12-year-old boy, were injured overnight when an explosive device went off at a building housing the families of police in the southern Serbian town of Presevo. Dacic said the blast was "a terrorist act against which the state will react in the most energetic way." It was the second such incident within the past five days in the region, the scene of violent clashes in 2001 between Serbian security forces and ethnic Albanian rebels who want to link up with Kosovo. A grenade was launched at a police patrol in the early hours of Thursday last week, wounding two Serbian police officers. The Belgrade government condemned the blast as "terrorism." In the same region, police arrested an ethnic Albanian for smuggling weapons and ammunition from Kosovo, the interior ministry said in a statement received by AFP. In a bid to break an arms smuggling ring, police officers were searching for three more suspects who came from Kosovo to southern Serbia, the statement added. Ethnic Albanian insurgents in southern Serbia were disarmed after the 2001 conflict in accordance with an internationally brokered peace agreement. The Presevo Valley borders Kosovo, where ethnic Albanian rebels fought Serbian forces in 1998-99. Kosovo declared unilateral independence from Serbia in February 2008, which Belgrade rejects.
Russia indicated on Tuesday it hoped to keep Ukraine's city of Sevastopol as the main base for its Black Sea Fleet after the expiry of its lease with Ukraine in 2017, although it is building a new base. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred the peninsula of Crimea, in which the port lies, from Russia to the then Soviet republic of Ukraine in 1954, which meant the base became Ukrainian property when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Ukraine, which wants closer ties with the West and NATO membership, has said it will not extend Russia's 20-year lease when it expires in 2017. Russian politicians and the military have repeatedly said Moscow would like to continue renting Sevastopol for its Black Sea fleet after the lease expires. Earlier on Tuesday the Kremlin announced it would finish building a new base for the fleet by 2016 in Novorossiisk, a statement widely understood to mean this would replace Sevastopol. The fate of the Sevastopol base has strong political overtones, seen as it is by Russian nationalists as an eternal part of Russia. Russian-Ukrainian relations have been tense in recent years, with crises erupting over Russian gas deliveries to Ukraine. The new base will hold 80 warships and auxiliary vessels, including newly built ships, and will not disturb the work of the commercial port there, the Kremlin said in its statement. According to data published earlier by Russia's military, the Black Sea fleet now includes about 50 ships and smaller vessels. It also has up to 80 planes and helicopters and some 13,000 servicemen.
Britain is a country in a sorry decline overshadowed at every turn by Italy, where even the renaissance of the English football team is down to the miracle of Italian management. That is the verdict of Il Giornale, the newspaper that is part of Silvio Berlusconi’s media empire, which ran pages of criticism yesterday under the headline: “Dear Brits, we’ve beaten you at everything and it’s time you realised it.” The attack on all things British comes after weeks of revelations about the Italian Prime Minister’s sexually charged antics, much of which he claims have been fabricated as part of an elaborate plot, which incorporated elements of the British press including The Times, to destabilise him. “We’re talking about the country that many people still consider to be a beacon of journalism, politics, economics and sport,” it added. “But Great Britain is no longer great.” Supporters of the Prime Minister blame the allegations on a conspiracy between the Italian Left and the foreign media. In a front-page editorial Il Giornale attacked Britain’s political management and handling of the economic crisis. It went on to compare British industry, crime rates, immigration, fashion, tourism and the media unfavourably with Italy’s. It said that the British press — including newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive of News Corporation, the parent company of The Times — had lost its reputation by fabricating stories, including predictions of chaos at the G8 summit. Il Giornale called Britain the most violent nation in Europe but argued that crime figures in Italy had fallen consistently thanks to tough legislation.
Britain is unlikely to adopt the euro common currency any time soon, the government's business secretary said Tuesday. The government has said key economic tests have yet to prove that joining the 16-nation euro zone would benefit Britain. The public also remains skeptical about tying the British economy to that of European neighbors. Prime Minister Gordon Brown established five tests for joining the euro in 1997, when he was Treasury secretary under Prime Minister Tony Blair. The tests are mainly based on Britain's ability to sustain euro zone interest rates, and its ability to promote investment in the United Kingdom. Opinion polls consistently show that a public referendum on membership would be rejected. It has been adopted by Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
A recent request from Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill that the Mediterranean city of Antalya must have an Orthodox church has received support from local politicians and tourism investors. Kirill noted during his visit to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last week that Antalya, which hosts millions of Russian tourists every year and also has residents of Russian origin, does not have an Orthodox church. Antalya Metropolitan Mayor Mustafa Akaydın of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, said he was supportive of the idea. “Nearly 500,000 square meters of land where a weaving factory used to be located has been allocated to our municipality by the Privatization Board,” he said “This area can be used to build temples for the three religions, including an Orthodox church and a cemevi for our Alevi citizens.” Evelina Baysal, a 26-year-old model who lives in Antalya, said she was excited to hear about Kirill’s request. “There are many Russian citizens residing in Antalya,” she said. “It would be great to have a church here. We do not have a place to practice our beliefs.” Baysal said that Orthodox couples who meet in Antalya and decide to marry face a major problem in organizing a church wedding. Antalya Culture and Tourism Director İbrahim Acar said Antalya needs an Orthodox church. “Over 2 million Russian tourists visited Antalya last year, and 774,000 have come so far this year,” he said. “The people do not bring only their bodies; they bring their souls, too. Their spiritual needs should also be met.” Sururi Çorabatur, chairman of the Mediterranean Hoteliers Association, noted that the "The Faith Garden,” which has a mosque, a synagogue and a church, served the needs of the tourists. “People who believe in any kind of religion have the chance to practice their beliefs,” he said. “If Orthodox people have such a request, it might be met.” Bülent Büyükyiğit, the head of the Belek Union of Tourism Investors, said the church in "The Faith Garden” hosts a Catholic ritual every Sunday. “The Russian Orthodox held their Easter ritual in the church on April 17,” he added. “The attendance was high, and we had very positive reactions. The Russians had to cut their holidays short to attend the ritual back at home, this year they didn’t.”