20.9.2007 by CrniLabudovi.

Work on Danube Bridge to Accelerate

19 09 2007 Sofia _ Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and his Romanian counterpart, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, have confirmed their support for the speedy construction of a second Danube bridge connecting their countries.

Their agreement on the bridge, linking Vidin in Bulgaria with Calafat in Romania, came during Tariceanu’s visit to Sofia on Wednesday, local media reported.

Stanishev said the construction project was important not only for Bulgaria but also for the EU.

Observers say the bridge matters more to Bulgaria than to Romania which showed reluctance for many years to go ahead with the project that provides an additional transport artery from Bulgaria to central and western Europe.

However, according to the former Minister of Regional Development, Evgeni Chachev, it is less of a priority for Bulgaria now than it was in the 1990s.

“Danube bridge-2 was of great importance during and immediately after the wars in the former Yugoslavia because we needed an alternative route to Europe at that time”, Chachev told Balkan Insight.

Construction work should be finished by the middle of 2010, according to the latest plans.

“There is no reason for any further delay”, Ivan Tsenov, the mayor of Vidin told Balkan Insight. …..

Observers say the bridge matters more to Bulgaria than to Romania which showed reluctance for many years to go ahead with the project that provides an additional transport artery from Bulgaria to central and western Europe.

……

http://www.birn.eu.com/en/104/15/4552/

Geschrieben in Economy - Wirtschaft | Drucken | Keine Kommentare »

20.9.2007 by CrniLabudovi.

Montenegro: Opposition Parties Agree on Constitution

17 09 2007 Podgorica _ Leaders of Montenegro’s opposition parties have signed a joint platform for negotiations with the parliamentary majority to reach a consensus in the run-up to adopting a new Constitution.

http://www.birn.eu.com/en/103/15/4393/

Geschrieben in Balkan (Englisch) | Drucken | Keine Kommentare »

20.9.2007 by CrniLabudovi.

Kosovo Police Intercepts False Documents Channel

17 09 2007  Pristina _ The Kosovo Police Service has arrested a man after the discovery of a substantial quantity of false identity papers and passports in Istog, in north-west Kosovo, a police officer said on Monday.

“The police found a considerable number of passports and ID cards during a vehicle check in Istog on Saturday”, police spokesman Veton Elshani told Balkan Insight.

“Subsequently, on a warrant from a prosecutor, the investigators of the border police department, searched the home of the male suspect in the village of Veriq, near Istog”, the spokesman added.

According to Elshani, the raid produced passports and ID cards issued both by the former Yugoslav authorities and the current UN administrative mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, as well as birth certificates and other blank documents bearing official stamps.

During the search the police also found credit cards, driving licences, various official authorisations, a gun and 116 bullets of different calibres. Elshani said the suspect, identified only by his initials as A.M., was under arrest. Meanwhile, police were continuing their investigations to identify other suspects involved in the case.

http://www.birn.eu.com/en/103/15/4384/

Geschrieben in Balkan (Englisch) | Drucken | Keine Kommentare »

20.9.2007 by admin.

Albanian Deputy Minister Arrested

18 09 2007  Tirana _ Albania’s Deputy Minister of Transport, Nikolin Jaka, and several senior officials from his ministry were arrested on Tuesday, on charges of corruption related to a series of road tenders over the last two months.

In addition to Jaka, the police operation, codenamed “Clean Hands”, has resulted in the detention of eight persons.

They include Bashkim Kamberi, general director of roads in the Ministry of Transport, other officials, as well as three businessmen.

The officials have been charged with favouring several companies among those tendering for the construction of a number of roads.

The police operation, which recalls the campaigning slogan of the current governing centre-right coalition during the July 2005 parliamentary elections, came while the government remained under fire over another major road construction project.

The prosecutor-general’s office has been investigating possible irregularities in the tender for the construction of the Durres-Kukes highway, Albania’s largest public works project over the past two decades.

The highway would link the port of Durres with Kosovo, cutting travel time between the Albanian coast and Pristina, from 8 hours to 2.5 hours.

The project includes a 7-km-tunnel, the longest in the Balkans, and is now buing built by the American-Turkish consortium, Bechtel-Enka.

The prosecutor-general’s office has already questioned the former deputy Minister of Transport, Armand Teliti, and is seeking a similar meeting with the former Minister of Transport, Lulzim Basha, now the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Basha has refused to cooperate with prosecutors, and has said the charges against him are politically motivated.

Questioned in parliament on Tuesday on the construction project, Prime Minister Sali Berisha denied there were any irregularities, but avoided giving an answer as to whether Basha would cooperate with the prosecutors.

“I have followed the charges of the opposition related to this project, but they don’t stand up”, the prime minister said.

Berisha has had a strained relationship with the Prosecutor-General, Theodhori Sollaku, often accusing him of corruption.

Sollaku has denied the charges.

http://www.birn.eu.com/en/104/15/4406/

Geschrieben in Economy - Wirtschaft, Balkan (Englisch), Balkan | Drucken | Keine Kommentare »

20.9.2007 by admin.

Die EU macht Druck, das diese neuen korrupten EU Länder die Natur Reservate schützen

EU Boost to Greens in Bulgaria and Romania

18 09 2007 Environmentalists have become serious opponents to business interests over the European Natura 2000 programme, leaving local governments helpless in the cross-fire.

By Albena Shkodrova in Sofia and Marian Chiriac in Bucharest

Gathering little public support, ignored, and often under pressure, environmentalists in Bulgaria and Romania had very limited opportunities for influencing their countries’ decision-making before 2007. But EU membership changed everything, and did it overnight.

The outcome of a bitter fight over the EU’s nature preservation programme, Natura 2000, may emerge as the first proof of the new balance of forces.

Last week Bulgarian ecologists marked an important point in their battle with developers, as an independent body of experts - the National Biodiversity Council - rejected a government plan to exclude 29 important nature reserves from the protection of the programme. Out of the 29 zones that were reviewed, 27 were found important enough to become part of Natura 2000 sites.

Ministers were hesitant to list all of Bulgaria’s nature reserves as protected sites, as such a decision - officials have admitted - would block numerous plans for construction work and urban development, and might provoke massive protests from entrepreneurs and local governments.

The Council of Ministers has yet to decide on the final list of protected areas, and in theory is free to choose whether to accept the National Biodiversity Council’s conclusions. Yet to leave some of these nature reserves outside Natura 2000 would be almost impossible. The EU requires that the only criteria applied over this decision is the scientific evaluation of each area’s environmental value.
……

Birn

Geschrieben in Kultur, Balkan (Englisch), Balkan | Drucken | Keine Kommentare »

20.9.2007 by CrniLabudovi.

Jetzt ist es ebenso offiziell, das die EU und die Verhandlungs Troika in Richtung einer Teilung des Kosovo verhandelt und Gespräche führt!

Kosovo Drifts towards Partition

20 09 2007 As EU officials refuse to rule out Kosovo’s partition, analysts suggest such an arrangement could help resolve the disputed entity’s status.

By Branka Trivic in Belgrade

The EU, Russia and the US say partitioning Kosovo would be an unwelcome solution because it would create a dangerous precedent for the wider region. But they also keep saying they would accept any deal Belgrade and Pristina are ready to agree on, urging both sides to think outside the box and come up with creative ideas.
On September 11 the US embassy in Belgrade underlined Washington’s commitment to fresh negotiations on the future of UN-administered Kosovo, which are supposed to end by December 10.

“During this period of engagement, the United States is prepared to accept any outcome to which the parties agree”, the embassy said, adding however, that after the talks end, Kosovo’s status need to be clarified promptly.

The first one to break the “partition taboo” on August 12 was the EU representative in the “troika” of mediators, Wolfgang Ischinger. At least three other high officials followed suit, hinting at the partition of Kosovo, should such a solution be agreed upon by the two parties.

……

Birn

Geschrieben in Balkan | Drucken | Keine Kommentare »

20.9.2007 by admin.

Proposed reforms set stage for major shake-up of EU energy market

20/09/2007

The European Commission announced a package of proposals on Wednesday, aimed at promoting competition within the bloc’s energy market to benefit its 500 million consumers.

(Wall Street Journal, FT, The Guardian, EurActiv - 20/09/07; European Commission, AFP, Reuters, AP, BBC, International Herald Tribune, RFE/RL, Euobserver - 19/09/07)

European gas and electricity giants would be forced to break up under a package of measures the European Commission (EC) proposed on Wednesday (September 19th), in a bid to ensure more competition within the bloc’s energy market.

“The commission is clear that the status quo cannot continue,” EC President Jose Manuel Barroso said at a news conference, announcing the adoption of the new legislative proposals. “Without change, distortion of competition and fragmentation of the market will continue.”

The proposed reforms, which require approval by the governments of the 27 EU-member states and the European Parliament, call for the separation of network operation of electricity and gas from supply and generation activities. The big state-owned or private utilities would thus have to sell off their transmission networks. Another option proposed by the EC would allow existing vertically integrated companies to retain network ownership — provided that the assets are actually operated by a completely independent company or body.

…..

Setimes 

Geschrieben in Economy - Wirtschaft | Drucken | 1 Kommentar »

20.9.2007 by Lupo.

Western Balkan countries sign EU visa agreements

20/09/2007

The EU signed visa and re-admission agreements with five Balkan countries Tuesday, easing visa rules and fees for certain groups.

By Erlis Selimaj for Southeast European Times in Tirana - 20/09/07

EC Vice President Franco Frattini (left) and Portuguese Interior Minister Ruiz Pereira speak with the press in Brussels on Tuesday (September 18th). [Getty Images]

Students, researchers, business people and journalists from Western Balkan nations will now be able to apply for, and obtain, visas for travel to the 27 EU member countries under an agreement signed on Tuesday (September 18th) by five Balkan countries. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia approved the agreements, which will go into effect on January 1st, 2008.

European Commission Vice President Franco Frattini, Portuguese Interior Minister Ruiz Carlos Pereira and the interior ministers of the Western Balkan countries signed the documents in Brussels.

“The signature of the agreements is an important political decision towards closer co-operation between the EU and the Western Balkan countries in the sensitive areas of migration and movement of persons. The smooth implementation of these agreements will enable the Commission to start a structured dialogue on a possible visa-free regime for the citizens of Western Balkan countries in the future,” Frattini said during the ceremony.

Under the agreements, groups of citizens — including business people, students and journalists — will be able to obtain an EU visa for 35 euros, as opposed to the current 60 euros. Holders of diplomatic passports will be exempt from the visa obligation. The visa and readmission agreements will apply to 15 EU states in the so-called Schengen borderless travel area. That number is expected to grow to 24 at the end of the year — but Britain, Ireland and Cyprus will remain outside the EU borderless travel area.

The proposal for the documents was approved by the European Council on November 13th, 2006 — but with strong resistance from some countries, including Germany, the signing was delayed. Although many expect talks on eliminating the visa regime all together, due to this resistance, implementation of visa-free travel may take even longer.

The five states are charged under the agreements with taking back illegal immigrants who reach the EU through the Balkans. The outcome of this may have a large impact on implementation of visa-free travel, Frattini said. He also called for stricter border controls and the introduction of safe passports with biometric features. …….

Setimes

Geschrieben in Balkan (Englisch), Balkan | Drucken | Keine Kommentare »

20.9.2007 by CrniLabudovi.

By Willard Payne

Crossfire War - RAPID FIRE NEWS=TEHRAN - TIRANA - PRISTINA WATCH - Southeast Europe Theatre - Tehran - Riyadh - Sarajevo - Tirana - Pristina/(Brussels - Vienna - Warsaw)/Kosovska Mitrovica - Belgrade - Banja Luka - Podogrica - Athens - Skopje - Sofia - Moscow; Kosovo Impasse Continues in London - “We are going to London as a state” - PM Ceku - “The label means nothing” - EU (Ger) Negotiator Ischinger; Lebanon Phalange Party Candidate Antoine Ghanem Assassinated by Tehran; Heavy Fighting Continues in Kashmir During Ramzan

Night Watch: LONDON - The negotiation front of the Southeast Europe theatre has shifted to London where the heavily armed impasse, between the Serbian government in Belgrade and the Albanian administration in Pristina concerning the Kosovo independence issue, will most likely reach its final failure though I think talks are to be held later this month at the United Nations in New York. Agim Ceku, one of the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and now Prime Minister of the ethnic Albanian majority province declared, “We are going to London as a state…we want to talk about technical issues between independent states and we want to discuss them beyond independence.” But one of the members of the Contact Group Troika, Wolfgang Ischinger of Germany, has rejected completely any consideration Kosovo should be recognized as an independent country. “The label (independence) is worth nothing. Where are they going to get their income? They will continue to rely on foreign aid.” [SERBIANNA]What Ceku will not reveal of course is Tehran has increased its contacts with the Albanian government in Tirana, which supports the Albanians in Kosovo even to the extent of armed support. Only Iran is more eager to see war resume than Albanian nationalist groups, some of whom are fighting for Greater Albania, which threatens the territory of Greece, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia. The resumption of war in Southeast Europe would give Tehran an opportunity to not only have NATO caught up in the fighting and increasingly on the defensive, but it would also allow Iran a chance to silence Vienna and end the investigation into Iran’s nuclear weapons program. There have already been attacks against Macedonian police stations since August. And what has increased Albanian anger, in and out of Kosovo, is they were given the impression earlier this year that Brussels, headquarters of the European Union and NATO, was close to officially recognizing Kosovo independence.

Washington - But what has probably changed Brussels’ position is Belgrade stating consistently for more than a year Serbia would go to war to retain control over the province, and they have been re-armed with obvious assistance from Moscow. Not only has Brussels changed its position but also now, it seems the Bush Administration has also, even though just recently there were statements from State Department officials in support of Kosovo independence. AP reported the recent visit to Washington by Portugal Prime Minister Jose Socrates, who stated in his discussions with President George W. Bush, “I guaranteed to the President that the first priority I have in my mind regarding Kosovo is to keep Europe united.” He was not just speaking for Lisbon. It was his way of saying Washington should not be alone on this issue. [SERBIANNA]…….

Newblaze

Geschrieben in Balkan (Englisch) | Drucken | Keine Kommentare »