15.9.2008 by ctstmaser.

Kosovo Govt Under Pressure over Contract

15 September 2008 Pristina _ Kosovo opposition parties are asking the government to explain how a politician was awarded the €14 million tender to renovate a public building in Pristina.

Ramush Haradinaj, the head of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, said the government must explain its tender procedures and the winner.

“The government should explain how the winner was decreed,” Haradinaj said.

Mabetex group, a company led by Behgjet Pacolli, a controversial Kosovo businessman and politician, was chosen to repair the media house, the tallest building in Kosovo.

Daily Koha Ditore reported on Saturday that there could have been political influence that dictated the government’s decision.

The Evaluation Commission reports that Pellagonia – Construction, a Macedonian consortium, secured 99 points in the competition, while Pacolli’s Mabetex attained only 84 points, quotes Koha Ditore from the Commission’s report.

However, the government says everything was done in accordance with the law.

“No decision whatsoever is the product of political preferences,” declared Deputy Prime Minister, Hajredin Kuci.

Though he acknowledged some low-level affiliation between the two parties, Kuci said the tender has primarily to do with legal procedures.

Behgjet Pacolli entered in the political spectrum in Kosovo two years ago. Besides his newly-formed political profile, he is well-known in the region for his financial wellbeing and economic capital.

‘Kosovo’s Bill Gates’, as he is often referred to by the locals in the country, for many young Kosovars he represents the model of the immigrant who built his wealth and attained his economic-political status working in the diaspora.

In local and national elections held in 2007 in Kosovo, Pacolli picked up around 12 percent in support, making his Alliance for a New Kosovo, AKR, a major opposition party.

http://balkaninsight.com

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15.9.2008 by ctstmaser.

How ministers plotted murder

From Wikileaks

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By STANDARD TEAM (The Standard, Kenya)
Monday August 31, 2008
The post-poll violence that claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people may have been planned, it has now emerged.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights report, On the Brink of the Precipice: A Human Rights Account of Kenya’s Post-2007 Election Violence, documents meetings in which leaders incited community against community, and even funded the procurement of war gear.

The report, which was presented at the Waki Commission recently, is embargoed until those mentioned adversely are notified, as the law demands.

East African Community PS David Nalo (right) and resident representative Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Mr Fritz Kopsieker during a conference on post-election crisis at Panafric Hotel, on Monday. PHOTO:STAFFORD ONDEGO

The findings of the report — which have been disputed by some politicians and lawyers — discount the notion that the violence was “spontaneous,” and gives specific instances in which politicians, including Cabinet ministers and current and former MPs, incited people to violence.

In August 2007, the report says, a meeting chaired by a Cabinet minister, and attended by other ODM politicians “resolved to carry out mass evictions of non-Kalenjins, especially the Kikuyu and Abagusii from in the Rift Valley.”

During a ceremony, the minister is alleged to have called on the locals to “uproot the sangari (weed), shake off the soil, gather it together and burn it.” This was a direct call to arms, inciting the locals against those perceived as “foreigners” in the Rift Valley.

On November 23, 2007, a parliamentary aspirant is alleged to have addressed a gathering in Kericho town, and urged members of his community to remove madoadoa (blemishes) from their midst, alluding to migrant communities from their midst.

Another minister is alleged to have held several meetings with councilors and also funded violence in his area.

……………..

Wikileaks

First appeared in The Standard—Kenya’s oldest newspaper. Thanks to the The Standard for covering this material. Copyright remains with the The Standard. Consult http://www.eastandard.net/ for reprint rights.

See

• How election violence was financed - follow up report
• Revealed: Secrets of election violence - follow up report
• Kenyan Election Violence Alleged Perpetrators 2008 - the leaked KNCHR report

How election violence was financed

From Wikileaks

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By NATION Reporter (Daily Nation Kenya)
Wednesday August 26, 2008

Youths stand next to a burning barricade during the post-election violence. A human rights watchdog report accuses senior politicians of inciting and financing the violence. Photo/FILE.

In Summary

• MP B told a meeting that no one can be allowed to take Kalenjin land and incited attacks against non-Kalenjins
• At a meeting on December 22, 2007, minister E incited the public to attack his political rivals

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights report tabled at the Waki inquiry accuses ministers, assistant ministers and MPs of planning, inciting and financing the post-election violence.

The following are excerpts from the report. Names of those accused and some places have been removed for legal reasons.

Assistant minister A

—————————

Diese Politische Schrott Organisation FES, finanziert der Steuerzahler und vor allem deren munteres Treiben mit kriminellen Clans im Ausland.

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15.9.2008 by ctstmaser.

RS under fire over decision to pull out of state power company

15/09/2008

International officials and diplomats have urged the government of Republika Srpska to rescind a decision to withdraw from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s state power transmission company, warning that such a move could damage the country’s credibility and its EU bid.

(Reuters, Office of the High Representative - 13/09/08; AP, AFP, Reuters, Office of the High Representative, EC Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina, US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina - 12/09/08)

Republika Srpska (RS) authorities have come under strong criticism over their decision to pull out of the state power transmission company and establish their own operator instead. International officials warn that such an “illegal” move would harm Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) interests and are urging Banja Luka to rescind that decision.

“The conclusion by the RS government to proceed towards unilateral withdrawal from the energy transmission corporation would be damaging to the country and its European goals,” High Representative Miroslav Lajcak said in Bratislava on Saturday (September 13th).

Echoing a statement issued by the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) the previous day, he urged the RS government “to revoke its conclusion and continue to work within the established institutions and laws” of BiH. The RS government “must understand that when it makes an agreement, it must honour it”.

His remarks came two days after RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik’s cabinet decided on Thursday to pull out of Elektroprenos BiH, citing the company’s failure to adopt a business and investment plan for 2008 as one of its motives.

Elektroprenos came into existence as part of a 2006 agreement. RS holds a 41% stake in the company, while the Federation of BiH holds the remaining 59%.

Local and international experts have stressed that neither of the two entities can legally pull out of the company, whose establishment rests on legislation approved by the state parliament in 2004……………..

Setimes 

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15.9.2008 by ctstmaser.

Life in a Kosovo Serb municipality: blackouts and an uncertain future

15/09/2008

Serbs in the southern municipality of Strpce may not agree with Kosovo’s self-declared independence, but they hope a stabilized situation will at least bring jobs and better infrastructure.

Text and photos by Blerta Foniqi-Kabashi for Southeast European Times in Pristina – 15/09/08

Merixhan Tomislav worked for 45 years at a state company. Now he sells cigarettes, newspapers and snacks in a small shop in the centre of town, while depending on money from the Belgrade authorities to help him get by. On the surrounding streets, the face of Serbian nationalist politician Tomislav Nikolic appears on countless posters.

This is Strpce, a predominantly Serb municipality on the border with Macedonia. About 70% of its population is Serb, while 27% are Albanians and the rest belong to other minorities. Serbian President Boris Tadic came here during his first term and promised that Kosovo would remain part of Serbia. But on February 17th leaders in Pristina declared the province’s independence. Since then, 46 countries have recognised it as a sovereign state.

The atmosphere in Strpce is not warm. Yet it is not as tense as before. According to Tomislav, life has become easier since the independence declaration, though he does not elaborate.

“We should live together with Albanians,” a Serbian man says. Asked if Albanian and Serbs can manage this, he replies: “who says that they can’t?”

His friend, who does not want to be named, is convinced that co-existence between Albanians and Serbs is the only way to achieve a sustainable Kosovo. “We are living together,” he says. “And I don’t know who said that Albanians and Serbs cannot live together.” He also relies on a pension from Belgrade, because, as he says, the Kosovo government does not give him one.

Strpce, or Shtërpcë as it is known in Albanian, is about 61km from Pristina. The municipality consists of 16 villages. Roads are in generally poor condition, and while most of the villages have water, it is affected by contamination from an old and damaged sewage system. The electricity network is also in dire need of an upgrade, and power cuts have become a regular part of life.

The political situation is in limbo. The last elections, in 2007, were derailed by a Kosovo Serb boycott, so the UN’s special representative simply appointed the existing incumbents. The mayor, a Kosovo Serb, has taken his oath, as have eight Kosovo Serb and two Albanian members of the assembly, but seven others have not done so.

Police duties, meanwhile, are entrusted to a local Kosovo Police Service force. It comprises 45 Kosovo Serbs and 11 Albanians, and operates under supervision by two UNMIK police officers. As to the international military presence, Ukrainian KFOR troops are in charge of the area, controlling access to the Kosovo Serb areas.

The overall mood in Strpce is one of uncertainty. Few entertain optimism, though some are cautiously hopeful that things will improve. On the question of Kosovo independence, locals alternate between insisting that their municipality is part of Serbia and urging the Kosovo authorities to create more jobs for citizens.

“We don’t have a life here. Serbia is not doing anything for us. They are trying to win for themselves.” says Goran Milutinovic. A teacher for 30 years, he is now unemployed. “I took my children to Nis [Serbia], to my wife’s family. In October 2004, they returned because I thought they could find a job, but nothing has happened. Now I am so pessimistic.”

Milutinovic’s wife, meanwhile, says people in Strpce want to live freely.”The international community should understand that we shouldn’t remain a victim of the regime of previous leaders,” she says. “We are born here and we should stay here. But we cannot live as we are doing now.”

As in much of Kosovo, if people in Strpce are suffering, it’s not for lack of economic potential. The municipality is located within 100km of industrial and mining centres such as Trepca, Ferizaj, Prizren, Peja and the capital, Pristina.

“Serbs are positioned in the better places of Kosovo, but our leaders don’t know to exploit this wealth. They should be more attentive,” says Miodrag Lajic. According to him, it’s in the interests of Albanians and Serbs alike to work together and create a sustainable future. “Only together can we establish a European Kosovo, because with these divisions, the world will not let us make progress.”

……………..

Setimes

Survey suggests most Kosovo Serbs want to stay

15/09/2008

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Most minority Serbs want to continue living in Kosovo, according to a survey conducted by the NGO Straight to Europe and published on Sunday (September 14th). Results suggest that 72% of Serbs living in Kosovo want to stay, while 28% said they would rather leave. Both Albanian and Serb respondents cited unemployment and energy issues as their biggest concerns. (RTK, TV 21, Kohavision -14/09/08)

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15.9.2008 by ctstmaser.

Griechische Regierung: Skandale und Bauernopfer

Heike Schrader 15.09.2008

Selbst ein Verstoß gegen das 11. Gebot – Du sollst dich nicht erwischen lassen – führt bei griechischen Politikern nur in seltenen Fällen zum Amtverlust. Jetzt hat es allerdings den Handelsmarineminister erwischt

In der griechischen Nea Dimokratia-Regierung folgt ein Skandal dem anderen. Der Bürochef des ehemaligen Handelsmarineministers ließ sich für die Vergabe von Subventionen für nicht lukrative Schiffsverbindungen von Reedern bezahlen. Als dies rauskam, wurde er zwar von seinem Chef gefeuert, der ihn am nächsten Tag allerdings gleich wieder als “persönlichen Berater” im Stab unterbrachte.

Die Gattin des amtierenden Finanzministers ist Angestellte der Firma, die die Liegenschaften der Deutschen Telekom in Europa verwaltet. Die Deutsche Telekom übernahm unlängst das Management des griechischen Telefonkonzerns OTE. In den viereinhalb Jahren seit Amtsübernahme der Regierung durch die Nea Dimokratia hat sich das Vermögen der Dame um 329 Prozent erhöht.

Der amtierende Minister für Umwelt und öffentliche Bauten ließ sich ohne Baugenehmigung eine Villa in einem aus Umweltgründen für Bebauung gesperrtem Gebiet errichten. Ein Ex-Minister für Beschäftigung beschäftigte auf seinem steuergünstig als Verkaufsbude für Erfrischungsgetränke deklarierten Anwesen pakistanische Einwanderer als Reinigungskräfte, ohne sie bei der Sozialversicherung anzumelden. Sein Nachfolger erleichterte die staatlichen Rentenkassen mit einem dubiosen Handel von Optionen um mehrere Millionen Euro, die in die Taschen bis heute Unbekannter flossen. Und der bis zum Freitag amtierende Handelsmarineminister trieb entgegen dem für Parlamentarier geltenden Betätigungsverbot seit Jahren einen schwunghaften Handel mit Immobilien über gleich mehrere im Verbund mit der Ehefrau gehaltene Off-Shore Firmen.

Das allein hätte Giorgos Voulgarakis noch nicht das politische Genick gebrochen. Schließlich hat er schon ganz andere Skandale überstanden. Als im Olympiajahr 2004 die Telefone zahlreicher Politiker, darunter auch eines des Ministerpräsidenten von “Unbekannten” abgehört wurde (Hellasgate), war Voulgarakis Minister für Öffentliche Ordnung, oberster Dienstherr sowohl der Polizei, als auch des Geheimdienstes. Als sich die Indizien häuften, dass hinter der Aktion Dienste aus den USA standen, wurde der Fall unter seiner Verantwortung zu den Akten gelegt. Wider besseres Wissen stritt Voulgarakis 2005 jede Beteiligung griechischer Stellen an der massenhaften Entführung pakistanischer Einwanderer in Athen und deren Verhör durch den britischen Auslandsgeheimdienst ab (Im Trüben Fischen). Beide Skandale führten lediglich dazu, dass der Mann vom heißen Stuhl des Ministers für Öffentliche Ordnung auf den ruhigeren Posten des Kulturministers und nach den letzen Wahlen im September 2007 ins Amt des Handelsmarineministers versetzt wurde.

Ausschlaggebend für den Rücktritt des Ministers war die Verwicklung der Familie Voulgarakis in den Verkauf einer ganzen Reihe von Grundstücken der öffentlichen Hand an das auf dem für Frauen verbotenen “Heiligen Berg” Athos gelegene Mönchskloster Vatopediou. Bei den jetzt die Staatsanwaltschaft beschäftigenden Immobiliengeschäften wurde der Staat um geschätzte 100 Millionen Euro betrogen. Als Anwalt der Schwarzröcke fungierte dabei der Schwiegervater von Voulgarakis, während dessen Tochter und Ehefrau des Ministers gleichzeitig in mindestens einem Grundstücksverkauf die Seite der öffentlichen Hand vertrat.

Neben Voulgarakis ist eine ganze Reihe von anderen Ministerien, an allererster Stelle das Finanzministerium, in die dubiosen Verkäufe involviert. Der erzwungene Rücktritt des Handelsmarineministers kann daher als Bauernopfer der Regierung Kostas Karamanlis gewertet werden, die mit allen Mitteln versucht, die Skandale nach Möglichkeit zu vertuschen.

Der ebenfalls unter der Regie von Voulgarakis abgewickelte Verkauf der einträglichen Verladestationen in den Häfen von Piräus und Thessaloniki wurde vom Ministerpräsidenten allerdings nicht als Schurken- sondern als Heldentat der Ministertätigkeit von Voulgarakis gewürdigt. Auch die Streichung des Steuerfreibetrages für Millionen von Selbständigen und Kleinunternehmern durch den selben Finanzminister, der den dreistelligen Millionenschaden des Staates beim Handel mit den Mönchen mit zu verantworten hat, ist für die Regierung kein Skandal.

……..

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/28/28713/1.html 

Auch hier spielt der Balkan Korrumpierer Siemens eine wesentliche Rolle, welcher viele Jahre lang beide Regierungs Parteien aktiv bestach und finanzierte.  Und wie bewiesen, arbeitet das Telekom Bestechungs System genau nach der selben Methode.

Members of Parliament - VOULGARAKIS A. GEORGE

VOULGARAKIS A. GEORGE MP Athens A Curriculum Vitae Born in Heraklion, Crete on 6 June1959 He is married to Aikaterini Peleki, they have four children Paulina, Apostolos, Dionisis, and Harris. Profession: He is an economist by profession Studies: He holds a Bachelor’s in Economics from the Department of Economics of the Piraeus University as well as a PhD in Economics from the Athens University. Foreign Languages: English. Address: Navarinou 6 & Ippocratous, 10680, Athens, tel : 2103636177 Fax: 2103638137. Parliamentary activities He was elected Member of Parliament of the New Democracy party for the first Athens constituency at the 1989 elections (June and November), as well as those of 1990, 1993, 19996, 0f 2000, of 2004 and 2007. On July and November of 1989 he was elected Secretary of the Parliament Presidency for the period 1997-1999. Social activities He served as Deputy Minister for environment from 3 December 1992 to 12 October 1993, Minister for Public Order from 10 March 2004 to 14 February 2006, Minister for Culture from 14 February 2006 to 19 September 2007, when he has been appointed Minister for Mercantile Marine, Aegean Sea and Island Policy. http://www.parliament.gr/english/synthesh/mp.asp?MPID=438 http://www.voulgarakis.gr/

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