Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor Vladimir Vukčević has meet with CoE Parliamentary Assembly Rapporteur Dick Marty in Zurich, Switzerland. Vukčević informed Marty about the latest findings of his office in the Kosovo organ trade case, the prosecution said in a statement in Belgrade on Tuesday. On Friday, Vukčević will meet with the families of the kidnapped and missing persons from Kosovo and Metohija, to inform them about his meeting with the CoE official, the statement added. The prosecution last year started an investigation into allegations that ethnic Albanians, members of the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), in 1999 kidnapped hundreds of Kosovo Serb and other non-Albanian civilians in the province. The victims were then taken to northern Albania where their vital organs were removed to be sold in the black market. The case is known informally as the Yellow House, after a building in northern Albania where the organ extraction is believed to have taken place.
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin suggests reconstructing the monument to WWII heroes, just demolished in Kutaisi, Georgia, and he hopes that both countries will support the idea. While speaking at a meeting of the government’s presidium on Tuesday he said Russia's government was doing everything possible to support veterans. “Unfortunately, we are witnesses to the opposite tendency in some republics of the former Soviet Union. They do nothing to support the veterans. It's all the other way round,” said Putin. Russia's prime minister recalled that the blast that demolished the memorail caused fatalities. Putin considers the decision of Georgia's leaders to do away with the monument as another attempt to erase the memories of a common heroic past from the minds of the people that once made up the Soviet Union. Also, Putin said that the monument “according to our experts, has a great value as a work of art.” “I believe it would be possible to reconstruct the monument in Moscow, the capital of once united state. I very strongly hope that this initiative will be supported by the people of Russia and Georgia. I am sure there will be enough people in this country who would share their own savings for the reconstruction of this monument in Moscow. That future memorial would honor the Georgians who died in the Great Patriotic War, and who were fighting for our common Motherland.” Putin voiced the certainty the Georgian community in Russia would actively support the initiative. “It will be good, if the Moscow government finds a worthy location for this memorial. Thank God, the author of the memorial is still alive. We can discuss this plan with our experts,” Putin said.
Macedonia's hopes for a promise of European Union accession talks suffered a blow Tuesday when EU foreign ministers insisted that they would make no move on the issue until the country solves the row over its name. Macedonia wants to join both the EU and NATO, but its progress has been blocked by Greece, which objects to the former Yugoslav state's decision to call itself "Macedonia," saying that it could imply a territorial claim on the northern Greek province of the same name. At a meeting in Brussels, EU ministers "noted" the recommendation from the bloc's executive to start accession talks with Macedonia, but promised only that they would "return to the matter during the next presidency," which runs from January 1 to June 30. Earlier drafts of their agreement had set March 2010 as a deadline for them to debate the issue "with a view to setting a date for the opening of accession negotiations" - a phrase dropped from the final text. It "remains essential" to solve the name row, ministers agreed, according to EU diplomats. In October, the European Commission, the EU's executive, said that Macedonia (technically the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM had done enough to merit opening accession talks. Foreign ministers echoed that view on Tuesday, saying that FYROM had "substantially addressed the key priorities of the accession partnership" and that they were "encouraged by recent positive developments in relations between Greece and FYROM." But in deference to Greece, they insisted that it would be essential to solve the name issue first. Attention will now fall on Athens and Skopje as the two sides continue to hold UN-brokered talks on the issue.
Turkey took a step forward yesterday in its efforts to join the European Union but expressed frustration over the slow progress in its entry talks, largely held up by a dispute with EU member Cyprus. At a meeting in Brussels, the EU opened a new chapter of negotiations on environment policy, but kept talks on eight other topics frozen because of Turkey’s failure to lift a blockade on Cypriot sea and air traffic. Ankara says it is trying to improve relations with Cyprus and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu urged EU states to recognize this, as well as Turkey’s importance for EU foreign policy goals. He said Brussels would have to decide whether to take advantage of Turkey as a strategic asset or to allow individual issues, such as Cyprus, to get in the way. “The big majority of EU countries see the strategic asset of Turkey-EU relations,” he told a briefing in Brussels. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn hailed yesterday’s opening of talks, known as a chapter, as a vital step in Ankara’s progress. “It shows Turkey’s EU train is on track and moving,” Rehn said. “The environment chapter is technically complicated, time-consuming and rather challenging. I am confident this process will lead to excellent results.” Turkey will have to prove its environmental protection and waste-management rules as well as efforts to curb industrial pollution are all up to EU standards. Turkish officials in Brussels reiterated calls for visa-free access to the EU for Turkish citizens. The EU lifted visa restrictions on December 19 for Serbia, Montenegro and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), all of which want to join the bloc. Union officials said talks on the issue had taken place yesterday but no decision was imminent. “Formally speaking, the answer is ‘no,’” Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said. “But the issue was taken up. It is our hope we will be able to move forward on this.” To win visa-free entry to the EU, a country must meet requirements on a range of issues, including border controls and justice.
tensifying their United Nations-backed talks aimed at reunifying the Mediterranean island, scheduling two three-day series of discussions next month after a senior UN official said they had made good progress over the past year. Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat met today under UN auspices in Nicosia, the capital, and announced their intentions in a joint statement read out by the Coordinator of the UN’s Good Offices Mission, Yasser Sabra. They have been meeting regularly under UN auspices in a bid to establish 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. Earlier this month, the Security Council extended the mandate of the 45-year-old UN peacekeeping mission in Cyprus (UNFICYP) until 15 June, 2010. Now mustering 926 troops and 68 police, it was set up in 1964 to prevent further fighting between the communities. After hostilities erupted again in 1974, its responsibilities were expanded to supervise ceasefire lines, maintain a buffer zone and undertake humanitarian activities. In the forthcoming meetings, the two leaders will aim at more convergences on governance and power-sharing, the economy and European Union (EU) matters, as well as on the property issue, according to the statement. In remarks to the media over the weekend, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Alexander Downer said the two leaders had showed “a very strong commitment to achieve a successful negotiation and they have made good progress” throughout the last year. He also said that the next year would be a pivotal point. They will meet next on 4 January to discuss EU matters. The three-day meetings will take place on 11-13 January and 18-20 January.
An earthquake measuring about magnitude 5.0 rattled Cyprus on Tuesday, with no damage or injuries reported, authorities said. Cyprus's geological surveys department said the tremor measured about 5.0 with an epicentre in the sea area north-west of the island. The U.S. Geological Survey said on its website its magnitude was 5.3 with an epicentre some 145 km north-west of the coastal town of Paphos. The tremor was felt across the island, particularly by residents of tall buildings. Cyprus is in a seismically active region but rarely gets powerful earthquakes.
To those who were privileged enough to see the, CBS 60 Minutes story about His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, that aired on December 20, 2009. The segment focused on the challenges and struggles His All Holiness faces to sustain the Patriarchate, as well as the sacred early Christian churches and monuments in Turkey, under a government which has continually refused to recognize his title as Ecumenical Patriarch and also legitimize the legal status of the Patriarchate and related Greek properties. In the words of His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church and approximately 300 million followers around the world, he and other Greek-Christians living in Turkey, “are treated as second class citizens.” One of the most compelling and factually important aspects of the segment was the reference to the Prophet Muhammad’s Charter of Privileges to Christians, in his letter to the Monks of St. Catherine Monastery. In 628 A.D., the Prophet Muhammad granted this Charter of several clauses covering all aspects of human rights and religious tolerance, including the protection of Christians, their freedom of worship and movement, their freedom to appoint their own judges and to own and maintain their property and religious houses of worship, and the right to protection in war. (An English translation of the Prophet Muhammad’s Charter of Privileges, by Dr. A Zahoor and Dr. Z. Haq can be found here). This televised segment and interview, made it evident that now, more than ever, there is a need for the Turkish government to apply this proclamation in many respects, to how the Patriarch is treated. Given the unfortunate recurrence of ever increasing threats and restrictions against the Patriarchate, perhaps the Turkish government should pay heed to the Prophet Muhammad’s words, even though they are a secular state, predominantly populated by Muslims. After all, what the Prophet Muhammad called for in 628 A.D. is a respect for the religious freedom and human rights of all people, an established universal position that has been the foundation for many documents including nationally the United States Constitution and internationally in the Geneva Convention as well as the foundation of many religions around the world. To Sign The Petition, Click Here.