»Sidste Nyt om Albanien, Kosóva og Makedonien« hører til et web-site om de Balkan-lande hvor der lever mange Albanere: http://bjoerna.dk/albanerne.htm; her kan du også finde »gamle nyheder«, anmeldelser, links og en Balkan Brevkasse. »Sidste Nyt« sættes på nettet hver torsdag aften / fredag morgen hvor der sendes besked til dem der ønsker det. Bestilling / afbestilling sker ved at sende en e-mail med teksten »Nyheder udbedes« / »Nyheder afmeldes«. Nyheder, materiale, kommentarer og spørgsmål modtages meget gerne, både om småting og større ting. Send en e-mail. Tilsvarende hvis du opdager en fejl. Fejl vil blive rettet hurtigst muligt. »Sidste Nyt« og http://bjoerna.dk/albanerne.htm drives non-profit og uden finansiering »udefra«. Hvis du vil støtte udgivelsen kan du lettest gøre det ved at købe én eller flere af mine bøger. Send gerne en mail hvis der er - små eller store - tekniske problemer. Bemærkninger om EDB-sikkerhed.
The framework of The Latest News from Albania, Kosóva and Macedonia is in Danish - nevertheless, the news are mostly in English. You may send information, comments and questions to: »The Latest News« [please click].
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»To skridt frem? Albanien i en brydningstid«
PDF-udgaven er udkommet.
Bogtrykt udgave (i 14 X 20) udkommer i slutningen af 2005
Baggrundsmateriale kan findes via:
http://bjoerna.net/to-skridt-frem/#Linksamling
»Albansk Almanak 2004«
Almanak'en for 2004 er udkommet i december 2005. Her finder du nyhedsbrevene fra 2004 og nogle kommentarer.
Bogen udgives i et sæt bestående af et hæfte (de første 77 sider) og en CD (alle 1264 sider). På CD'en også supplerende materiale - ikke mindst »1912 - Med den serbiske Armé i Makedonien« - Fritz Magnussen's beretninger v/ Palle Rossen.
Se indholdsoversigt på: http://bjoerna.dk/albansk-historie/almanak-2004.htm.
Se pris på: Bestillingsliste.
Udgaven for 2005 ventes at udkomme i april 2006.
»Albanske Studier« bd. 1-2
Kommentarer til Bjøl, Huntington, Machiavelli, Sørlander, DUPI (Humanitær Intervention), Clausewitz, Mao Zedong, Lars R. Møller, Malcolm og flere andre.
Englændere på rejse i Albanien: Edward Lear, Edith Durham og Robert Carver.
Bøger om slægtsfejder og blodhævn. Diskussion af Anne Knudsen's disputats om blodhævn på Korsika og af Ismail Kadare's roman »Ufuldendt april«.
Baggrundsmateriale om den Sønderjyske general Christian von Holstein, der deltog i Habsburgernes felttog ind i Kosóva i 1689-90.
Sidst i bogen et forsøg på en sammenfatning i form af nogle 'grundlæggende synspunkter'.
Desuden en kommentar til Hans Hækkerup's »På skansen«. På CD'en supplerende materiale om traditionelle Albanske klædedragter og om Holstein.
Du kan downloade indholdsfortegnelsen og kommentaren til Hækkerup fra: http://bjoerna.dk/albansk-historie/studier-2002.htm
Bogen findes i trykt form og på CD (som pdf-fil). Papirudgave 368 A4-sider i 2 bind. Bogen sælges som papirudgave m/ CD og som CD alene. Se pris på: Bestillingsliste.
Til dig der kigger på et ældre nummer af »Sidste Nyt«.
Seneste udgave af denne »annonce« kan ses på:
»Sidste Nyt« (klik)
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UGEOVERSIGT (resumé)
Sidste Nyt udkommer næste gang 6.1.2006: Glædelig Jul og Godt Nytår til alle læsere!
EU: Olli Rehn, Member of the European Commission, responsible for Enlargement har holdt talen: "Making the European Perspective real in the Balkans". Han indledte med at minde om Kosóva: We are at a critical moment for the region, with the start of the process to determine the future status of Kosovo. Now is the moment to make the European perspective of the Balkans real to the people of the region. I hope that by the end of this year, the EU will have taken a step forward with each country. Every one of these steps has to be justified on the basis of the progress each country has made, but each step shows the people of the region that these reforms bring results. ... Lidt senere siger han: We have to communicate better the objectives and challenges of the accession process and how it deals with the countries. The Commission’s Strategy Paper on enlargement, agreed on 9 November, aims to do that by providing a road-map for the Balkans which spells out all the stages on the road to accession and the conditions attached to each stage. It takes into consideration the concerns that EU citizens are voicing – particularly the need for a transparent, fair and objective accession process. However, the Member States must also bear their responsibility to explain and defend the policies they have agreed unanimously. The Commission can only complement their effort. ... I would like to explain the implications of candidate status, which have sometimes been misunderstood. Candidate status does not lead automatically to accession negotiations, and the Council has to make a separate decision on starting negotiations. Moreover, this status does not have budgetary implications in the case of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. ... The attraction of the European perspective is the EU’s most important tool to keep the region stable during the Kosovo status process, which will challenge the stability we have achieved so far. We must encourage the people of the region to look forward to their European future, rather than backwards to the nationalism of the past. ... At the same time, we must ensure that their expectations are realistic. The efforts of the reformers could easily be frustrated by a series of false hopes and broken promises.
Kosovo's / Kosóva's fremtid. Forhandlingerne: Ifølge Østrigeren Albert Rohan, Martti Ahtisaari's Assistent under Kosóva-forhandlingerne, er Kosóva Albanerne langt fra at leve op til deres forpligtelser mht Kosóva's fremtid, og der er derfor et langt stykke til der kan indgås en aftale. Tilsvarende opfordrer Rohan Kosovo Serberne til at indgå i et politisk samarbejde. Dr Rohan er tidligere Ambassadør og Generalsekretær i det Østrigske UM.
Development of family medicine in Kosovo. Robert N. Hedley og Bajram Maxhuni har tidligere i år fået offentliggjort en artikel i BMJ / British Medical Journal. Artiklen introduceres således: Eastern Europe's medical systems are changing in an attempt to match increasing health demands with limited resources. 1 New methods of delivery and financing are being introduced, and the World Health Organization's regional office for Europe has been active in helping develop primary health care. 2 We describe the evolution of primary care in Kosovo and the lessons for other post-communist countries. - Link i nyhedsbrevet.
Albanien: Skanderbeg-konference i Tirana. President Moisiu received Albanian and foreign academics and scholars (fotos og et officielt resumé).
Præsidenten har haft møde med de Politiske Partier om Valgreglerne. Præsidentens tale er optrykt.
PM Berisha har udnævnt ny Vice-UM; tanken var oprindelig at hun skulle være Ambassadør i USA. ADN skriver: Socialist opposition accused MFA of making politically motivated appointments in the head of the diplomatic corps. Following the proposal of the Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, the Albanian government decided Wednesday to appoint Edith Harxhi to the post of the Deputy-Foreign Minister. Tirana Times skriver: TIRANA, Dec. 7 – The Albanian government’s nominee to become the country’s next ambassador to Washington, Edith Harxhi, has been promoted to acting deputy foreign minister, a spokesperson said on Tuesday. Harxhi, whose nomination has sparked a political debate in Albania, has been waiting for more than a month to get final approval for the Washington post by President Alfred Moisiu.
Forbud mod sejlads med speedbåde i Albank farvand i de næste 3 år. ADN skriver: This measure was taken Wednesday by the Albanian government in the context of the fight against the illegal trafficking. Premier Sali Berisha considered this measure a necessity to change the image of the country. "For a three-year period, no speed boats would be allowed to sail in the country's waters.
Tilfredsheden i Albanien. Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke's magasin »Kontakt« bragte i nr. 3 / Juni 2005 en artikel med overskriften: Du store verden! Glad og rig eller?. Spørgsmålet var om der er en sammenhæng mellem indkomst og tilfredshed i forskellige lande. Det ser ud til at de rigeste lande alle ligger i top (området øverst th), mens de fattigere lande (hele området fra top til bund i venstre tredjedel af diagrammet) ligger meget spredt. Albanien - og lande der økonomisk er en smule bedre stillet: Makedonien og Tyrkiet - ligger i det triste område nederst tv (= fattige lande med lav tilfredshed). Lande som Rusland og Ukraine - der er lidt bedre stillet - er blandt de få der ligger endnu lavere end Albanien mht tilfredshed. Grækenland ligger nogenlunde midt i diagrammet (middel indkomst, middel tilfredshed).
Konference i Tirana om Centralbank-anliggender. Blandt talerne: Malcolm Knight: "Central banking: some "secrets of success"". Dr Knight er/is General Manager of the BIS (The Bank for International Settlements). The Bank of Albania Open Forum on "Preconditions for launching inflation targeting in Albania", Tirana, 1-2 December 2005. Abstract: There are three key elements to the consensus that has emerged about successful central banking: first, a clear mandate and objectives; second, sufficient autonomy to perform mandated functions; and third, accountability for policy actions and the stewardship of resources. The clear objective and substantial autonomy given to the Bank of Albania in the 1997 law provide a good foundation for its operations. Continued clarity of message, further refinements in the monetary policy process and constant attention to the sound management of the central bank are essential for retaining public trust and permitting the central bank to achieve its policy objectives. - Bankdirektør Fullani's velkomst- og afslutningstaler er optrykt.
Bajram Ibraj, Chefen for Statspolitiet har holdt tale i anledningen af afslutningen af et kursus i strategisk ledelse for Seniorpolitifolk. Han sagde bl.a.: I express my conviction that during the 13- weeks of the performance of this Training Course you have had the opportunity to acquaint the most strategic management modern ideas of Western Europe and North America police services. It should not be forget the fact that this was training and everything was performed in a class. Participation in this course is not a passport to achieve successes, since the most part of this Training Course initiates now, because you have to put into practice what you have learned. In putting into practice the knowledge you have acquainted you will face with the resistance to make changes from the highest level up to the lowest level as your position. But State Police will change because we are determined to fulfil our aspirations and those of the most developed countries, since we want to be member of the European Union.
Pågribelse: Police officers have captured Sokol Ramadani in the act, he is charged with kidnapping and murder Agim Gjikondi (an exchange dealer in Vlora’s trade) a few days before.
Serbien: Kosovo: Negotiating team adopts rules of procedure and agrees formation of working groups.
USA >< Serbien FUS Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro Michael Polt said he would travel to Washington D.C. on Tuesday to consult his government on future US policy towards SCG, adding that co-operation with the Hague Tribunal would top the agenda, FoNet agency reports. Polt warned that if Tribunal chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte submits a negative report on this co-operation to the UN Security Council, it was quite clear that Serbia and Montenegro’s road to membership in NATO, the Partnership for Peace and the EU would face a wall. “The country will not move in the direction its citizens want it to until this obstacle is removed”. Polt also said the lack of SCG co-operation with the Tribunal on apprehending Hague fugitives Ratko Mladic's and Radovan Karadzic's was under sharper focus after general Ante Gotovina’s arrest and extradition to the Hague.
Montenegro: ICG - Internation Crisis Group skriver om Montenegro. Rapporten indledes således: Montenegrins are more likely than not to vote in April 2006 to break away from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. It is time for the European Union, whose diplomacy in 2001-2002 created the manifestly dysfunctional confederation, to make clear that it will accept whatever decision Montenegro’s citizens make, and encourage those opposing independence to participate peacefully in the referendum process. At a time when the international community needs to concentrate on resolving Kosovo’s status, it is important for the EU not to be seen as giving any comfort, inadvertently or otherwise, to those still-dangerous Serbian nationalist forces who may be prepared to risk potentially destabilising actions, not only in Montenegro but elsewhere in the region. ... ICG minder om at Montenegro is the only republic of the former Yugoslavia that has formed a genuinely multi-ethnic government without internal conflict ... ICG opfordrer EU til at acceptere dén beslutning Montenegrinerne måtte tage.
Makedonien: Frankrig skeptisk/negativ mht Makedoniens optagelse i EU. RFE skriver: Macedonia's hopes of formally becoming a candidate for European Union membership this year suffered a blow on 12 December when France said the EU needs to finance its existing enlargement and debate future institutions before taking in new members. ... London officials claim, "Macedonia's chances to get what it deserves are not lost", because "all 24 countries, except one" are in favor of the country becoming a candidate for EU membership, because it is a decision that rewards the huge political progress in Macedonia, which is "the only functional multiethnic democracy at the Balkans, but sends a strong message to the entire region", in light of the beginning of talks regarding Kosovo's future status.
USA: Sagen om Amerikanske bortførelser / torteringer / illegale afhøringer af Terrormistænkte - og efterfølgende bortforklaringsforsøg. Se evt. reportage på BBC. Reportagen indledes sådan: The European Parliament has agreed in principle to launch an inquiry into claims that the CIA has been operating secret prisons in Europe.
Præsident Bush har holdt tale i anledning af valget i Irak. Talen er optrykt.
Både Præsident Bush og tidl. Præsident Clinton har udsendt julehilsener. Begge med hundebistand.
»Albansk Almanak 2004«
Almanak'en for 2004 er udkommet i december 2005. Her finder du nyhedsbrevene fra 2004 og nogle kommentarer. Bogen udgives i et sæt bestående af et hæfte (de første 77 sider) og en CD (alle 1264 sider). På CD'en også supplerende materiale - ikke mindst »1912 - Med den serbiske Armé i Makedonien« - Fritz Magnussen's beretninger v/ Palle Rossen. Se indholdsoversigt på: http://bjoerna.dk/albansk-historie/almanak-2004.htm. Se pris på: Bestillingsliste. Udgaven for 2005 ventes at udkomme i april 2006.
INTERNATIONALE ORGANISATIONER m.v.
Opmærksomheden henledes på Economic Reconstruction and Development in South East Europe. Adressen er www.seerecon.org. Her kan man finde materiale om aktuelle møder og konferencer.
FN
VERDENSBANKEN, IMF M.FL.
Se under de enkelte lande / områder.
OSCE, Europarådet
Se under de enkelte lande / områder.
EU
Fransk skepsis mht optagelse af Makedonien, se under Frankrig
Speech by Mr Olli Rehn, Member of the European Commission, responsible for Enlargement: "Making the European Perspective real in the Balkans"
Keynote address at the Conference ‘Bringing the Balkans into Mainstream Europe’ by Friends of Europe Brussels, 8 December 2005
I am pleased to be here today to open this conference. Friends of Europe and its partners have put together an excellent set of panels to discuss the key issues facing the region.
We are at a critical moment for the region, with the start of the process to determine the future status of Kosovo. Now is the moment to make the European perspective of the Balkans real to the people of the region. I hope that by the end of this year, the EU will have taken a step forward with each country. Every one of these steps has to be justified on the basis of the progress each country has made, but each step shows the people of the region that these reforms bring results.
Transforming the region through the European perspective
Enlargement is one of the EU’s most powerful policy tools. The pull of the EU has helped transform Central and Eastern Europe from communist regimes to modern, well-functioning democracies. More recently, it has inspired tremendous reforms in Turkey, Croatia and the Western Balkans. All European citizens benefit from having neighbours that are stable democracies and prosperous market economies. It is vitally important for the EU to ensure a carefully managed accession process that extends peace, stability, prosperity, democracy, human rights and the rule of law across Europe.
Now enlargement policy needs to demonstrate its power of transformation in a region where states are weak and societies divided. A convincing political perspective for eventual integration into the EU is crucial to keep their reforms on track. But it is equally clear that these countries can join only once they have met the criteria in full.
My approach to enlargement is based on consolidation, conditionality and communication. We will stand by the commitments we have made, once the countries fulfil the strict conditions for accession. The countries have to respect the criteria to the letter. But the conditionality only works if the countries can trust in the EU’s commitment to eventual membership, even if that is many years away.
We have to communicate better the objectives and challenges of the accession process and how it deals with the countries. The Commission’s Strategy Paper on enlargement, agreed on 9 November, aims to do that by providing a road-map for the Balkans which spells out all the stages on the road to accession and the conditions attached to each stage. It takes into consideration the concerns that EU citizens are voicing – particularly the need for a transparent, fair and objective accession process.
However, the Member States must also bear their responsibility to explain and defend the policies they have agreed unanimously. The Commission can only complement their effort.
Candidate status for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
On Monday, the Council will consider the Commission’s Opinion on the application for membership made by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. I encourage the Member States to endorse the Commission’s fair and objective assessment of the country’s strengths and weaknesses.
The assessment on the economy and on the acquis give grounds for our conclusion that the country is not ready to start accession negotiations.
However, the section on the political criteria reports the remarkable success of the country in implementing the Ohrid Framework Agreement. Only a few years after being on the brink of civil war, the country is a stable democracy. It is also the only functioning multi-ethnic state in the Balkans, which is an important signal to the other countries that such a multi-ethnic model can work. Moreover, the country is demonstrating a real political will to tackle the priorities set by the EU in all areas.
It is therefore appropriate to recognise this considerable achievement with candidate status. At the same time, the Commission is not rushing ahead to recommend accession negotiations before any country is ready. We will monitor the country’s progress in annual reports over the years ahead.
I would like to explain the implications of candidate status, which have sometimes been misunderstood. Candidate status does not lead automatically to accession negotiations, and the Council has to make a separate decision on starting negotiations. Moreover, this status does not have budgetary implications in the case of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Finally, the Commission has stated clearly that countries must establish a track-record in implementing their SAA obligations before a membership application can be considered. This is an important message for other countries in the region.
Next steps for the Western Balkans
2006 will be a crucial year for the Balkans. The process to determine Kosovo’s future status is now underway, and the EU has to mobilise all its resources – on both the Commission and Council sides – to ensure stability during the process, and a sustainable settlement at the end of it.
We also have to support the status process by making the European perspective real to the rest of the region. The Commission is working with the forthcoming Austrian and Finnish Presidencies on further steps to promote greater economic and political integration in the region, and to show the citizens of the region that there are clear benefits along the way towards the EU. I hope that the Austrian Presidency will succeed in its aim to reinforce the relationship between the EU and the region and promote the region’s economic development through a series of initiatives, including the EU-Western Balkans Forum.
The Western Balkans remains a key EU responsibility, and the state of that region is critical to the security and welfare of our own citizens. The European Council has confirmed many times that the future of the Western Balkans lies in the EU. The Thessaloniki European Council in 2003 set the EU’s goal for the Western Balkan countries to move from stabilisation and reconstruction to sustainable development, association and integration into European structures.
The first part of the Thessaloniki agenda is now close to completion. I hope that by the end of next year, all of the countries of the region will have established solid contractual relations with the EU, based on association agreements. This will be a major achievement for the region, and particularly for the countries whose progress has been delayed by unresolved status issues and other problems, notably Serbia and Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Stabilisation and Association Agreements will carry important benefits for the citizens of the region. They will allow an expansion of trade with the EU, in turn attracting investment. As companies seek to expand their activities in response to the removal of obstacles to the movement of goods, that will create jobs. Citizens will also see more high-quality goods in the shops at better prices, and enjoy better consumer protection. In addition to the economic side, the people of the region will benefit from wide-ranging cooperation with the EU in many policy areas where there are serious problems - for example, to tackle organised crime and trafficking across borders, as well as to improve environmental standards.
The prospect of moving to the next stage in relations with the Union is a powerful incentive for countries to transform themselves and to adopt EU standards and values. The journey towards membership has value in itself, even in cases where accession is many years away. This journey is often difficult, so it is essential for the EU to stay engaged throughout the process, and committed to the outcome.
Conclusion
The attraction of the European perspective is the EU’s most important tool to keep the region stable during the Kosovo status process, which will challenge the stability we have achieved so far. We must encourage the people of the region to look forward to their European future, rather than backwards to the nationalism of the past.
At the same time, we must ensure that their expectations are realistic. The efforts of the reformers could easily be frustrated by a series of false hopes and broken promises. The Balkans have a long road to Europe, and some of them are many years from membership. In the debate on enlargement in the EU, we should not exaggerate the likely speed of the next accessions, because they will be slower than in the past. But the prospect of accession must remain real.
By the time of accession, the countries of the region will be transformed into the kind of neighbours we would like to have – stable, secure, well governed and prosperous. They will not be perfect – because no country ever is – but they will be fully part of mainstream Europe.
That is a worthy goal, and I wish you all the best in your discussions of how to achieve it.
NATO
ICTY - TRIBUNALET I HAAG
Verserende sager vedr. Kosovo: Anklageskrifter og udskrifter af retsmøderne kan findes på: http://www.un.org/icty/cases-e/index-e.htm
ICTY vs Slobodan Milosevic, (IT-02-54)
ICTY vs Fatmir Limaj et al. (IT-03-66). Der er fældet dom, se nærmere i # 284
ICTY vs Ramush Haradinaj (IT-04-84)
BALKAN LANDE, LANDE VED ØSTLIGE MIDDELHAV
BALKAN GENERELT
Udsnit af EU's Europakort 2004. [Udsnittet kan forstørres ved at klikke på det]. Kortet indgår i en præsentationsborchure, der kan downloades som pdf fra: http://europa.eu.int/comm/publications/booklets/eu_glance/20/da.pdf.
KOSÓVA
Bynavne: Angives der to navne på samme lokalitet, er den Albanske nævnt først. Se oversigten på: http://bjoerna.dk/kosova/byer.htm
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Bynavne: Angives der to navne på samme lokalitet, er den Albanske nævnt først. Se oversigten på: http://bjoerna.dk/kosova/byer.htm
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Rapporter fra FNs Generalsekretær
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040616 SG Kofi Annan udtaler at han agter at udpege Søren Jessen-Petersen som 5' SRSG. Søren Jessen-Petersen blev senere udpeget og tiltrådte i Kosóva 040816.
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0308 Harri Holkeri tiltrådte som 4' SRSG. Fratrådt 0406 af helbredsmæssige grunde.
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020214 Michael Steiner tiltrådte i Kosova som 3' SRSG og fratrådte i begyndelsen af 0307.
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En biografi over 2' SRSG Hans Hækkerup kan læses på Danske Politikere. En anmeldelse af hans bog »Kosovos mange ansigter« kan downloades fra: http://neva.hjem.wanadoo.dk/Haekkerup2.pdf (0,4 MB)
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Constitutional Framework for Provisional Self-Government.
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Kosova's Regering.
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Webside vedr. 2004-valgene
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UNMIK Politiets oversigt over 2001 (artikler, billeder og statistik i pdf-format (fil'en er forholdsvis stor: 2,6 MB))
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Kriminaliteten i 2002 - Oversigt kan downloades [klik på titlen]
Parlamentsvalget 2004 [Præsidenten - Ibrahim Rugóva - er valgt af Parlamentet, the Assembly], se: http://kosovoelections.org/eng/
Kosovo's / Kosóva's fremtid. Forhandlingerne: Ifølge Østrigeren Albert Rohan, Martti Ahtisaari's Assistent under Kosóva-forhandlingerne, er Kosóva Albanerne langt fra at leve op til deres forpligtelser mht Kosóva's fremtid, og der er derfor et langt stykke til der kan indgås en aftale. Tilsvarende opfordrer Rohan Kosovo Serberne til at indgå i et politisk samarbejde.
Dr Rohan er tidligere Ambassadør og Generalsekretær i det Østrigske UM og har netop været på besøg i Kosova og Beograd. Se nærmere om ham på http://www.aaf-online.org/rohan.htm og http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/sga956.doc.htm).
Ugerapport fra Dansk KFOR. Hærens Operative Kommando skriver (på http://www.hok.dk/):
Italienere i Camp Olaf Rye og Ansøgninger om kontrakter og rutineopgaver
Uge 49 i Kosovo. I ugen gennemførte bataljonen endnu en udveksling af kompagnier med andre brigader i Kosovo samtidig med, at rutineopgaverne blev løst i lejren og i ansvarsområdet.
12-12-2005 kl. 13:36
Panserinfanterikompagniet tog på operation i bjergene i den sydøstlige del af Kosovo og blev erstattet af et italiensk kompagni.
Besøg af italienere.
Et italiensk kompagni var i løbet af ugen under kommando af den danske bataljon. Kompagniet blev indkvarteret i telte på området ved beachvolley-banen og der blev opstillet bade- og toiletfaciliteter ved den midlertidige lejr.
I løbet af ugen havde kompagniet ansvaret for at patruljere i panserinfanterikompagniets område og var derfor fuldt integreret en del af bataljonen i denne uge. Italienerne spiste i det danske cafeteria og var meget begejstrede for maden, der blev serveret. De trak deres afrejse så lang tid som muligt, så de nåede at få den sidste frokost med.
Vedligeholdelsesarbejder i lejren
Samtidig med, at vi gennemfører operationer og patruljer, så er lejrsektionen konstant travlt beskæftiget med vedligeholdelsesarbejder og reparationer i lejren. Lejren er velfungerende og veludbygget, men når der bor mere end 400 soldater i lejren, så er der også et konstant slid, så lejrsektionen har altid noget at lave.
Til de lidt større og specielle opgaver anvendes lokale håndværkere og i denne uge har lokale håndværkere udskiftet gavlene på nogle af vores beboelsesgange.
Flytteopgave skabte trafikproblemer
Militærpolitiet deltog i eskortering, da en transformatorstation skulle flyttes. Opgaven skulle løses af det lokale politi, men militærpolitiet støttede, da det var forventet, at opgaven ville give en del trafikproblemer på en vej, der også er meget befærdet af KFOR køretøjer.
Transformatoren skulle fragtes fra batterifabrikken i MITROVICA og cirka 10 kilometer til VUSHTRRI, hvor transformatoren skal gøre det muligt for en stor del af byerne omkring MITROVICA, at få en mere stabil strømleverance. Ofte er byerne ellers uden strøm i flere timer dagligt.
Klokken 1100 skulle transporten iværksættes, men efter 100 meters kørsel inde på batterifabrikken punkterede den blokvogn, der transporterede transformatoren. Derfor blev operationen forsinket allerede fra starten. Klokken blev 1200 inden transporten kunne genoptages og alt gik som planlagt, da transporten kom ud på hovedvejen.
Transporten skred langsomt, men sikkert, frem og undervejs blev der holdt adskillige pauser for at dirigere de efterhånden noget utålmodige civile trafikanter forbi.
Ved ankomst til VUSHTRRI blev transporten og militærpolitiet modtaget med bifald fra de lokale beboere.
Skjulte observationsposter og patruljering ved grænsen til Makedonien.
Sidste uge har budt på en spændende og ikke mindst fysisk udfordrende opgave for de tre delinger i panserinfanterikompagniet. Udfordringen hed operation CAESAR SPEAKS og foregik i særdeles bjergrigt terræn.
Forberedelser til operationen havde været undervejs længe. Kompagnichefen og delingsførerne havde gennemført rekognoscering sammen med blandt andet franskmænd, hollændere og amerikanere i den sydøstlige del af Kosovo med henblik på 4 dages operation i området. Formålet med operationen var at erkende og stoppe smugleri over grænsen.
Mandag morgen klokken 0641 rullede store dele af kompagniets køretøjer syd på mod grænsen mellem Kosovo og Makedonien. På grund af hemmeligholdelse havde kompagniet valgt, at infanteridelingerne skulle rykke ud i ly af mørket. Dagens sidste dagslys blev derfor brugt til forberedelser i Camp Rock på en bjergtop ikke langt fra grænsen.
Efter mørkefald, begyndte grupperne at bevæge sig til de planlagte observationsposter langs grænsen. Indledningsvis i køretøjer, men store dele af marchen måtte foregå til fods over adskillige bjergtoppe med 30 - 40 kilo udrustning og forsyninger på ryggen. Grupperne havde selv alle forsyninger med, da eneste kontakt til dem ville være via radio. Tirsdag klokken 1200 meldte alle grupper planmæssigt på plads og klar til observation mod grænsen.
Tirsdag, onsdag og torsdag indløb der meldinger fra grupperne om alt lige fra tungt pakkede æsler, vilde hunde, mistænksomme biler, traktorer læsset med brænde, skumle personer med våben og adskillige skudsalver. Flere af meldingerne resulterede i, at grupperne fik besked på at iværksætte patruljere med henblik på at fastlægge smuglerruter og eventuelt omlæsningssteder i det uvejsomme terræn.
Torsdag eftermiddag fik grupperne via radio besked på at pakke sammen og begive sig til pickup punktet, hvor de ville blive afhentet. Det var uden undtagelse tilfredse, men trætte og ømme infanterister, der blev samlet op og kørt til kompagniets samleområde, hvor udbyttet, oplevelserne og røverhistorierne, med et glimt i øjet, blev udvekslet. Torsdag aften var hele panserinfanterikompagniet igen tilbage i Camp Olaf Rye klar til nye opgaver i hele Kosovo.
Medaljeparade
I uge 50 får bataljonen besøg af forsvarschefen, som vil være til stede, når NATO-medaljerne overrækkes ved en lille parade i lejren.
Development of family medicine in Kosovo. Robert N. Hedley og Bajram Maxhuni har tidligere i år fået offentliggjort en artikel i BMJ / British Medical Journal. Artiklen kan findes på: http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/331/7510/201.
Artiklen introduceres således: Eastern Europe's medical systems are changing in an attempt to match increasing health demands with limited resources. 1 New methods of delivery and financing are being introduced, and the World Health Organization's regional office for Europe has been active in helping develop primary health care. 2 We describe the evolution of primary care in Kosovo and the lessons for other post-communist countries.
Key lessons:
Coordination of donor activities is essential
Family medicine should be recognised as a specialty
Implementation of the primary healthcare system needs central coordination
National education campaigns for both the public and other healthcare professionals improve awareness and understanding
Local leadership and doctors' organisations should be empowered and involved from the beginning.
Bortskaffelse af affald. EU Kontoret i Prishtina skriver:
Licenses granted for thirteen solid waste collection service providers.
The Water and Waste Regulatory Office today issued licenses for thirteen solid waste collection service providers in Kosovo. DSRSG Joachim Ruecker; the Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, Ardian Gjini; and Alan Brown, an EAR official; were invited to a signing ceremony in the Grand Hotel in Pristina hosted by WWRO (Water and Waste Regulatory Office) Director, Afrim Lajçi.
Specifically, seven regional solid waste collection service providers received licenses for one year. Six municipal solid waste collection service providers, not included in the consolidation process, have been licensed for six-months. During this period, they are required to merge with regional companies in accordance to the KTA Consolidation Plan.
DSRSG Joachim Ruecker commented: “Today’s agreement represents the beginning of a very important process for the development of Kosovo’s waste sector. UNMIK Pillar IV will continue to support the Water and Waste Regulatory Office to improve bill collection so that waste service providers can become financially sustainable as soon as possible.”
Minister Ardian Gjini said: “Despite difficulties in bill collection we have made significant improvements. This is a significant step toward making Kosovo a cleaner place and a place of which we can be proud. At the same time, we would also like to protect the citizens’ health and well-being.”
WWRO Director Afrim Lajçi said: “Today’s signing ceremony marks the beginning of a very important process for the development of the waste sector in Kosovo and the establishment of economic regulation in this area. However, bill collection and the financial sustainability of solid waste collection service providers remains the key issue. It is the major concern for all parties involved in the waste sector.”
30-Nov-2005
ØST KOSÓVA / PRESEVO-DALEN / SYD-SERBIEN
For nemheds skyld bruges betegnelsen Øst Kosóva / Presevo-dalen om det omstridte område med byerne: Presheva, Medvegja og Bujanoci (Albansk stavemåde). Ca. 75 % af befolkningen skønnes at være etniske Albanere - måske omkring 70.000. En modstandsgruppe har været i funktion, men synes nu at være »lukket ned«. Gruppen kaldtes i forkortet form UCPMB (som står for noget i retning af: Ushtria Clirimtare e Presheva, Medvegja dhe Bujanoci; på Engelsk: Liberation Army of Presheva, Medvegja and Bujanoci). Gruppen sagde at den intet havde at gøre med Kosova's UCK, og at den var en lokal gruppe.
ALBANIEN
Klik på kortet, hvis du vil have det forstørret / click http://bjoerna.dk/kort/Albanien.gif to enlarge it
Info fra Albaniens Statistik: Befolkningstal: 3,1 Mio (1.1.2004). GDP (Gross Domestic Product): 630 Mia Lek (2002, current prices); GDP-structure: Agriculture: 26 %, Industry 10-11 %, Construction: 7-8 %, Services: 55-56 %. Export: 54 mia lek (2003) [heraf til Danmark: 23 mio lek; størrelsesorden 1,2 mio kr], Import: 226 mia lek (2003) [Heraf fra Danmark: 855 mio lek; størrelsesorden: 45-50 mio kr], Tradedeficit: 171 mia lek (2003). Største import fra Italien (75 mia lek) og Grækenland (45 mia lek), største eksport til Italien (40 mia lek). Unemployment: 14-15 % (2004-III)
Det Engelske Udenrigsministeriums 'Country Advice' til rejsende kan findes på adressen: http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket%2FXcelerate%2FShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029390590&a=KCountryAdvice&aid=1013618385522. Det Danske UM har pt ingen rejsevejledning, men henviser til det Engelske UM. Den Norske Ambassade kan findes på: http://www.norvegji.org/. Det Amerikanske UM har Juni 2004 offentliggjort en 'Background Note' om Albanien: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3235.htm
Mother Teresa: http://bjoerna.dk/albanien/Teresa.htm.
Parlamentsvalget i 2005 [Præsidenten vælges af Parlamentet for 5 år, næste gang i 2007]: Se nærmere i: http://bjoerna.net/sidste-nyt/265.htm
Præsident Moisiu's aktiviteter [Billederne i denne sektion kan som regel forstørres ved at klikke på dem (mens man er på nettet)]:
Skanderbeg-konference i Tirana
President Moisiu received Albanian and foreign academics and scholars.
December 9, 2005
The President of the Republic, Alfred Moisiu received today at noon in a meeting Albanian and foreign academics and scholars who are participating in the International Conference “George Kastrioti Skanderbeg and Europe” dedicated to the six hundredth birth anniversary of our national hero organized by the Academy of Science and the Institute of History.
During the warm conversation held on this occasion, President Moisiu praised the figure of the legendary Albanian hero of worldly dimensions and his renowned contribution throughout the centuries defending the European civilization. The messages of his deed as a warrior of peace and carrier of the union take on immeasurable values under the conditions of the present developments for the Albanian people and nation. “In this aspect, historiography too when it is studied with scientific responsibility has a wide field of action and time requires dedication” – stated Mr. Moisiu.
The Head of State expressed the gratitude to the foreign scholars gathered in Tirana in a meaningful jubilee for the great contribution in enriching the documentation on Skanderbeg and his era, and also for the image of our country as a place that has offered a lot to the human civilization and emancipation.
The Director of the Institute of History, Prof. Dr. Marenglen Verli, thanking Mr. Moisiu for the reception reserved to them, informed him about the session of this Conference and the new books published on this jubilee. The historians from various Albanian regions and also from different European countries and United States pointed out that the figure of Skanderbeg is part of the collective European conscience.
President Moisiu evidenced the main achievement of Skanderbeg which enabled the resistance of a quarter of a century such as the union of the Albanians which is a useful and necessary request to also face the task facing the country.
Præsidenten har haft møde med de Politiske Partier om Valgreglerne
President Moisiu gathered the round table of the parliamentarian political parties.
December 7, 2005
The President of the Republic, Alfred Moisiu gathered today before noon the round table of the parliamentarian political parties, which discussed the further improvement of the legal and administrative foundation of the future electoral processes.
The aim of President Moisiu in gathering this round table is to take concrete steps in this direction and to encourage the beginning of a transparent, inclusive and active process of correction in the administrative electoral legislation and mechanism, supporting also the public proposals made by the political parties that participated in this round table. In it took part the Head of the Democratic Party Parliamentary Group, Bamir Topi and Deputy Prime Minister, Ilir Rusmali, the leader of the Socialist party, Edi Rama and the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Ylli Bufi, the Head of the Republican Party Parliamentary Group, Arjan Madhi, the leader of the Socialist Democratic Party, Skender Gjinushi, the Leader of Socialist Movement for Integration, Ilir Meta, the leader of the Reformed Democratic Party, Genc Pollo and Nard Ndoka, the leader of the Agrarian Environmentalist Party, Lufter Xhuveli, the general secretary of the Democratic Alliance Party, Arben Demeti, the leader of the Human Rights Union Party, Vangjel Dule, the leader of the Christian Democratic Party, Nikoll Lesi, the leader of SDP, Paskal Milo and the leader of LDUP, Arjan Starova.
In the address President Moisiu, referring to the last electoral process, pointed out that they “although at a lesser degree than any other election, evidenced also serious problems in the preparation phase and especially that of their administering” and expressed the conviction that “Albania has all the means to be able today and in the future to hold entirely free, fair and democratic elections.” The nearest opportunity to demonstrate this are the next local elections and after the parliamentary ones. The Head of State emphasized the necessity to immediately begin the concrete work to improve and take the necessary measures for the local elections and at the mean time for the parliamentary ones. “This problem must be resolved fully and finally in order to not be prolonged eternally and the day after the elections the debates and long calvarias of negotiations for electoral reform to begin anew. We all are politicians, not experts who get to the bottom of legal acts, but I think that what is most fundamental in this process is the expression of the joint political willingness to realize the electoral reform, to enjoy a multi party collaboration and to achieve with consensus the above mentioned objectives of this round table.”
Before hand, all the parliamentarian political parties have been presented with a material that contains a few points on the possible issues of political debate and also the suggestion in this round table of the mechanism, issues and concrete deadlines of the legislation’s improvement. The same material with the request to offer their views, has been sent also to a great number of non parliamentarian political parties and a few specialized institutions in this field with the invitation to have their suggestions help and monitor the entire progress of the political and parliamentary process of realizing the electoral reform.
The participants in their discussion hailed the initiative of the Head of State and approved and signed a joint declaration which stated:
“Initiated and under the direction of the President of the Republic, Alfred Moisiu, today on December 7, 2005 it was held the round table of the twelve parliamentarian political parties. After the discussions regarding the problems and the electoral reform, all the parties appreciated the initiative of the President of the Republic and unanimously agreed:
- to express the full political willingness for the realization of a full and long term electoral reform which can guarantee the holding of free, fair and democratic elections.
- to realize the reform and within December of 2005 to found a Parliamentary Commission with the participation of all the parliamentarian political forces.”
THE ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT MOISIU AT THE ROUND TABLE OF THE PARLIAMENTARIAN POLITICAL PARTIES.
December 7, 2005
Distinguished leaders of the parliamentarian political parties,
From the outset I would like to thank you for positively answering to the invitation to participate in this round table and to express my full conviction that through the contribution of everyone we will manage to find the ways and means to further improve the legal and administrative foundation of future electoral process.
It is already known to all that the last parliamentary elections in their core marked a significant achievement for the Albanian democracy and society. The will of the voters was freely and democratically expressed; the campaign brought important elements of equality, transparency and constructive political debate; the institutions and independent organs rigorously respected the law and their status; you and the political parties that you lead were committed in general to respect the Code of Conduct; CEC and the Electoral College demonstrated in general professional integrity and the citizens who held the power on July 3, through their massive participation, voting and civil behaviour gave an excellent example of the political emancipation. They paid a great to the country and at the mean time gave a civil message to the politics.
The fact that these elections, although at a lesser degree than any other election, evidenced also serious problems in the preparation phase and especially that of their administering is also already known. As the ODHIR observation mission final report also stated, through the tactical strategies followed by some political forces there were deformations of the constitutional objective over the electoral system. Some political parties received more mandates than the constitutional counting of their votes, some other that did not accept the applying of these tactics were sensitively damaged. There were evidenced problems also during the pre-preparatory phase of the elections, during the phase of administering the votes and also during the complaining process. These problems have been also evidenced in your public analyses and also in the reports of the Albanian and international observers.
Without entering into details, which are already recognized and widely accepted, I would like to emphasize that Albania has all the means to be able today and in the future to hold entirely free, fair and democratic elections. The nearest opportunity to demonstrate this are the next local elections and after the parliamentary ones.
The up to the present practice of dragging on the electoral reform and last minute legal amendments have not produced the desired results. The five months long period from the parliamentary elections and the short one year long available period make it necessary to immediately begin the concrete work to improve and take the necessary measures for the local elections and at the mean time for the parliamentary ones. This problem must be resolved fully and finally in order to not be prolonged eternally and the day after the elections the debates and long calvarias of negotiations for electoral reform to begin anew. Let us make the reform now in order for us tomorrow and the day after tomorrow to use our energies with full capacity in the service of the citizens, development and Euro-Atlantic integration of the country.
Exactly, to take concrete steps in this direction and to encourage the beginning of a transparent, inclusive and active process of correction in the administrative electoral legislation and mechanism, supporting also you public proposals, I decided to gather this round table with the parliamentarian political parties.
At the preparatory material that I have addressed to you together with November 23 invitation, I have presented a few points on the possible issues of political debate and also the suggestion in this round table of the mechanism, issues and concrete deadlines of the legislation’s improvement. We are all politicians, not experts who get to the bottom of legal acts, but I think that what is most fundamental in this process is the expression of the joint political willingness to realize the electoral reform, to enjoy a multi party collaboration and to achieve with consensus the above mentioned objectives of this round table.
I would like also to let you know that the same material, with the request to offer their views, I have also addressed to a great number of non parliamentarian political parties and a few specialized institutions in this field with the invitation to have their suggestions help and monitor the entire progress of the political and parliamentary process of realizing the electoral reform.
In order to begin the concrete work, I once again thank you for the support given to the round table and invite you to contribute in fulfilling its good objectives.
PM Sali Berisha's aktiviteter: [Billederne i denne sektion kan som regel forstørres ved at klikke på dem (mens man er på nettet)]
Prime Minister Sali Berisha meets the Minister of Education of Macedonia Mr. Azis Pollozhani
12/12/2005
Prime Minister Sali Berisha met on Monday the Minister of Education of Macedonia, Mr. Azis Pollozhani.
At the beggining, Mr. Berisha appraised the good existing relationship between the two countries, and talked about consolidating the cooperation in every field of reciprocal interest.
During the conversation, both personalities appraised the good news that Corridor 8 once again is one of the EU priorities and they shared the same opinion that this corridor is of specific importance for the whole region.
Prime Minister Berisha thanked the Macedonian Minister for the endeavors made by his country to assist Albania during the period of the energy crises.
Both personalities focused also in the development of the educational system for the two countries, cooperation opportunities among universities and experience exchange related to the wide spread of the internet in the whole education system, since Macedonia has solved this issue with the assistance of foreign organizations.
The Minister of Education of Macedonia, Mr. Pollozhani appraised and thanked the Prime Minister for the understanding and advance of education of the Macedonian minorities in Albania.
In the meeting participated the Minister of Education of Albania, Mr. Genc Pollo and the Ambassador of Macedonia in Albania, Mrs. Eleonora Karanfilovska Ratcliff.
PM Berisha har udnævnt ny Vice-UM. ADN skriver: Socialist opposition accused MFA of making politically motivated appointments in the head of the diplomatic corps. Following the proposal of the Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, the Albanian government decided Wednesday to appoint Edith Harxhi to the post of the Deputy-Foreign Minister. Tirana Times skriver: TIRANA, Dec. 7 – The Albanian government’s nominee to become the country’s next ambassador to Washington, Edith Harxhi, has been promoted to acting deputy foreign minister, a spokesperson said on Tuesday. Harxhi, whose nomination has sparked a political debate in Albania, has been waiting for more than a month to get final approval for the Washington post by President Alfred Moisiu.
Forbud mod sejlads med speedbåde i Albank farvand i de næste 3 år. ADN skriver: This measure was taken Wednesday by the Albanian government in the context of the fight against the illegal trafficking. Premier Sali Berisha considered this measure a necessity to change the image of the country. "For a three-year period, no speed boats would be allowed to sail in the country's waters.
UM Besnik Mustafaj har holdt tale om 50-året for Albaniens optagelse i FN
The Address of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Besnik Mustafaj on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the membership of Albania in the United Nations
Honorable participants of the Diplomatic Corps Ladies and Gentlemen,
Please, allow me first to express my sincere thanks for your participation in this event of the Albanian diplomacy, the 50th anniversary of the membership of Albania in the UN.
UN embodies the historical vision of the humanity for a world with peace, security, economic prosperity and respect for the rights and fundamental freedoms of the people based on the principles of justice, development and ongoing progress. 50 years ago Albania joined the family of the states that share this vision. This ceremony serves to express our appreciation and trust to the United Nations Organization and to show how important it is to us to be part of this worldwide family.
I believe that I also express the opinion of every one of us by saying that the importance of the role of UN is indisputable in the multilateralism, in the fight against terrorism, in the commitment to prevent, face, soothe and overcome the global crises and conflicts. We have witnessed this role more closely in our region during the latest crises, in particular the involvement of UN in Kosovo. I avail myself of his opportunity to reiterate the appreciation for the work of UNMIK and the role of the Security Council and the Contact Group regarding the issues of Kosovo. In this aspect, we strongly support the increase and the strengthening of the role of the Organization in compliance with the mandate which it is created for.
The Millennium Development Goals are part of the program of the Albanian Government. We are totally committed for a better governing, stable development, reduction of poverty, strengthening of law, transparency in the decision-making, fight against corruption, education, health and environment protection. The cooperation with the agencies and funds of UN in Albania, the exchange of the opinions and better experiences, the coordination of the technical assistance with the financial one, have been and still remain in the focus of the actions of the Albanian Government for the fulfillment of the MDG-s and the action plans of the Summits and International Conferences. The Albanian Government in cooperation with UNDP have defined the priority cooperation projects in the field of environment, extension of the internet at schools, encouragement of the return in the country of the Albanian students graduated abroad, to contribute to the development of the country and in the filed of the mobilization of the contributions of Diaspora. We are fully committed to pass into a concrete cooperation for the fulfillment of these projects.
The priorities of our foreign policy are in compliance with the aspiration and the great efforts for the better world. Albania has and is developing good relations with all the countries of the democratic world. Albania has played and will continue to play the role it deserves for the strengthening of peace and stability in the region and the world, expanding and further intensifying the diplomatic, economic, political and cultural relations with all these countries.
The necessity for the regional and global cooperation has never been more intensive than now. We believe that UN will continue to be an important organization to all the member countries, and in particular we assess that under the deep and thorough reforming process, our organization adapts itself and better responds to the changing world, to the actual realities, the actual developments and challenges and the global perspectives.
After the 90’s and in particular at present, Albania has re-dimensioned its role and its commitment in UN. Actually, we not simply vote, but also negotiate, discuss, maintain our attitude, support and contribute to the implementation of the important resolutions of this organization. Albania is joining the other states and is offering the direct contribution to the UN and after the one-year commitment in ECOSOC we can make our positive summary of our contributions as its member. In the future, we aim and we are preparing to undertake more serious commitments in the Organization. The Albanian government, trying to enhance its contribution in the issues of security and peace is getting ready to candidate as a non-permanent member in the Security Council.
We have supported the point of view that UN needs to have the legitimacy and opportunity to adapt quickly to the changing world. Thus, we totally support its reforming and in particular the reforming of the Security Council. Albania is very much interested that the reform is complete. We will continue to offer our modest contribution in this aspect and we also are committed to actively participate even in other issues of mutual interest where the role of the small countries is important.
Honorable Ladies and Gentlemen, please allow me to greet on this occasion the representatives of Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Libya and Romania, the countries that joined the UN the same day as Albania. Thank you for your participation and your attention.
Thank You!
MFA har udsendt pressemeddelelse om: conclusions of 12 December 2005 of the Council on General Foreign Relations for Albania and the other countries of Western Balkans
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs commends the conclusions of 12 December 2005 of the Council on General Foreign Relations for Albania and the other countries of Western Balkans, which supported the expressed conclusions of the European Commission by the beginning of November in the Annual Report on the progress in the framework of the Stabilization and Association. The Council of EU re-affirms the full commitment of the Union for the implementation of Thessaloniki agenda for the Western Balkans, highlighting that their future as potential candidate countries, belongs to the European Union.
MFA expresses its special gratitude for the Conclusions of the Council for Albania, which hails the actual progress in Albania and takes into consideration the judgment of the European Commission for the conclusion of the negotiations for the SAA as the outcome of this progress.
The MFA avails itself of this opportunity to guarantee once more the EU, that the Albanian Government is determined to follow the way of deep reforms, so as to further strengthen the public governing and to achieve concrete results in the fight against organized crime and corruption. This is the way for the successful implementation of the future Agreement of Stabilization and Association.
Minister of Defence Fatmir Mediu in the meeting of South-eastern Europe Ministers of Defence
December 8, 2005. The meeting of South-eastern Europe Ministers of Defence, members of SEDM, was held in Washington. The Minister of Defence Fatmir Mediu has attended this event. The SEDM is head by Mr. Besnik Bare.
The Defence Secretary of USA, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld, greeted the SEDM Ministerial meeting. The Annual meeting of SEDM members has made possible the membership of a new country, Ukraine.
The most important decision of SEDM meeting was the dislocation SEEBRIG Brigade in humanitarian mission in Afghanistan for the next year, in ISAF mission. During this meeting, it was also approved the budget for this initiative that include the countries of our area in a peace operation.
The Ministers of Defence have appreciated the fact that the progress of this current year was finalised successfully, dislocating SEEBRIG Brigade in Kabul. The Minister of Defence Fatmir Mediu, during his speech, has appreciated the role of member countries and the contribute of anyone to export peace and humanism. The Minister Mediu said the good cooperation between our countries would influence in the evaluation of positive values, helping the people of Afghanistan.
During his permanence in Washington, the Minister Mediu had a meeting with the Defence Secretary of USA. Mr. Donald Rumsfeld has appreciated the contribute of Albania to conserve the world peace and security and to flight the terrorism. He said Also that USA support the Albanian efforts, through the reformation process, to join the Euro-Atlantic structures.
On the other side the Minister of Defence Fatmir Mediu has thanked Mr. Rumsfeld for the consistent support given by USA to our AF during these years.
He sadid ‘we are engaged to reform the Albanian AF and our aim is to be prepared to receives the official invitation to join NATO in the Summit 2008. We are working to build a small and well-trained army. Thereafter the Minister Mediu said the public opinion and the politic support our AF in the way of the reformation process.
He said ‘we hope to increase our budget, it may be 2%of GDP for 2010.
The Minister Mediu has requested the USA may be one of the states that will support Albania during the NATO Summit 2006. He has introduced to them the work done by AAF and he has requested their support and experiences as examples of the reformation way.
During his permanence in Washington, the Minister Mediu met Congressmen and high officials of State Department and National Security Council. During the meetings with the Senator of US, Mr. Jef Sessions, with Deputy Secretary of Defence, Mr. Daniel Fata and with the General of American Air Forces, Mr. Lance Smith, the Minister Mediu has expressed the willingness to realise the reforms in AAF.
The Minister Mediu has paid a visit in United Command, Norfolk and he has held a lecture in the University of Defence.
Tilfredsheden i Albanien
Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke's magasin »Kontakt« bragte i nr. 3 / Juni 2005 en artikel med overskriften: Du store verden! Glad og rig eller?.
Spørgsmålet var om der er en sammenhæng mellem indkomst og tilfredshed i forskellige lande. Artiklen bygger på en bog af Richard Layard: Happiness - Lessons from a New Science. Se: http://cep.lse.ac.uk/layard/ og http://www.lse.ac.uk/people/r.layard@lse.ac.uk/
Billedet kan forstørres ved at klikke på det. Når det forstørrede billede er kommet frem, så klik evt. én gang til på det for at få det frem i maksimal størrelse.
Diagrammet skal ikke tolkes »tæt«, for sandsynligvis er det - trods de samme spørgsmål og indikatorer - ikke helt det samme man har målt i de enkelte lande. Men det ser dog ud til at de rigeste lande alle ligger i top (området øverst th), mens de fattigere lande (hele området fra top til bund i venstre tredjedel af diagrammet) ligger meget spredt.
Albanien - og lande der økonomisk er en smule bedre stillet: Makedonien og Tyrkiet - ligger i det triste område nederst tv (= fattige lande med lav tilfredshed).
Lande som Rusland og Ukraine - der er lidt bedre stillet - er blandt de få der ligger endnu lavere end Albanien mht tilfredshed.
Grækenland ligger nogenlunde midt i diagrammet (middel indkomst, middel tilfredshed).
Ovenstående kan findes som separat fil på: http://bjoerna.net/albanien/tilfredshed.htm
Konference i Tirana om Centralbank-anliggender. Blandt talerne: Malcolm Knight: "Central banking: some "secrets of success"". Dr Knight er/is General Manager of the BIS (The Bank for International Settlements). The Bank of Albania Open Forum on "Preconditions for launching inflation targeting in Albania", Tirana, 1-2 December 2005.
Abstract: There are three key elements to the consensus that has emerged about successful central banking: first, a clear mandate and objectives; second, sufficient autonomy to perform mandated functions; and third, accountability for policy actions and the stewardship of resources. The clear objective and substantial autonomy given to the Bank of Albania in the 1997 law provide a good foundation for its operations. Continued clarity of message, further refinements in the monetary policy process and constant attention to the sound management of the central bank are essential for retaining public trust and permitting the central bank to achieve its policy objectives.
Hele talen kan findes på: http://www.bis.org/speeches/sp051201.htm.
Nedenfor Bankdirektør Fullani's velkomst- og afslutningstaler. Fullani er Chef for BoA, Bank of Albania:
Greeting speech by Mr. Ardian Fullani, Governor of the Bank of Albania at the Open Forum “Preconditions for Inflation Targeting in Albania”, Tirana, December 1-2, 2005
Publication Date 01.12.2005
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the Open Forum “Preconditions for Inflation Targeting in Albania”. I am extremely pleased and proud that I have the honor to welcome so many distinguished national and international guests.
For the Bank of Albania it is the first time to organize an event of this character and with so many distinguished guests. I am very grateful that you accepted my invitation and warmly welcome you. I look forward to hearing your comments on the proposals that Bank of Albania will be presenting today and tomorrow. There will be ample time to hear all your comments and to exchange ideas on Albanian policies.
Our main theme in this Forum is concerned with the principal objective of the central bank. According to our central bank law The principle objective of Bank of Albania is to achieve and maintain price stability. The regime we are going to discuss here for achieving this objective is Inflation Targeting.
Our present formal monetary policy regime is called a heterodox Monetary Targeting. But within the central bank we use even different names for it. Some call the monetary regime a “two pillar” approach as it has features of Monetary and Inflation Targeting. Often also, the current regime is already referred to as Inflation Targeting.
Under the present monetary policy regime Bank of Albania adheres to a monetary program. Monetary policy aims at administering the money supply and interest rates with the view of achieving price stability in the short to medium term. The exchange rate is freely floating. Bank of Albania is considering to move to a fully fledged Inflation Targeting regime. Based on available information today, we consider this regime to be a good choice. We envisage moving smoothly to this new framework within a realistic time frame. I say here deliberately smoothly. Many steps have to be made gradually in time. Furthermore we have to analyze carefully all the new information that will become available to us.
The main reasons for adopting Inflation Targeting concern (more) transparency and (more) credibility. The central bank wants to move to a more transparent monetary policy regime with a strong anchoring of expectations over the medium term. According to Bank of Albania, Inflation Targeting is considered to be the appropriate monetary policy regime for Albania in these respects. In our current conduct of monetary policy we follow rules but also take discretion. A regime that provides well-defined and unambiguous objectives would bring us more “constrained discretion”.
The discussions today and tomorrow will focus on the conditions that we have to meet before formally launching Inflation Targeting. Here in Albania we are aware that essential requirements have to be fulfilled for obtaining a successful IT regime. Some of these preconditions do not depend on Bank of Albania, such as the fiscal stance. Other preconditions do not only depend on Bank of Albania, such as structural reforms or deepening of the financial system. During these two days I hope to find out on which of the listed preconditions for Albania we share the same views, and where our views differ.
Next to this open discussion on the conditions for a successful monetary policy regime, there is another important reason for our gathering here. By means of this Forum the central bank adds to transparency and contributes to the enhancement of the cooperation within the region. I refer here to the region in a broad sense. Bank of Albania finds good relations with neighboring countries extremely important. Coordinated efforts to meet conditions and requirements that are set internationally are paramount for Albania and the Balkan region to attain the deserved place on the European map. They will bring economic and social prosperity to the Albanian people and other people in the region.
Albania is a relatively small country and for that reason we have to remain modest. But at the same time I can honestly say that I am proud, extremely proud, that the central bank of Albania can help in opening the way to a further and hopefully rapid convergence of Albania with Europe and other, more developed countries. Better communication lines between Bank of Albania, regional central banks and international organizations will pave the way for a further development of commercial banks and other institutions. Ultimately a solid bridge will be built between Albania and the outside world, entailing a soundly developed financial system, a sustainable economic rate of growth and higher welfare levels for Albania.
In order to have productive discussions I wish to emphasize the open character of our meeting here. The Forum is deliberately called an Open Forum. I will appreciate any comments that can contribute to the further institutional building of the central bank of Albania up to the highest international standards. Only a discussion free in spirit – or as we say in Albanian “i hapur” – can bring us closer to each other at the same high levels.
Now coming to the end of this speech, I wish you all some fruitful but at the same time pleasant days here in Tirana. I am sure that our representatives of Bank of Albania will present their main views in a transparent way and I look forward to the discussion that will be started by the Panel Members.
I now give the floor to the Chairman for starting the Open Forum.
- - -
Farewell Speech by Mr.Ardian Fullani, Governor of the Bank of Albania, at the Open Forum “Preconditions for Inflation Targeting in Albania”
Publication Date 02.12.2005
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I want to conclude this Forum by saying first and foremost that we have had two very productive days! It was a great pleasure for me to listen to your views, constructive suggestions and fruitful ideas concerning monetary policy in Albania. I thank you very much for all your contributions!
At the end of this Forum I would like to give my personal views on the road ahead for Bank of Albania. But I will first put some developments in perspective.
Since 1990 and until today in 2005, the Albanian economy has been transformed from an isolated centrally planned to an open market economy. Before 1990 there use to be only a state mono-bank. Nowadays, there is a central bank with a network of commercial banks and other financial institutions. In 2000, the central bank began to fully rely on indirect instruments for conducting its monetary policy.
As you can see, Bank of Albania has a relatively short history of central banking. In my opinion, the central bank is moving in the right direction. But time has come to decide how to proceed in the near to further future. This has been the main reason for organizing this Open Forum.
For our country, an ultimate objective is the accession to the European Union. Accession to the European Union implies a full membership. As a consequence, it implies eventually the adoption of the euro after the accession date. EU accession will ultimately induce entering into ERM II, and thereafter adopting the full legal tender of the euro. There will be an automatic adherence to the monetary policy of the European Central Bank. However, these developments still belong to the future.
Having this EU-time path in mind, we are aware of the changing world surrounding us. Albania as a small and open economy is part of this dynamic world. Today, we observe a rapid globalization, liberalization, continuous financial deepening and broadening, with new financial innovations in a always more interconnected world. Albania is influenced by these developments on a day to day basis. Albania therefore, needs a daily monitoring of new developments and it needs to cope with these international challenges.
Before reaching the ultimate EU-accession objective in this constantly changing world, there is still a long distance to cross. As it concerns monetary policy, Bank of Albania today thinks that Inflation Targeting is the way to take. Better highways will bring us more quickly from Tirana to the Airport. Likewise, the better monetary policy is able to maintain price stability, the quicker Albania can take the road and reach the levels of neighboring Europe with their higher welfare levels.
We are fully aware that adopting fully fledged Inflation Targeting is a process that requires hard work with several preconditions in place, as these two days have underlined. Getting to Inflation Targeting is more of a marathon than a steeplechase. Our two days here have shown that it is not a discrete one-time decision that resolves all problems. It should also be a smooth process. This holds in particular for a transitioning country like Albania. Our country faces different challenges and virtues compared with developed countries.
Now, how is our Working Agenda set?
I want to distinguish between the working areas within and outside the central bank. And the working area outside the central bank can be split into Albania and the international environment.
I see the further building of the central bank as a recognized and respected institution as one of my primary tasks. Qualified young and ambitious people need to help us bringing our internal discussions and work to higher levels. Cutting-edge discussions and fundamental studies are needed to make the central bank choosing the best policies, on monetary policy as well as on supervision and financial stability (in a broad sense). The human resources capacities need to be secured. Inflation Targeting is to be further scrutinized in all respects. Econometric models need further development for forecasting inflation and analyzing transmission channels. More statistical work needs to be done, in particular on micro information from the real side of the economy. A specialized unit should concentrate on all areas that cover the consumer price index. A clear and professional communication strategy is to be developed. Information on monetary policy is to be translated into a language for the different population groups in our country. Next to all these activities, we need to continue our discussions on the Monetary Decision Making arrangements that are deemed essential for Inflation Targeting. These activities within Bank of Albania are on my agenda for tomorrow.
Outside the central bank in Albania we need to take all efforts for a further development of the financial markets and other transmission channels. We cannot do this on our own. In this respect we should establish a deeper constructive collaboration with other national institutions. We should elaborate with the Ministry of Finance and the Parliament on the legal issues for strengthening the central bank’s independence. With the Ministry of Finance we have already projects, such as the anti-cash, credit office, T-bills market and so on.. But a topic high on our and the agenda of the Ministry of Finance’s agenda should be the statistical framework. Statistics by means of Instat need to become timelier and need to be improved for the purposes of policies by the central bank as well as by the government. As discussed also these days, we should take all efforts in bridging the gap between Bank of Albania and the other central banks in Europe. The central bank law served Albania at the time it was laid down. Now at the brink of the year 2006 we all agree that it needs amendments.
Governance at the central bank needs to reach the levels of governance at the central banks in more developed countries. We need a full independence of monetary policy on the one hand, and of fiscal and other government policy on the other hand. We need more professionalism. We need monetary policy conducted with a view to the future. We need to improve on accountability. We need to make our people contestable within and outside Albania as it concerns the policies. I would like to see more open discussions where we discuss elaborately about our differences in opinions but at the end of the day also reach agreements that - as their sole purpose - benefit the Albanian economy.
Our cooperation with international organizations like the International Monetary Fund will be maintained and open discussions about consistency issues with the new monetary strategy will carry on. Cooperation with the European Commission should become intensive in order to harmonize all central bank requirements in line with EU standards. In my view EU is one of the highest priorities on the Agenda of Albania, and the central bank will provide all cooperation in making its central bank law and all further rules and regulations according to EU-standards.
Next to this, the relationships with the Bank for International Settlements and the European Central Bank need to become closer. As a special point I want to highlight again the cooperation with the central banks in the region. We can more often share our views about monetary policy, supervision and financial stability. We can more often have common projects. One of the big projects I have in mind is the process of preparation for the accession to the European Union.
As you see, our Agenda is quite full. Probably not only in the short term but also for the medium term. But let me stop here.
I am sure we will meet again in the future. But I conclude here by saying that I hope to meet you again in the very near future. At these occasions I will update you about any steps and progress we have been making within Bank of Albania! Today I spoke a lot; tomorrow we will start implementing what we said today.
Once more, thank you very much and have a safe return home.
Bajram Ibraj, Chefen for Statspolitiet har holdt tale i anledningen af afslutningen af et kursus i strategisk ledelse for Seniorpolitifolk
The speech of Director General of State Police, Bajram Ibraj in the ceremony held on the occasion of graduation of State Police senior officers in the completion of the “Strategic Direction” training course
It is my and the Directorate General of State Police special privilege to have your participation in the ceremony of graduation of police officers who attended second training course in qualification of senior police officers.
On this occasion, I welcome all the guests and participants in this ceremony of graduation. I would like to thank specially Mr. Ambassador and Mr. Minister for their participation in this ceremony.
Development of courses of this kind carried out in co-operation with the University of Tirana and assistance of foreign missions in our country as well is a new experience which is gradually changing into a tradition. These training courses have been carried out in the framework of intensification of measures and responsibilities on reformation of State Police and approximation of standards of its activity as well to those of the Euro Atlantic countries.
I would like to compliment all of you who were selected to take part in this prestigious Training Course by completing it successfully. In particular, I would like to compliment Chief Inspector Krenar Hila, Chief Inspector Saimir Muça and Chief Inspector Pëllumb Seferi, for acquiring high achievements.
I express my conviction that during the 13- weeks of the performance of this Training Course you have had the opportunity to acquaint the most strategic management modern ideas of Western Europe and North America police services. It should not be forget the fact that this was training and everything was performed in a class. Participation in this course is not a passport to achieve successes, since the most part of this Training Course initiates now, because you have to put into practice what you have learned.
In putting into practice the knowledge you have acquainted you will face with the resistance to make changes from the highest level up to the lowest level as your position. But State Police will change because we are determined to fulfil our aspirations and those of the most developed countries, since we want to be member of the European Union.
Honourable participants,
Allow me to say you that as all the other institutions of the public administration, State Police is being regularising to important reforms related to important issues such as its organization and functioning. This is why we are carrying out important and consecutive changes. We have established working groups and the work continues to prepare the new law for the police, system of ranks, change of the police educational system, preparation of a 10 year strategy for development of police in our country, etc.
All these factors aim to build and make the function of a police organization in compliance to contemporary standards in strengthening the fight to prevent and attack crime, and in particular organized crime and corruption.
Our priority is to define our police service’s features, to reconsider and reformulate structures, to deliver our equipments and human resources in order to approach the dynamics of changes of the society that we serve.
All these factors demand police officers and leaders who acquire contemporary and dynamics concepts and capable to adapt to demands for change in order to fulfil those standards which now are not only obligations to be fulfilled but also our interior needs to develop.
This is why we have set out as our priority to appoint capable leaders to further go on with these changes, because we want to fulfil in time our demands to join the European Community.
Fulfilment of our institutional duties and demands for change show the need of assistance and supervision of our partners. This is why they are supporting us with their advices and assistance. On this occasion, I find the opportunity to thank them once more for their important contribution.
Between Directorate General of State Police, PAMCA mission, ICITAP program and College of Academy of Essex in New Jersey it was signed the Memorandum of Agreement for trainings in State Police in order to further continue the performance of training courses of this kind. Police officers of senior role will participate in these trainings with the aim of achieving the quality of management and leadership in all the police service levels.
In conclusion I would like to thank:
The instructive staff for the contribution offered in conveying knowledge and exchange of different experiences of managements. In particular I would like to thank Mr. Anthony Finnerty, the counsellor of trainings, who, together with Mr. Piro Laze, Director of Academy, attended from near the progress of this training course.
I thank for the support and contribution offered:
Mr. David Finnimore - for management of traffic
Mr. Derek Driver - for security in the community
Mr. Rocco Miscia - for the leadership
Professor Spyridon Tyriakakis - for the integrated management of border
Mr. Phil King - for the fight against terrorism
Doctor Jennifer Tooze - for the human resources
Mr. Doug Fuller - for the human resources
I would also like to thank Professor Doctor Adem Tamo, Mr Sotiraq Hroni, Mr. Fatmir Bezarti, and the State Police staff who managed the process for participation in this training course.
I would also thank PAMECA mission, ICITAP program and in particular their Leaders, Mr Klaus Schmidt and Mr. Bruce Hintz.
In conclusion, I would like to thank all the supportive staff, and in particular Language Assistances, without their help we wouldn’t have achieved the success of this Training Course.
In conclusion let me compliment you for having carried out this Training Course successfully.
I thank you!
Tiranë, on 08.12.2005
Pågribelse The Joint declaration of chief/Commissar Josif Shembari, Police Director of Vlore District and Mr. Petrit Çano, Prosecutor of Vlora: Police officers have captured Sokol Ramadani in the act, he is charged with kidnapping and murder Agim Gjikondi a few days before.
11.12.2005 As we have been informing you, on 07.12.2005, at 20.30’, Xheko Gjikondi went to the Vlora Police Commissariat and denounced that her husband, Agim Alem Gjikondi, born in 1947, and native in Vlora was disappeared under unknown circumstances and during that day she had not contacted neither with her family nor with her relatives. Agim Gjikondi worked as an exchange dealer in Vlora’s trade. This fact required special attention in the investigation of circumstances of his disappearance.
This information was soon issued not only to the Directorate General of State Police and to Ministry of Interior but also to the Prosecutor’s Office of Vlora which on its part, carried out the preliminary investigations and recorded this penal proceeding with nr.1371 on the suspicion that the criminal offence of murder was committed.
On 08.12.2005 more than 90 police officers of Police Directorate of Vlore District in co-operation with the Delta Force unit and the Fier and Tirana Quick Intervention Forces carried out 120 controls in different areas such as in the Risili, Llakatund, Bestrovë, Mountain of Shashicë, Forest of Soda and Zvërnecit, Llogara villages etc.
Criminal Police sectors made evident and kept under supervising all the suspicious elements with criminal tendencies and during these days, 22 persons have been taken to police stations. Police forces inquired, investigated and verified these persons.
Prosecutor of Vlora set up an investigative group framed by the most specialized prosecutors and legal officers of State Police structures in Police Directorate of Vlore District.
Due to very professional investigative actions, the investigative group managed to identify the person whom Agim Gjikondi had the last contact. Based on this information the investigative group carried out the investigative action with very professionalism by using the most modern techniques and equipments in order to identify and capture this person. Due to this professional operation, police forces managed to localize the area in the villages of suburb of Vlora where the suspected person was.
On 10.12.2005, several police forces including here structures of Quick Intervention Forces and those of the Delta Force set up services in some villages of Vlora. At 08.00’ in the centre of Risili village, police forces manage to capture in flagrance the citizen Sokol Dervish Ramadani, born in 1988 and native in Risili. He is the relative of the citizen Agim Gjikondi and is the person whom Agim Gjikondi had the lact contact.
The first preliminary investigations carried out after his arrest demonstrated that Sokol Ramadani was the person who had kidnapped and shot Agim Gjikondi to death. On 11.12.2005 at 03:00’ police forces found the corpse of Agim Gjikondi in one of the tunnels in the suburb of Risili village. The investigative action carried out in the scene showed that Agim Gjikondi was shot to death within 24 hours.
According to up to the present investigations Sokol Ramadani had kidnapped Gjikondi to arrogate the amount of money of Euro 3.000 that the victim had that day.
During the days when the victim had been kidnapped no notice in exchange for money was issued to his family.
Investigative actions are continuing in order to fully clear the mechanism of the incident as well as to identify if other persons had been involved in this criminal offence.
We thank the media for co-operating with us and for any other development on the investigation of this incident we will give further information.
SERBIEN og MONTENEGRO. SERBIEN (alene)
Det Amerikanske UM har Juli 2004 offentliggjort en 'Background Note' om Serbien - Montenegro: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5388.htm ... Det Engelske Udenrigsministeriums 'Country Advice' til rejsende kan findes på adressen: http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket%2FXcelerate%2FShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029390590&a=KCountryAdvice&aid=1013618386622 ... En biografi over tidligere Forbundspræsident Kostunica kan læses på Serbiske Politikere ...
Mht ICTYs sag mod tidligere Præsident Milosevic, se (evt.) under ICTY ovenfor.
Præsidentvalg i Serbien. Boris Tadic blev i Juni 2004 valgt som Præsident. Seneste Parlamentsvalg: 031228.
Kosovo / Kosóva: Den Serbiske Regering skriver: Negotiating team adopts rules of procedure and agrees formation of working groups
Belgrade, Dec 14, 2005 - The Team for political negotiations on the future status of Kosovo-Metohija adopted today the rules of procedure and agreed the formation of the Team's Secretariat and five working groups within the Team.
The press service of the Serbian president stated that these groups are for constitutional and legal matters, property and economic issues, cultural heritage and church issues, decentralisation, and return.
The participants in the meeting unanimously agreed that at the upcoming negotiations, international law and the principle of preservation of sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state must be respected. They stressed that a solution must be sought through dialogue and compromise, and that that solution must be lasting and stable.
The statement says that the agreement was reached that all aspects and issues concerning the beginning of negotiations on the future status of Kosovo and Metohija would be examined until the next meeting.
The Team reached a full concord on all issues that were discussed and agreed that the next meeting should be held as soon as possible, it is said in the statement.
The meeting which was held at the Serbian president's Cabinet was attended by the main negotiators, co-presidents of the team - Serbian President Boris Tadic, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Draskovic, all members of the Team, and the Team's legal advisor Thomas Fleiner.
USA >< Serbien FoNet skriver: BELGRADE -- Thursday – US Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro Michael Polt said he would travel to Washington D.C. on Tuesday to consult his government on future US policy towards SCG, adding that co-operation with the Hague Tribunal would top the agenda, FoNet agency reports.
Polt warned that if Tribunal chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte submits a negative report on this co-operation to the UN Security Council, it was quite clear that Serbia and Montenegro’s road to membership in NATO, the Partnership for Peace and the EU would face a wall. “The country will not move in the direction its citizens want it to until this obstacle is removed”.
Polt also said the lack of SCG co-operation with the Tribunal on apprehending Hague fugitives Ratko Mladic's and Radovan Karadzic's was under sharper focus after general Ante Gotovina’s arrest and extradition to the Hague.
MONTENEGRO (alene)
Præsidentvalg 030511: Filip Vujanovic blev valgt. Seneste Parlamentsvalg 021020.
International Crisis Group har udsendt en rapport om Montenegro. Rapporten kan findes på: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/getfile.cfm?id=2077&tid=3823&type=pdf&l=1 Nedenfor følger Executive Summary:
Montenegro’s Independence Drive, Europe Report N°169, 7 December 2005
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Montenegrins are more likely than not to vote in April 2006 to break away from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. It is time for the European Union, whose diplomacy in 2001-2002 created the manifestly dysfunctional confederation, to make clear that it will accept whatever decision Montenegro’s citizens make, and encourage those opposing independence to participate peacefully in the referendum process. At a time when the international community needs to concentrate on resolving Kosovo’s status, it is important for the EU not to be seen as giving any comfort, inadvertently or otherwise, to those still-dangerous Serbian nationalist forces who may be prepared to risk potentially destabilising actions, not only in Montenegro but elsewhere in the region.
The State Union’s Constitutional Charter of 4 February 2003 permits either party to begin independence procedures as early as February 2006. Opinion polls in Montenegro suggest that pro-independence forces are likely to prevail, though that is not a foregone conclusion. The State Union appears to be equally unpopular in each of its constituent parts. But the independence question remains sensitive domestically both for nationalist and emotional reasons, and because of uncertainty about property and pension rights for the many citizens of one republic who live in the other. And it remains sensitive internationally because of questions about how it would affect the political climate in a still highly nationalist and significantly unreformed Serbia, the political and constitutional climate in a still fragile Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the diplomatic climate around the Kosovo negotiations that have just begun.
Those sensitivities notwithstanding, Montenegro has taken major steps to earn the right to make its own decision free of outside pressure. It is the only republic of the former Yugoslavia that has formed a genuinely multi-ethnic government without internal conflict. It is also the only one to volunteer reparations for the wars of the 1990s, and it enjoys good relations with its neighbours, including Kosovo, Albania, Bosnia and Croatia. Its economy has been largely self-sufficient since 1999, and its reforms – privatisation, restitution of nationalised property and banking sector adjustments – are well ahead of Serbia’s, as demonstrated by higher per capita foreign private investment. These differences are reflected in official EU assessments and in the twin-track Stabilisation and Association process the EU recently established. The Montenegrin government also appears to be cleaning up its act with respect to organised crime, which has long caused international concern. There is a strong feeling in Podgorica that its opportunity to advance faster toward EU membership is held hostage to Serbia’s often retrograde policies.
Against this background, Montenegro’s neighbours (other than Serbia), the U.S. and a number of EU member states appear relaxed about accepting a referendum’s results: Montenegro seems objectively to fulfil the requirements the EU used when it recognised the independence of other former Yugoslav republics, and it has operated as a de facto independent state since 1999. But other EU member states and the foreign policy apparatus of the Council and the European Commission remain concerned about independence implications, to the point of pressing the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission to delay pronouncing on preconditions for the referendum, threatening consequences in the Stabilisation and Association process, and at least tacitly encouraging the anti-independence opposition.
Any effort to freeze the Montenegrin independence issue until Kosovo’s final status is worked out would risk repeating the mistakes of the early 1990s, when Western reluctance to face up to the impending break-up of Yugoslavia encouraged extremists. Already there are indications that Serbian nationalist elements, in both Belgrade and Montenegro’s anti-independence opposition, interpret EU discomfort as a green light to reject dialogue with the government, boycott a referendum and possibly resort to violence. There are signs that some elements are discussing the organisation of a secessionist Serbian Autonomous Region inside Montenegro, a move reminiscent of the precursors to the wars in Bosnia and Croatia.
There are risks in Montenegrin independence: probably the most serious of them is that the immediate reaction in Serbia could be to the political advantage of that republic’s most extreme elements. However, at least from a slightly longer-term perspective, resolving Montenegro’s status definitively (likewise Kosovo’s) would be likely on balance to contribute to regional stability by encouraging Serbia – its most essential potential component – to concentrate at last on its own internal problems, beginning by finally carrying through advertised reforms of the military and security services as well as halting the army’s practice of using Montenegrin ports for smuggling weapons, immigrants and other goods into the EU.
In any event, the EU needs to begin sending a consistent message that should include the basic point that it is prepared to accept whatever decision Montenegro’s citizens make about their future – provided it is done transparently and democratically, pursuant to internationally accepted standards.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
To the European Union:
1. Formulate a consensus policy with respect to the Montenegrin independence question that includes the following elements:
(a) no linkage to conclusion of the Kosovo final status process;
(b) a clear message that whether to conduct a referendum is an internal matter for Montenegro to decide free of external political pressure, and that the EU will accept the results of such a referendum provided it is conducted transparently, democratically and in accordance with internationally accepted standards;
(c) encouragement to the opposition in Montenegro to discuss the referendum issue with the government and engage peacefully in the process, without boycott, if a referendum is called; and
(d) readiness, in the event Montenegro chooses independence, to offer technical assistance to both republics in the State Union to achieve a “velvet divorce” with respect to the settlement of technical issues, and to modify the current Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) so that both republics can continue forward in the European integration process without negotiating a new SAA.
2. Encourage the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission to issue its report on referendum standards by 20 December 2005.
To the Venice Commission:
3. Issue its report on referendum standards by 20 December 2005.
To the Governments of Montenegro and Serbia:
4. In the event Montenegro chooses independence, strive for a “velvet divorce”, including smooth regulation of issues such as dual citizenship, property rights, pensions, taxation, health care, labour rights and schooling, and consider whether there are additional areas of common interest in which cooperation should be continued such as diplomatic infrastructure and sports.
To the Government of Serbia:
5. State publicly that it wishes to maintain good relations with Montenegro regardless of how that republic decides with respect to independence and encourage Montenegro’s opposition parties to talk constructively with the government about the possible referendum.
6. In the event Montenegro chooses independence, pass a law permitting Montenegrins in Serbia to continue to enjoy their current rights and privileges.
To the Government of Montenegro:
7. Modify the election law to include the technical recommendations from the 2001 reports of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
8. In the event of independence, pass a law permitting Serbs from Serbia in Montenegro to continue to enjoy their current rights and privileges.
To Montenegro’s Opposition Parties:
9. Discuss a possible referendum constructively with the government and if a referendum is called, participate peacefully in the process without boycott.
To the Serbian Orthodox Church:
10. State unequivocally that the Church does not take a position on the political question of Montenegrin independence, which individual citizens should decide in a peaceful and democratic process.
To the Army of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro:
11. Declare publicly through the minister of defence and the chief of the general staff that the army does not take a position on the political question of Montenegrin independence and will not involve itself in a possible referendum.
12. Leave restoration of public order, should that become necessary before, during or after a referendum, to the Montenegrin police and, in the event Montenegro becomes independent, avoid any provocative actions, particularly relating to the movement or sudden withdrawal of military assets.
Belgrade/Podgorica/Brussels, 7 December 2005
MAKEDONIEN
Det Engelske Udenrigsministeriums 'Country Advice' til rejsende kan findes på adressen: http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket%2FXcelerate%2FShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029390590&a=KCountryAdvice&aid=1013618386163 ... Det Amerikanske UM har Maj 2004 offentliggjort en 'Background Note' om Makedonien: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/26759.htm
Der er omkring 25 % etniske Albanere i Makedonien. Folketælling afholdtes 021101-021105.
Præsidentvalg i Maj 2004: Branko Crvenkovski - hidtidig PM - blev valgt (efter Boris Trajkovski som omkom ved en flyulykke). Seneste Parlamentsvalg fandt sted 020915. Der kan henvises til flg. OSCE/ODIHR-oversigtsside: http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/field_activities/skopje2002/.
Folkeafstemningen 041107 om decentralisering (= imødekommelse af Makedonien-Albanske interesser): Folkeafstemningen "faldt". Stemmedeltagelsen var kun omkring 26 %. Hvis afstemningen skulle have kunnet udvirke en ændring af decentraliseringslovgivningen, skulle deltagelsen have været mindst 50%, og desuden skulle der have været flertal mod lovgivningen. Det var ventet at stemmedeltagelsen ville have været noget større, selv om både Regeringspartierne og den Albanske minoritet anbefalede at man blev hjemme. Man kan nu gå videre i overensstemmelse med Ohrid-aftalerne.
Frankrig skeptisk/negativ mht Makedoniens optagelse i EU. RFE skriver: Macedonia's hopes of formally becoming a candidate for European Union membership this year suffered a blow on 12 December when France said the EU needs to finance its existing enlargement and debate future institutions before taking in new members, Reuters reported the same day. "Since in six months...we're going to look at the prospects for enlargement and deepening, it seems normal to me to defer this until then," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said in Brussels. The European Commission has recommended that the EU grant Macedonia candidate status as part of a strategy to integrate the western Balkans. France, the Netherlands, and Denmark favor a delay in making Macedonia a candidate for membership, while Great Britain opposes the delay, Reuters reported. "The decisions are taken by consensus which means that it is up to the EU now. We expect the commitments that the EU undertook to be confirmed at this summit and we will continue to fulfill our obligations," Macedonian Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva told the BBC Macedonian Service. BW
EU og Makedonien. MIA skriver: Disagreements over the EU budget in the period 2007-2013, as well as the issue of granting Macedonia candidate-status for Union membership will be in the focus of attention during the two-day summit of heads of states and governments of EU member-countries, which begins in Brussels on Thursday.
EU chair-country Great Britain had to submit Wednesday a new Budget proposal, which envisages more funds in the joint treasury, in an attempt to find a compromise solution after the previous proposal was fiercely criticized by almost all Union members.
Minister for European Affairs in the British Cabinet, Douglas Anderson stated that the new proposals "are challenging and interesting", but before all "realistic".
"However, diplomatic sources in London suggest that the objective of the new British plan is to "isolate" France at the summit regarding the Euro-budget and the granting of candidate status to Macedonia, which could become "hostage" of EU's poor state.
London officials claim, "Macedonia's chances to get what it deserves are not lost", because "all 24 countries, except one" are in favor of the country becoming a candidate for EU membership, because it is a decision that rewards the huge political progress in Macedonia, which is "the only functional multiethnic democracy at the Balkans, but sends a strong message to the entire region", in light of the beginning of talks regarding Kosovo's future status.
France believes that Union's internal condition should be consolidated before the new wave of enlargement, with the issue to be discussed in the first half of 2006, with Austria as chair-country.
British Ambassador to Paris, John Holmes has warned France not to try and relate the issue of Macedonia's candidate status with the Budget problem as means to exercise pressure on London.
"This is not the way to increase the pressure over the Budget. There have been certain reserves towards Macedonia, but the European Commission has prepared a report that recommends the granting of candidate-status to the country", Holmes emphasized.
Makfax skriver tilsv.: John Holmes, the British Ambassador to Paris warned France today to restrain from connecting the issue of Macedonian accession to the European Union with the EU Budget, aimed at piling pressure on Britain as presiding over EU.
"If this is a way to pile pressure on us in the negotiations over the Budget, it bears no importance", said Holmes today at a press conference in Paris.
He added that although some hesitation relating Macedonia emerged, the European Commission recommended granting a candidate-status t the country.
The British Ambassador stressed that his country is for granting a candidacy status to Macedonia, however, that issue was not "of key importance" to UK.
France called on EU countries yesterday to reconsider the onset of new wave of enlargement by accession of Macedonia.
German MPs to inquire Ministers on El Masri's apprehension in Macedonia. Makfax skriver:
The members of the German Parliament will question the members of the Cabinet on their information about Khaled el-Masri.
El Masri, a Lebanese-born German citizen, says he was kidnapped on December 31, 2003 by the CIA in Macedonia, taken to an Afghan jail to be held in custody for four moths.
He says he was freed in Albania in March 2004.
The Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was Schroeder's Chief of Cabinet at the time El Masri was taken in, Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries and Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble are to appear before German MPs to answer their questions.
The case has moved centre-stage in Germany amid wider political controversy over claims that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency may have used torture on terrorism suspects in Europe or moved them via German airports.
GRÆKENLAND
Seneste Parlamentsvalg 040307. Olympiade 13.-29. August (se Græsk side: http://www.athens2004.com/athens2004/ og Dansk side: http://www.dif.dk/index/ol-3/ol-ol2004.htm).
TYRKIET
UMs rejsevejledning: http://www.um.dk/da/menu/Borgerservice/FoerRejsen/Rejsevejledninger/RejsevejledningTyrkiet.htm.
Seneste Parlamentsvalg blev holdt 021103. Det blev i December 2004 aftalt (med EUs Regeringschefer)at der i Oktober 2005 skal indledes forhandlinger om optagelse af Tyrkiet i EU.
LANDE UDEN FOR BALKAN OG ØSTLIGE MIDDELHAV. NATO-LANDE
ITALIEN
Mother Teresa. I anledning af saligkåringen ('beatificeringen') 031019 har Vatikantet etableret en internetside: http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20031019_index_madre-teresa_en.html
USA
USA >< Serbien FoNet skriver: BELGRADE -- Thursday – US Ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro Michael Polt said he would travel to Washington D.C. on Tuesday to consult his government on future US policy towards SCG, adding that co-operation with the Hague Tribunal would top the agenda, FoNet agency reports.
Polt warned that if Tribunal chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte submits a negative report on this co-operation to the UN Security Council, it was quite clear that Serbia and Montenegro’s road to membership in NATO, the Partnership for Peace and the EU would face a wall. “The country will not move in the direction its citizens want it to until this obstacle is removed”.
Polt also said the lack of SCG co-operation with the Tribunal on apprehending Hague fugitives Ratko Mladic's and Radovan Karadzic's was under sharper focus after general Ante Gotovina’s arrest and extradition to the Hague.
Sagen om Amerikanske bortførelser / torteringer / illegale afhøringer af Terrormistænkte - og efterfølgende bortforklaringsforsøg. Se evt. reportage på BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4530332.stm. Reportagen indledes sådan: The European Parliament has agreed in principle to launch an inquiry into claims that the CIA has been operating secret prisons in Europe.
President Bush acknowledges applause during his remarks on the War on Terror Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005, at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. Speaking of this week's elections in Iraq, President Bush told the audience, "We are living through a watershed moment in the story of freedom." White House photo by Kimberlee Hewitt
Præsident Bush har holdt tale i anledning af valget i Irak, se nedenfor.
Links: Krigen i Irak. Valget. Se Det Hvide Hus' fokusside: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/ og fokusside om 'den nationale sikkerhed': http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/nationalsecurity/
President Discusses Iraqi Elections, Victory in the War on Terror, The Woodrow Wilson Center, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Washington, D.C.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Please be seated. Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm delighted to be here with the men and women of the Wilson Center. According to your mission statement, the Center was created to bring together two groups -- political leaders and scholars. I see some of the political leaders who are here, and I presume you've invited me to uphold the scholars' end. (Laughter.)
President Bush acknowledges applause during his remarks on the War on Terror Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005, at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. Speaking of this week's elections in Iraq, President Bush told the audience, "We are living through a watershed moment in the story of freedom." White House photo by Kimberlee Hewitt I've come to discuss an issue of vital importance to the American people, and that is: Victory in the war on terror. On September the 11th, 2001, our nation awoke to a sudden attack, and we accepted new responsibilities. We are confronting new dangers with firm resolve. We're hunting down the terrorists and their supporters. We will fight this war without wavering -- and we will prevail. (Applause.)
In the war on terror, Iraq is now the central front -- and over the last few weeks, I've been discussing our political, economic, and military strategy for victory in that country. A historic election will take place tomorrow in Iraq. And as millions of Iraqis prepare to cast their ballots, I want to talk today about why we went into Iraq, why we stayed in Iraq, and why we cannot -- and will not -- leave Iraq until victory is achieved. (Applause.)
I want to thank Ambassador Gildenhorn for inviting me and introducing me. And I want to thank the members of the Board of Trustees who are here. I appreciate Lee Hamilton, who serves our nation so well in so many different capacities. Thank you for being the President and Director of the Woodrow Wilson Center.
I'm proud to be traveling today with members of my Cabinet: Secretary of State Condi Rice; Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld; and Secretary of Homeland Security Mike Chertoff. Thank you all for coming. (Applause.) I appreciate the members of the Congress who are here. Thanks for taking time to come. I want to thank the members of the Diplomatic Corps that have joined us today. And thank you all for being here, as well.
We are living through a watershed moment in the story of freedom. Most of the focus now is on this week's elections -- and rightly so. Iraqis will go to the polls to choose a government that will be the only constitutional democracy in the Arab world. Yet we need to remember that these elections are also a vital part of a broader strategy for protecting the American people against the threat of terrorism.
We saw the future the terrorists intend for our nation on that fateful morning of September the 11th, 2001. That day we learned that vast oceans and friendly neighbors are no longer enough to protect us. September the 11th changed our country; it changed the policy of our government. We adopted a new strategy to protect the American people: We would hunt down the terrorists wherever they hide; we would make no distinction between the terrorists and those who harbor them; and we would advance our security at home by advancing freedom in the Middle East.
President George W. Bush delivers remarks Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005, outlining the strategy for victory in Iraq during an address at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. White House photo by Kimberlee Hewitt September the 11th also changed the way I viewed threats like Saddam Hussein. We saw the destruction terrorists could cause with airplanes loaded with jet fuel -- and we imagined the destruction they could cause with even more powerful weapons. At the time, the leaders of both political parties recognized this new reality: We cannot allow the world's most dangerous men to get their hands on the world's most dangerous weapons. In an age of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, if we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long. (Applause.)
We removed Saddam Hussein from power because he was a threat to our security. He had pursued and used weapons of mass destruction. He sponsored terrorists. He ordered his military to shoot at American and British pilots patrolling the no-fly zones. He invaded his neighbors. He fought a war against the United States and a broad coalition. He had declared that the United States of America was his enemy.
Over the course of a decade, Saddam Hussein refused to comply with more than a dozen United Nations resolutions -- including demands that he respect the rights of the Iraqi people, disclose his weapons, and abide by the terms of a 1991 cease-fire. He deceived international inspectors, and he denied them the unconditional access they needed to do their jobs. When a unanimous Security Council gave him one final chance to disclose and disarm, or face serious consequences, he refused to comply with that final opportunity. At any point along the way, Saddam Hussein could have avoided war by complying with the just demands of the international community. The United States did not choose war -- the choice was Saddam Hussein's.
When we made the decision to go into Iraq, many intelligence agencies around the world judged that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction. This judgment was shared by the intelligence agencies of governments who did not support my decision to remove Saddam. And it is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong. As President, I'm responsible for the decision to go into Iraq -- and I'm also responsible for fixing what went wrong by reforming our intelligence capabilities. And we're doing just that. At the same time, we must remember that an investigation after the war by chief weapons inspector Charles Duelfer found that Saddam was using the U.N. oil-for-food program to influence countries and companies in an effort to undermine sanctions, with the intent of restarting his weapons programs once the sanctions collapsed and the world looked the other way. Given Saddam's history and the lessons of September the 11th, my decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision. Saddam was a threat -- and the American people and the world is better off because he is no longer in power. (Applause.) We are in Iraq today because our goal has always been more than the removal of a brutal dictator; it is to leave a free and democratic Iraq in its place.
Members of the Cabinet listen as President Bush outlines the strategy Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2005, for victory in Iraq during remarks on the War on Terror at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. From left are: Secretary Michael Chertoff, Department of Homeland Security; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Chief of Staff Andrew Card, and Stephen J. Hadley, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. White House photo by Kimberlee Hewitt As I stated in a speech in the lead-up to the war, a liberated Iraq could show the power of freedom to transform the Middle East by bringing hope and progress to the lives of millions. So we're helping the Iraqi -- Iraqi people build a lasting democracy that is peaceful and prosperous and an example for the broader Middle East. The terrorists understand this, and that is why they have now made Iraq the central front in the war on terror.
The enemy of freedom in Iraq is a combination of rejectionists and Saddamists and terrorists. The rejectionists are ordinary Iraqis, mostly Sunni Arabs, who miss the privileged status they had under the regime of Saddam Hussein. We believe that, over time, most of this group will be persuaded to support the democratic Iraq led by a federal government that is strong enough to protect minority rights. We're encouraged by the indications that many Sunnis intend to participate in tomorrow's elections.
The Saddamists are former regime loyalists who harbor dreams of returning to power, and they're trying to foment anti-democratic sentiment amongst the larger Sunni community. Yet they lack popular support, and over time, they can be marginalized and defeated by the security forces of a free Iraq.
The terrorists affiliated with or inspired by al Qaeda are the smallest, but most lethal group. They are led by a brutal terrorist named Zarqawi. He's al Qaeda's chief operations officer in Iraq. He has stated his allegiance to Osama bin Laden. The terrorists have ambitions; they have goals. They want to stop the advance of freedom in Iraq. They want to make Iraq what Afghanistan was under the Taliban -- a safe haven from which they can plot attacks against our people. There is no limit to their brutality. They kill the innocent to achieve their aims. This is an enemy without conscience -- and against such enemy, there is only one effective response: We will never back down, we will never give in, and we will never accept anything less than complete victory. (Applause.)
Last month, my administration released a document called the "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq." In recent weeks, I've been discussing our strategy with the American people. At the U.S. Naval Academy, I spoke about how we changed our approach to training Iraqi security forces, so they can take the fight to the enemy and eventually take responsibility for the security of their citizens without major foreign assistance. Iraqi forces are becoming more and more capable.
This time last year, there was only a handful of Iraqi battalions ready for combat. Now there are more than 125 Iraqi army and police combat battalions in the fight against the terrorists. Of these, more than 70 Iraqi battalions are fighting side-by-side with coalition forces, and more than 50 others are taking the lead in the fight. So far, in December, there have been more than 900 combat operations in Iraq at the company level or above, and 75 percent of these involved Iraqi security forces either in the lead or fighting side-by-side with our coalition. As these Iraqi forces grow in size and strength, American and coalition forces can concentrate on training Iraqis, and hunting down high-value targets like Zarqawi and his associates.
Last week before the Council on Foreign Relations, I explained how we changed our approach to help Iraqis hold and rebuild cities taken from the enemy, and how to help them revitalize Iraq's infrastructure and economy. Today, many cities like Mosul and Najaf are coming back to life, and Iraq's economy is growing. Thousands of new businesses have opened in Iraq, personal income is up, and according to one survey, seven in 10 Iraqis say their own lives are going well, and nearly two-thirds expect things to improve in the next year.
Earlier this week at the Philadelphia World Affairs Council, I spoke in depth about how we changed our approach to helping the Iraqis build their democracy. At the request of Iraqi leaders, we accelerated the transition to Iraqi self-government. We set four major milestones to guide Iraq's transition to constitutional democracy: the transfer of sovereignty, elections for a transitional government, the adoption of a democratic constitution, and elections for a new government under that constitution. In spite of the violence, Iraqis have met every milestone -- and this is changing the political landscape in Iraq.
Sunni Arabs who failed to participate in the January elections are now campaigning vigorously in this week's elections -- and we can expect a higher turnout of Sunni voters. As Sunnis join the political process, Iraqi democracy becomes more inclusive -- and the terrorists and Saddamists are becoming marginalized.
Each of the changes we have made in our approach in Iraq is helping us meet the hard realities and the facts on the ground. We've adapted our tactics; we have fixed what was not working, and we have listened to those who know best: our military commanders -- and the Iraqi people.
Our tactics continue to change, but our goal in Iraq has not changed: a free and democratic Iraq. I strongly believe a democratic Iraq is a crucial part of our strategy to defeat the terrorists, because only democracy can bring freedom and reconciliation to Iraq, and peace to this troubled part of the world. Our efforts to advance freedom in Iraq are driven by our vital interests and our deepest beliefs. America was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and we believe that the people of the Middle East desire freedom as much as we do. History has shown that free nations are peaceful nations. And as Iraqi democracy takes hold, Iraqi citizens will have a stake in a common and peaceful future.
As we advance the cause of freedom in Iraq, our nation can proceed with confidence because we have done this kind of work before. After World War II, President Harry Truman believed that the way to help bring peace and prosperity to Asia was to plant the seeds of freedom and democracy in Japan. Like today, there were many skeptics and pessimists who said that the Japanese were not ready for democracy. Fortunately, President Harry Truman stuck to his guns. He believed, as I do, in freedom's power to transform an adversary into an ally. And because he stayed true to his convictions, today Japan is one of the world's freest and most prosperous nations, and one of America's closest allies in keeping the peace. The spread of freedom to Iraq and the Middle East requires the same confidence and persistence, and it will lead to the same results. (Applause.)
The people of Iraq are now seeing some of the tangible benefits of their new democracy. They see that as freedom advances, their lives are improving. Iraqis have approved a bold constitution that guarantees the rule of law and freedom of assembly, and property rights, and freedom of speech and the press, and women's rights, and the right to vote. They see their freedom increasingly being defended by their own soldiers and police instead of foreign forces. And they see that freedom is bringing opportunity and a better life.
The Iraqis still face many challenges, including security, and reconstruction, and economic reform. But they are building a strong democracy that can handle these challenges and that will be a model for the Middle East. Freedom in Iraq will inspire reformers from Damascus to Tehran. This new Iraq shares our deepest values, and it shares our most determined enemies. By helping Iraqis build a nation that can govern itself, sustain itself, and defend itself, we will gain an ally in the war on terror and a partner for peace in the Middle East.
The stakes in Iraq are high, and we will not leave until victory has been achieved. (Applause.) Today there's an intense debate about the importance of Iraq to the war on terror. The constant headlines about car bombings and killings have led some to ask whether our presence in Iraq has made America less secure. This view presumes that if we were not in Iraq, the terrorists would be leaving us alone. The reality is that the terrorists have been targeting America for years, long before we ever set foot in Iraq.
We were not in Iraq in 1993, when the terrorists tried to blow up the World Trade Center in New York. We were not in Iraq in 1998, when the terrorists bombed our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. We were not in Iraq in 2000, when the terrorists killed 17 American sailors aboard the USS Cole. There wasn't a single American soldier in Iraq on September the 11th, 2001, when the terrorists murdered nearly 3,000 people in the worst attack on our home since Pearl Harbor.
These acts are part of a grand strategy by the terrorists. Their stated objective is to drive the United States and coalition forces out of the Middle East so they can gain control of Iraq and use that country as a base from which to launch attacks against America, overthrow moderate governments in the Middle East, and establish a totalitarian Islamic empire that stretches from Spain to Indonesia. Hear the words of the terrorists. In a letter to the terrorist leader Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader Zawahiri has outlined plans that will unfold in several stages. These are his words: "... Expel the Americans from Iraq. ... Establish an Islamic authority over as much territory as you can to spread its power in Iraq... Extend the jihad wave to secular countries neighboring Iraq." End quote.
To achieve these goals, the terrorists are targeting innocent men, women, and children. The enemy has only the ability to create chaos for the cameras with spectacular acts of violence. They know they cannot defeat us militarily. So they're trying to break our will in the hopes of getting America to leave the battlefield early, and they cite Vietnam as a reason they can prevail. Zawahiri, in his letter to Zarqawi, wrote, "The aftermath of the collapse of the American power in Vietnam -- and how they ran and left their agents -- is noteworthy." In the past, al Qaeda has said that American pullouts of Lebanon and Somalia showed them that America is weak and could be made to run. And now the terrorists think they can make America run in Iraq. There's only one way the terrorists can prevail: if we lose our nerve and leave before the job is done. And that is not going to happen on my watch. (Applause.)
Some in Washington are calling for a rapid and complete withdrawal of our forces in Iraq. They say that our presence there is the cause for instability in Iraq, and that the answer is to set a deadline to withdraw. I disagree. I've listened carefully to all the arguments, and there are four reasons why I believe that setting an artificial deadline would be a recipe for disaster.
First, setting an artificial deadline would send the wrong message to the Iraqis. As Iraqis are risking their lives for democracy, it would tell them that America is more interested in leaving than helping them succeed, put at risk all the democratic progress they have made over the past year.
Secondly, setting an artificial deadline would send the wrong message to the enemy. It would tell them that if they wait long enough, America will cut and run. It would vindicate the terrorists' tactics of beheadings and suicide bombings and mass murder. It would embolden the terrorists and invite new attacks on America.
Third, setting an artificial deadline would send the wrong message to the region and the world. It would tell our friends and supporters that America is a weak and unreliable ally, and that when the going gets tough, America will retreat.
Finally, setting an artificial deadline would send the wrong message to the most important audience -- our troops on the front line. It would tell them that America is abandoning the mission they are risking their lives to achieve, and that the sacrifice of their comrades killed in this struggle has been in vain. I make this pledge to the families of the fallen: We will carry on the fight, we will complete their mission, and we will win. (Applause.)
Victory will be achieved by meeting certain clear objectives: when the terrorists and Saddamists can no longer threaten Iraq's democracy, when the Iraqi security forces can protect their own people, and when Iraq is not a safe haven for terrorists to plot attacks against our country. These objectives, not timetables set by politicians in Washington, will drive our force levels in Iraq. As Iraqis stand up, we will stand down. And when victory is achieved, our troops will then come home, with the honor they have earned. (Applause.)
One of the blessings of our free society is that we can debate these issues openly, even in a time of war. Most of the debate has been a credit to our democracy, but some have launched irresponsible charges. They say that we act because of oil, that we act in Iraq because of Israel, or because we misled the American people. Some of the most irresponsible comments about manipulating intelligence have come from politicians who saw the same intelligence we saw, and then voted to authorize the use of force against Saddam Hussein. These charges are pure politics. They hurt the morale of our troops. Whatever our differences in Washington, our men and women in uniform deserve to know that once our politicians vote to send them into harm's way, our support will be with them in good days and bad, and we will settle for nothing less than complete victory. (Applause.)
Before this victory comes, we still have a lot of difficult work ahead. We've made real progress in the last two and a half years, and the terrorists see this progress and they're determined to stop it. These enemies are not going to give up because of a successful election. They know that as democracy takes root in Iraq, their hateful ideology will suffer a devastating blow. So we can expect violence to continue.
We can also expect that the elections will be followed by days of uncertainty. We may not know for certain who's won the elections until the early part of January -- and that's important for our citizens to understand. It's going to take a while. It's also going to take a while for them to form a government. The work ahead will require patience of the Iraqi people, and require our patience, as well. Yet we must remember that a free Iraq is in our interests, because a free Iraq will be a beacon of hope. And as the Middle East grows in liberty, the American people will become safer and our nation will be more secure.
The work ahead will also require continued sacrifice. Yet we can be confident, because history has shown the power of freedom to overcome tyranny. And we can be confident because we have on our side the greatest force for freedom in human history: the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. (Applause.)
One of these men was a Marine lieutenant named Ryan McGlothlin, from Lebanon, Virginia. Ryan was a bright young man who had everything going for him and he always wanted to serve our nation. He was a valedictorian of his high school class. He graduated from William & Mary with near-perfect grade averages, and he was on a full scholarship at Stanford, where he was working toward a doctorate in chemistry.
Two years after the attacks of September the 11th, the young man who had the world at his feet came home from Stanford for a visit. He told his dad, "I just don't feel like I'm doing something that matters. I want to serve my country. I want to protect our lands from terrorists, so I joined the Marines." When his father asked him if there was some other way to serve, Ryan replied that he felt a special obligation to step up because he had been given so much. Ryan didn't support me in the last election, but he supported our mission in Iraq. And he supported his fellow Marines.
Ryan was killed last month fighting the terrorists near the -- Iraq's Syrian border. In his pocket was a poem that Ryan had read at his high school graduation, and it represented the spirit of this fine Marine. The poem was called "Don't Quit."
In our fight to keep America free, we'll never quit. We've lost wonderful Americans like Ryan McGlothlin. We cherish the memory of each one. We pray the loved ones -- pray for the loved ones they've left behind, and we count it a privilege to be citizens of a country they served. We also honor them by acknowledging that their sacrifice has brought us to this moment: the birth of a free and sovereign Iraqi nation that will be a friend of the United States, and a force for good in a troubled region of the world.
The story of freedom has just begun in the Middle East. And when the history of these days is written, it will tell how America once again defended its own freedom by using liberty to transform nations from bitter foes to strong allies. And history will say that this generation, like generations before, laid the foundation of peace for generations to come.
May God bless you all. (Applause.)
Det Hvide Hus udsender hvert år en lille videofilm om hunden Barney til glæde for børn og barnlige sjæle, se nærmere om den Skotske terrier på:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/barney/.
Konceptet er at Barney gør hvad den selv synes og derfor bliver irettesat af alle og enhver - incl. Præs. Bush der siger at nu må han 'back to work'.
Sidst kommer Mrs. Bush på banen og får tingene til at gå i lave.
I år er Barney blevet jaloux på sin lillesøster, Miss Beazley, og har gemt hendes gaver forskellige steder.
Filmen for 2005 kan ses via: http://mfile.akamai.com/5913/wmv/whitehouse.download.akamai.com/5913/2005/12/barneycam2005.v.asx
Det er ikke kun Bush'erne der er glade for vovser. Miss Chelsea og hendes forældre har sendt nedenstående:
"Winter Light" watercolor collage by Cindy Sexton Lewis
In this holiday season, we are thankful for the blessings of family, friends, and rewarding work; we pray for those serving our nation far from home and for people struggling to overcome natural disasters in America, Pakistan, and the tsunami affected areas; and we wish you and your loved ones the season's full promise of joy, peace, and new beginnings.
Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton
ENGLAND
TYSKLAND
FRANKRIG
Frankrig skeptisk/negativ mht Makedoniens optagelse i EU. RFE skriver: Macedonia's hopes of formally becoming a candidate for European Union membership this year suffered a blow on 12 December when France said the EU needs to finance its existing enlargement and debate future institutions before taking in new members, Reuters reported the same day. "Since in six months...we're going to look at the prospects for enlargement and deepening, it seems normal to me to defer this until then," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said in Brussels. The European Commission has recommended that the EU grant Macedonia candidate status as part of a strategy to integrate the western Balkans. France, the Netherlands, and Denmark favor a delay in making Macedonia a candidate for membership, while Great Britain opposes the delay, Reuters reported. "The decisions are taken by consensus which means that it is up to the EU now. We expect the commitments that the EU undertook to be confirmed at this summit and we will continue to fulfill our obligations," Macedonian Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva told the BBC Macedonian Service. BW
DANMARK (NORGE, SVERIGE)
Ugerapport fra Dansk KFOR. Hærens Operative Kommando - se under: Kosova.
LANDE UDEN FOR BALKAN OG ØSTLIGE MIDDELHAV. IKKE NATO-LANDE
RUSLAND
UMs Rejsevejledning: http://www.um.dk/da/menu/Borgerservice/FoerRejsen/Rejsevejledninger/RejsevejledningRusland.htm
KINA
Du må citere hvis du angiver hovedsidens adresse: bjoerna.dk ... Siderne om Albanerne: bjoerna.dk/albanerne.htm ... Søgning på internettet: bjoerna.dk/soegning.htm
