Serbia has filed its genocide countersuit against Croatia on Monday before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The document includes information on crimes committed against Croatia's ethnic Serb population in Gospić, Sisak, Pakračka Poljana, Karlovac, Osijek, Paulin Dvor, Medački Džep (Medak Pocket), and during the so-called Operation Storm. The court has been given information on victims, and not only those that were killed in conflicts between 1991-1995, but also those murdered after the war as they tried to return to their homes they left as refugees. The lawsuit against Croatia contains a historical account of Serbo-Croatian relations, with a focus on World War II. In this context, the massive killing of Serbs in the Jasenovac concentration camp will also be mentioned. Croatia filed genocide charges against Serbia to the ICJ in The Hague immediately after the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, calling for the Belgrade to punish all perpetrators of war crimes and to return cultural property to Croatia and pay for war damages as well, in an amount to be confirmed by the court.
II. ANA: Greek support for Serbia's EU course
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Monday reiterated Athens' standing and energetic support for Serbia's EU accession, in a published press interview appearing in the Serbian capital on the occasion of Papandreou's official visit. "Greece fully supports Serbia's EU accession prospects and will stand by the Serbian people in this long and demanding phase," Papandreou was quoted as saying in an interview published in the Monday edition of the Belgrade daily "Vecernje Novosti". Regarding the thorny Kosovo issue and whether Greece has been pressured to recognise Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence, Papandreou stated that Athens' position on the issue "is known and will not change." "The stability of the greater region and international law remain the cornerstones of our policy and in this spirit we are focusing on efforts that are aimed at the creation of a safe and prosperous environment for all people in Kosovo, the Serb community included," Papandreou stated, adding that "the protection of the cultural and religious heritage in Kosovo is immensely important and our involvement in the region is proof of our dedication to these goals. This means that preserving the Serbian cultural and religious heritage is a top priority for everyone in the EU." Papandreou stated that the Thessaloniki Agenda, drawn up during the previous Greek EU Presidency, is still the cornerstone for the western Balkans' EU course, adding that the accession pace will depend on the performance of each individual country as regards agreed upon principles and preconditions. Moreover, he also expressed a conviction that Serbia's efforts toward this direction will produce specific results soon. Finally, he cited his proposal for a new "road map", one aimed at further facilitating the course toward the European integration in full compliance with existing EU standards and criteria, as he again cited 2014, the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI, as a symbolic date.
III. EXAMINER: Greece - We must meet Skopje halfway
Greek Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou (Panhellenic Socialist Movement), in an interview with Belgrade-based newspaper Vecernje Novosti said that Greece wants a permanant settlement over the name issue with Skopje. He stated that "...we will accept the name Macedonia with geographical determinant. We expect our neighbour to do a similar thing and to meet us halfway". Ever since Macedonia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, Macedonia and its southern neighbor Greece have been locked in a dispute over the use of the country's constitutional name of the "Republic of Macedonia" (Republika Makedonija). Greece claims that the use of the name "Macedonia" implies territorial aspirations towards it own northernmost province of Macedonia. The Macedonian constitution has a clause that states the country has no territorial aspirations against its neighbors. Historical claims are at play here as well; Greece claims that ancient Macedonia was Greek, and that the Macedonians of antiquity were Greeks. Macedonia claims the ancient Macedonians were not Greek and were a distinct ethnic group. Greece blocked Macedonia's NATO accession talks in 2008 due to these reasons, and its European Union accession talks were put on told as well and will be "revisted" during the Spanish presidency.
IV. TAIWAN NEWS: Cyprus stubs out cigarettes on New Year's Day
Cypriots will breathe easier New Year's Day when an indoor smoking ban takes effect in a bid to curb some of the highest levels of passive smoking in Europe. The ban covers establishments such as nightclubs, coffee shops, betting shops and even elevators. Outdoor patios and other open-air spaces are exempt. Offenders will face fines of up to (EURO)2,000 ($2,900). Anti-smoking activists say the habit kills 600 people every year out of a population of roughly 800,000. Just under a third of Cypriots are regular smokers. European Union surveys show the island leads the bloc in nonsmokers' exposure to secondhand smoke at home with 31 percent and is second only to Greece in workplace exposure with 45 percent.
V. EU OBSERVER: Bulgaria puts price on Turkey's EU membership
Bulgaria is threatening to block Turkey's application to join the European Union unless it pays out billions of euros in compensation for displaced people, in a case dating back to the days of the Ottoman Empire. A Bulgarian cabinet minister without portfolio who runs the country's Agency for Bulgarians Abroad, Bojidar Dimitrov, pressed the claim. "Turkey is surely able to pay this sum, after all, it's the 16th largest economic power in the world," he said, putting a sum of $20 billion (€14 billion) on the settlement. "One of the three conditions of Turkey's full membership of the EU is solving the problem of the real estate of Thracian refugees." The Ottoman Empire in 1913 expelled hundreds of thousands of ethnic Bulgarians from lands lying on the western side of the Bosphorus. It became the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and recognised the rights of the displaced people in a 1925 treaty, but the agreement was never implemented, Bulgaria says. An official in the Bulgarian government's press office, Veselin Ninov, told EUobserver on Monday that Mr Dimitrov's statement reflects government policy and that the dispute is being handled by a Bulgarian-Turkish intergovernmental working group. Mr Ninov described the issue as being "more historical than political." Turkey began EU accession talks in 2005 and has so far opened 12 out of 35 negotiating chapters. Its military occupation of northern Cyprus, an EU member, has so far proved the main stumbling block to progress. But the EU commission is also concerned about Turkey's respect for human rights, while Germany and France are opposed to Turkish EU entry on broader political grounds. The issue of historically displaced people has become increasingly disruptive since the EU's 2004 wave of enlargement. In a recent example, Czech president Vaclav Klaus last year tried to block ratification of the Lisbon Treaty unless the EU inserted a special clause ruling out compensation for Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia after World War II.
VI. RIANOVOSTI: Russia fleet may stay in Ukraine if Tymoshenko becomes president
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko warned that in case Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko wins presidential elections this month the Russian Black Sea Fleet will remain in Ukraine's Crimea after 2017. Russia's Black Sea Fleet uses a range of naval facilities in Ukraine's Crimea, including a base in Sevastopol, as part of a 1997 lease agreement valid until 2017. "If Tymoshenko becomes the president of Ukraine than the Russian fleet will stay in Ukraine not until May 28, 2017 but for life," Yushchenko told a rally in the Lvov region of traditionally nationalist western Ukraine. Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych, most popular in the Russian-leaning east of Ukraine, is the frontrunner in the January 17 presidential elections, while Prime Minister Tymoshenko, an ally-turned-bitter-rival of Yushchenko, is expected to come second and force a runoff vote. Yushchenko added that the presence of the Russian fleet in Ukraine will be "a destabilizing factor for the country." Relations between Moscow and Kiev have deteriorated markedly during Yushchenko's presidency. Russian leaders have said they hope to establish constructive cooperation with the new Ukrainian president, ruling out any rapprochement with Yushchenko.
VII. GLOBAL TIMES: China - An Orthodox view
With a flowing brown beard and black robes, the Orthodox churchman cuts a curious shape striding past strip-lit convenience stores and real estate sales rooms in noisy Dongzhimen. It makes sense, however, that Father Denis Pozdnyaev would be walking this way, given that the Russian embassy is around the corner. On the grounds of the sprawling diplomatic compound – Beijing's largest – Pozdnyaev preaches to his flock in the newly reappointed and re-consecrated Church of the Repose of Holy Virgin. Set amid the spacious greenery of the embassy, the church, which dates back more than a century, has recently been restored to its former glory. Cleaned and repainted, the church was being used as a garage during much of the Soviet period. Given its compact size and onion dome, its grounds resemble a village church in Crimea or Volgograd. But this is Beijing and the church hopes to give China's small Orthodox community a place to continue growing. Pozdnyaev estimated that his Beijing flock is nearly 400 strong, and that at least 50 regularly attend Sunday service. The figure swells by several hundred more when a festival like Pashca (Orthodox Easter) occurs, even though local law forbids locals from attending services on foreign diplomatic properties. Given Beijing's influx of Russian traders and students, the numbers filling Beijing's only functioning Orthodox church have been steady. Last year more than 300 marched as part of an Easter procession on the grounds of the Russian embassy in Beijing. Apart from Russia and Greece, the Eastern Orthodox church has a significant following across Eastern Europe, but its following in Beijing, explained Pozdnyaev, is very international. Most are Russian "but there are even French, American and British people." Multi-national worshippers brought dyed Paschal eggs for blessing during a recent nighttime Easter procession. The 400 foreigners who attend services at the Church of the Repose of Holy Virgin do not make up the entire local Orthodox congregation. Some 200 Orthodox Chinese in Beijing cannot attend services because the church is located inside the Russian embassy. "I know many of them, but not all," said Pozdnyaev who even in Hong Kong has been helping reach out to believers in the capital. The history of Orthodox Christians in China dates back to the arrival of believers from neighboring Russia in the 17th century. The Russian Orthodox Church opened its mission in Beijing as part of an overseas effort to the Orthodox cause. Given surprisingly lean treatment by the Qing court – which didn't allow other faiths to establish missions – the church would eventually become Russia's diplomatic representation in China, positioning the grounds of its church next to the old city's east gate. In its heyday, the Orthodox church had 300,000 believers in China (a third of them coming from Russian-ruled Manchuria) and over 200 parishes. The founding of the People's Republic of China meant that the church would come under Chinese administration, which was followed by the Sino-Soviet split, leading to the departure of foreign clerics. Soviet leaders meanwhile ordered the destruction of churches on the grounds of the USSR embassy in Beijing. Though only one church has been re-built, there are three total churches in Beijing, all situated on embassy's grounds. There are other Orthodox churches in western Xinjiang (found in Yining and Urumqi), while other Orthodox strongholds can be found in Harbin and Erguna (Inner Mongolia), which have their own churches but no clergy to conduct services. The church's community in Beijing is bigger, thanks to a sizeable local Russian presence, but the congregation in Beijing is dwarfed by the number of Chinese believers in Inner Mongolia, explained Pozdnyaev. As more and more Chinese clerics have died off or left the country, there are no bishops remaining to ordain future clergymen. An estimated 10,000 members of the Chinese Autonomous Church are searching for religious leaders. In a bid to replace veteran Chinese Orthodox churchmen Fr Mikhail Wang and Protodeacon Evangelos Lu Yaofu, both of whom have retired, the local Orthodox community sent a dozen Chinese students to seminaries in Moscow and St Petersburg. Several have already completed their studies and returned to China. Still laymen, the graduates are nonetheless "ready to be ordained in terms of education level and experience of religious life," explained Pozdnyaev. Some of them are working in officially opened Churches in the Chinese mainland. Pozdnyaev hoped local authorities will grant the seminarians permission to practice as priests in China. "The local Chinese community needs Chinese priests, there is no one left today." In November 2009 a high-level delegation of Russian Orthodox clerics travelled to Beijing for talks with the Chinese State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) which oversees religions in China. The talks are set to continue as part of an action plan to implement the Treaty on Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation between Russian and China by 2012. Accompanied by senior Russian diplomats, the Russian delegation included a Moscow-based archbishop charged with external church relations.