A few hours after being sworn in as Prime Minister, George Papandreou unveiled his first Cabinet yesterday, presenting a relatively young and inexperienced lineup that was peppered with some party heavyweights. Papandreou has trimmed the number of ministries from 16 to 14 and the number of deputy ministers has been limited to 21, plus two alternate ministers. Of the 37 people making up the government, 24 have no previous ministerial experience. Also, nine members of the government are women, which is a very large proportion by Greek standards. The youngest member of the government is 39 and the oldest is 60. The first unexpected move was the creation of the post of deputy prime minister, which was last seen in the governments of Andreas Papandreou, George’s father, in the 1980s. This position is to be filled by PASOK veteran and former minister Theodoros Pangalos, an outspoken Socialist heavyweight. Among the few experienced officials are Justice Minister Haris Kastanidis, who served in PASOK administrations in the 1980s, and the head of the newly created Infrastructure, Transport and Networks Ministry, Dimitris Reppas, a previous minister and government spokesman. Another close Papandreou associate, Tina Birbili, was appointed to the Environment Ministry after the head of the Ecologists Greens, Nikos Chrysogelos, turned down an offer to take up the position.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Markos Kyprianou said the second round of direct negotiations for a solution of the Cyprus problem was “very important”, noting that the second round would actually reveal if the other side had the true will for a solution of a bizonal, bicommunal federation. Replying to a press question yesterday, Mr Kyprianou made the following statement: “The second phase of negotiations began at the beginning of September but there was a break due to the President of the Republic’s participation in the UN General Assembly. The second round is essentially beginning now and it can be described as very important as it will tackle the difficult points and pending matters that have lingered from the previous phase. I believe it is exactly at this time that the other side will show if it has the will for a solution, if it has the commitment for a bizonal, bicommunal federation and whether it really pursues a settlement, depending of course on how constructive its proposals and its approach will be. We consider that the sufficient preliminary work has been done and thus, what is left now is for the other side to demonstrate the appropriate political will, for all the public rhetoric by Turkey about a confederation or a new partnership between two states to be refuted and for us to focus in a practical manner on the implementation of the objective for a bizonal, bicommunal federation.”
President Abdullah Gul flew into France on Wednesday to bring Turkey's campaign for membership of the European Union to the country that is leading the drive to exclude it. Gul was greeted at the airport by France's Minister for European Affairs Pierre Lellouche, according to French officials, and began a three-day programme of meetings and speeches. Before setting off, he insisted his mainly-Muslim state was making good progress on reforms required by the 27-nation bloc. He is nevertheless expected to meet firm opposition from his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy. "Our priority is to put into practice what we learned from the European Union. We are focused on this aim since we came to power," Gul told AFP, defending the record of his Islamist-rooted government. Turkey began membership negotiations in 2005, but has so far opened talks in only 11 of the 35 policy areas that candidates must complete, while France, Germany and other EU members have sought to slow or halt the process. Sarkozy says Turkey -- of which only a small portion west of the Bosphorus is geographically in Europe and whose large population would be the first in the bloc to be mainly Muslim -- should settle for a partnership agreement. Paris has been disappointed by Turkey's failure to resolve its longstanding sovereignty dispute with Cyprus or halt the stream of illegal immigrants flowing through its territory towards the Union. France was also shocked when Turkey opposed Anders Fogh Rasmussen's appointment as NATO secretary general because of his Danish government's support for free expression in the row over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
Athens and Skopje could reach a deal on their name row if they focus solely on finding a compromise appelation, Macedonia’s President Georgi Ivanov says. “Various non negotiable issues, such as Macedonian identity and language [...] were included in the past talks," Ivanov told the chief editors of German media organs in a Tuesday meeting. "We urge that the talks return to the basis of the UN resolution - that means to focus solely on the problem that Greece has with our name, […] then, a deal is possible,” he said. The two countries are embroiled in a long-standing row over Macedonia's name. Athens demands that Skopje abandon its current formal name, Republic of Macedonia, arguing it implies it is making territorial claims on a northern Greek province. UN-sponsored talks have so far failed to foster a breakthrough. Some local analysts regard Papandreou as a more pliant and moderate leader than his predecessor. They argue that, although the fundamental Greek policy positions on this issue are unlikely to change, Papandreou, with his milder approach, could at least foster the technical aspects of the UN talks. From 1999 to 2004, when Papandreou headed the Greek Foreign Affairs Ministry, relations between the two countries were warmer than at any other period during the 18-year naming row.
NATO urged Russia to consider sending equipment and offering training for Afghanistan’s army, to help the alliance hand over more of the war to local forces. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen used the eighth anniversary of the U.S. attack on the Taliban in Afghanistan to float ideas for greater support from Russia, which was bloodied by the Soviet Union’s failed occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. “Russia could provide equipment for the Afghan security forces,” Rasmussen told reporters at North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters in Brussels today. “Russia could provide training. We could explore in a joint effort how we could further Russian engagement.” The call for increased Russian assistance reflects pressure on Western governments to show progress in the war as the Taliban insurgency makes headway and public support ebbs in the U.S. and Europe. In Washington, President Barack Obama meets today with top foreign policy aides to discuss the war. Obama is weighing whether to add as many as 40,000 more American troops, with leading Republicans such as Senator John McCain calling for a quick decision. Democrats back Obama’s approach of settling on a strategy first. While Russia has ruled out sending troops to Afghanistan, it has allowed NATO to ship military cargoes on land and air routes across its territory and has signaled an interest in closer cooperation as East-West ties thaw.
Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic warned that basic human and civil rights of Serbs are still being violated in the province where they do not even have the freedom of movement. Serbs in Kosovo are not legally protected, their property is threatened, they cannot recover usurped houses and flats, Bogdanovic warned at a press conference in Belgrade. We are exerting tremendous efforts so that the Kosovo Serbs, in cooperation with the international community, regain their tenancy rights, and that security improves, said Bogdanovic. He said stimulating loans for businessmen from Kosovo in value of 110 million dinars.
Unity as Calling, Conversion and Mission. Opening address by His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the Plenary of the World Council of Churches’, Commission on Faith and Order. It is with great joy that we accepted the gracious invitation of our beloved Faith and Order Commission to address this auspicious plenary gathering. We would also like to welcome you all – academics and pastors, ministers and lay leaders from diverse regions of the world – to our Orthodox Academy on this uniquely beautiful island. The theme of this plenary session is: “Called to be One Church: that they may become one in your hand.” It should be recalled that it was on this blessed island of Crete that the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches in June 2005 revised and finalized the statement on ecclesiology, that later was received at the 9th General Assembly of the World Council of Churches at Porto Alegre (February 2006). This text constitutes the culmination of a long development and maturing perspective – through numerous phases, stages and interpretations – of member Churches, that began as early as 1927, at the First Conference on Faith and Order in Lausanne, if not earlier, in an earnest search for the visible unity, for which we all yearn and to which we are all called. Let us, then, together renew our commitment to dialogue and unity as a way of reflection and renewal. And let our deliberation be a prayerful offering to God in our sincere desire that we “may be one” (John 17.21) in response to our Lord’s command and call.