Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders have discussed property rights and external relations during the latest two days of United Nations-backed talks aimed at reunifying the Mediterranean island. Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat held a tête-à-tête for two hours today in the UN Protected Area in Nicosia, focusing largely on property rights. Yesterday they held several hours of discussion on the issue of external relations, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser Alexander Downer told journalists. Mr. Downer said the two leaders have agreed to meet again next Tuesday to talk about the competencies of a federal government and also continue their discussions on external relations. He characterized this week’s talks as useful. Last year Mr. Christofias and Mr. Talat committed themselves to working towards “a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, as defined by relevant Security Council resolutions.” That partnership would comprise a Federal Government with a single international personality, along with a Turkish Cypriot Constituent State and a Greek Cypriot Constituent State, which would be of equal status. A UN peacekeeping force known as UNFICYP has been in place on the island of Cyprus since 1964, following the outbreak of inter-communal violence.
FYROMacedonia to immediately step up talks with Greece aiming at settling the name issue prior a Council of EU meeting, where a decision should be reached on start of accession talks, EU Ambassador Erwan Fouere and Lars Fredén - the Ambassador of Sweden, the current holder of EU presidency - urged Thursday at a session of the National EU Integration Council. There's a window of possibilities for the Government to solve the name dispute once and for all. We have waited for so long and there's no reason for an outcome to be further delayed. I call on the Government to take advantage of the moment and to immediately step up negotiations with the Greek government in the frameworks of the process led by UN mediator Matthew Nimetz in order a compromise to be found, which will be in both countries' interest and will push the EU integration process, said EU Ambassador Fouere. He urged the forthcoming six weeks and one day till a meeting of the Council of EU to be used in the best possible way. Asked whether there was a real possibility for the name issue to be settled until Dec. 7, Fouere reiterated that the issue was on the table for so long and good atmosphere was created. - December 7th is a good opportunity that will not happen for a long time, urged Fredén.
European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn says that good political and economic relations between Serbia and Russia can only benefit everyone in Europe. Rehn said that by strengthening cooperation with Serbia, Russia was strengthening its strategic interests in the Balkans and in Europe. He added that “when Serbia and its place in Europe are concerned, relations between the EU, NATO and the Russian Federation are not without use.” “And that goes for other countries as well, such as Ukraine,” he added. The European commissioner said that “it is entirely possible that for the best interests of Serbia and everyone, Serbia be integrated further into the European Union, politically and economically, while, at the same time, maintaining friendly trade, economic and political ties to the Russian Federation.” Rehn said that such relations already existed in the European Union. He said that Finland, which is completely integrated into the EU and is a member of the Eurozone and the Schengen zone, “contributes significantly to the EU and UN peace operations, and has very good trade, economic and other ties to Russia.” Rehn said that “such a situation is of general benefit” and “for everyone’s wellbeing.”
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said nations waging the war in Afghanistan must change their tactics and promote successes or risk losing public support there and at home. “Reaching our goal in Afghanistan is not guaranteed,” Rasmussen told an audience at the Atlantic Council policy group in Washington yesterday. More troops will be needed at least to train the Afghan National Security Forces, Rasmussen said, while cautioning that a revised strategy must be agreed upon before decisions are made about the additional resources. “We cannot continue to do exactly what we’re doing now,” Rasmussen said, calling for more focus on civilian reconstruction to accompany the military campaign. “Things are going to have to change.” The North Atlantic Treaty Organization leads the 41-nation military campaign in Afghanistan, where the Taliban regime shielded al-Qaeda before being ousted by the U.S. after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The U.S. has 65,000 troops in the country, with the remainder of the 103,000-strong foreign force contributed by NATO members and other allies. The top commander in the war, U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal, recently submitted an assessment of the security situation in the country that recommends even more emphasis on protecting the population to make room for the country’s development. He concluded he would need more forces to carry out the strategy than the 68,000 the U.S. expects to have in Afghanistan by the end of the year. President Barack Obama is reviewing whether to continue with a strategy in Afghanistan that focuses on protecting and supporting the population against al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents. Rasmussen, 56, a former prime minister of Denmark, met with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates yesterday and is scheduled to meet today with Obama at the White House.
President Obama continues campaigning for embattled Democrats – this time in Boston for Gov. Deval Patrick, D-Mass., and in Stamford, Conn., for Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who are in tough 2010 re-election battles. Mr. Obama will also make remarks at MIT on clean energy before the fund-raiser for Gov. Patrick. If slow ticket sales for an Obama-led fund-raiser in a blue state are an indication of how hard things are for a candidate, then Patrick is truly having some issues. On top of that, liberal protesters promise to picket as well. "President Obama blows into the bluest state tomorrow facing a cold shoulder from once true-blue admirers, as gay rights activists, anti-war protesters and vexed environmentalists vow to picket a fund-raiser he’s headlining for Gov. Deval Patrick - a marquee event that hasn’t even sold out," report the Boston Herald's Edward Mason and Hillary Chabot. "As of last night, liberals who once braved frigid temperatures to behold Obama were shunning tickets to the fund-raiser at the posh Westin Copley Place featuring the president, sources told the Herald. And despite campaign denials, Patrick operatives reportedly were pushing the ducats - between $500 and $6,000 - by e-mail up to the last minute... "Among the groups planning to dog Obama during his scheduled afternoon swing through Cambridge and Boston: Anti-war activists CODEPINK ... Environmental coalition 350.org ... gay marriage advocate Join the Impact-MA ."
House Republican leaders rushed to the defense of conservative commentators Thursday after President Obama dismissed Fox News as "talk radio" -- part of the White House campaign to marginalize opposing viewpoints. Rep. Mike Pence, chairman of the House Republican Conference, said the hundreds of thousands who filled town hall meetings this summer to protest Obama's sweeping health care reform legislation and marched in Washington in September prove there is widespread worry "about liberal social policies and runaway federal spending, deficit and debt." "So to my friends in the so-called 'mainstream media,' I say, 'conservative talk show shots may not speak for everybody, but they speak for more Americans than you do." House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, derided White House criticism of Fox News as "Chicago-style politics. The White House and congressional Democrats know that their liberal special interest agenda is unpopular," he said at a news conference. "And now they are following a familiar pattern: when you can't win an argument based on facts, launch vicious political attacks. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor called the White House criticism "nothing more than a distraction." "Under fire for its management of a wave of problems, the Obama administration has reached into its bag of tricks and pulled out a new bogeyman: Fox News," he said. "This episode is about much more than just Fox News," he added. "Today the administration's target is Fox; tomorrow it could be someone else. The administration apparently feels entitled to receive friendly (or what it subjectively deems 'balanced') news coverage at a time when it is making monumental decisions that will have sweeping consequences for years to come. "Its heavy-handed treatment of Fox is unseemly in a democracy that depends on the free flow of information," he said.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople opened a symposium on the environmental challenges in the Mississippi River region Oct. 21 by reasserting the role people of faith play in caring for the earth’s resources. Dubbed the “green patriarch,” the spiritual leader of the world’s 300 million Greek Orthodox has sponsored an annual symposium on the environment for the last eight years in different parts of the world. His interest in holding this year’s gathering in New Orleans was sparked in part by the damage inflicted on the city by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. “As we look at this great river and explore the challenges faced by local communities, let us search for solutions from the perspective of faith, mindful that we are all in the same fragile boat of life,” Patriarch Bartholomew said, his black robes fluttering against the wind as he spoke from a podium set up at a hotel on the banks of the Mississippi. “We are living defining moments in history, and we are living them together in truth, in love, in hope and, above all, in responsibility,” he said. Patriarch Bartholomew said the eighth annual symposium, titled “The Great Mississippi River: Restoring Balance,” was historic and unique. “The river comprises a microcosm of our planet,” he said. “In its waters we observe many of the world’s ecological issues. We are humbled in its presence. We have come to listen to its story, to learn from its history.”