Albania Threatens Greece That "It Will React" If Athens "Dares" To Proclaim EEZ

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Tirana, the mouthpiece and a basic "frontman" for Ankara stated on Friday that Albania will "actively react if Greece submits unilateral maps with maritime borders with its neighbors to the United Nations" without of course specifying exactly what type of reaction this would be.

Did they mean ... war?

Or will they declare an EEZ on Greece's own risking an armed conflict with Greece?

Referring to official sources from the Foreign Ministry, the Albanian newspaper "Gazeta Shqiptare" said in one report that until now the Tirana government has sensed that Greece has not really progressed on the issue. "We will examine this issue -with attention- and then we will make our move when the initiative will be implemented, always in the best interest of the Republic of Albania. We will examine what steps to follow only in the event that Greece proceeds with a unilateral statement at the UN."

The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs (and especially those who are 100% responsible for Greece's intentions to move ahead with this) have yet to respond, (meaning to both Turkish and Albanian threats).

Late in 2011 and a little after the announcement of the Greek-Cypriot and Israeli axis, Turkey began making even more moves in Albania. An article on newsbomb had said at the time that Turkish propaganda was endorsing and (possibly funding) the idea of a "Greater Albania" in order to pressure Greece over its designs. Albanians, on the other, who had begun promoting their own expansionist designs in the Balkans, probably teamed up with the Turks and are now fired up on causing "trouble".

At the time the article had said that since money is the only item that rules in Albania, our neighbors will not hesitate to give earth and water to the Turks in order to quench their greed. This is why they signed a military cooperation pact with Ankara and now the Turkish navy can move comfortably in Albanian territorial waters as well as anchor its naval base in Durres, (another project that was funded by Ankara).

Aside from the obvious, a book on a new-type of Ottoman Empire only comes to confirm this. It was published by Professor Ahmet Davutoglu (the present Foreign Minister of Turkey) and is entitled "Strategic depth". In his book, Dautoglu notes that the Turkish and Muslim minorities in Bulgaria, Greece, FYROM, Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Romania are crucial to Ankara's foreign policy in the Balkans. (p. 200).

And all this because Turkey has evolved from a statusquo power to a more assertive and interventionist actor.

It is therefore common sense to characterise Turkey’s new found interests in this neighbourhood as the corollary of a neo-Ottoman vision. This neo-Ottoman approach would substitute an old secular Kemalist foreign policy (Taspınar: 2008). Turkish authorities dislike this concept, arguing that it is easily associated with some sort of imperialistic ambition. (Helloo... it is...) But this does not prevent them from making references to a “common history” and “cultural affinity” with the territories of the former Ottoman Empire in public discourses.

And as it seems, we got a taste of that today.

Editor's Note - It is now or never. Our opinion here at HellasFrappe is that Greece cannot allow itself to be intimidated by countries such as Turkey and Albania. It doesn't matter if the news was leaked by "shady" remnants -probably from the papandreou era- at the Greek Foreign Ministry. The more we scream and ridicule the intentions of Albania and Turkey the more they will think twice about even attempting such plans of action. It will turn on them as a boomerang. Turkey will have to answer to NATO and other international organizations for even daring to touch one centimeter in our country, while Albania better think twice before all the Greek businesses pull the plug on their commercial market and allow the country to surpass Greece's own unemployment ratio.Ante min trelathoume telios.




Read more about Turkey's involvement with Albania and why Alexis Tsipras agrees on some issues with the Turks and the Albanians by clicking here.

http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2012/11/special-report-vultures-everywhere.html

References in Greek for this article

• Defencenet
• Newsbomb
• HellasFrappe Archive

New Poll Shows ND In Lead - Tsipras Acknowledges Dip in Voter Momentum

Main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras acknowledged a "stagnation" in his party's momentum on Friday, following the publication of an opinion poll for Kathimerini and Skai that showed a decline in the main opposition party's popularity. Speaking on private REAL radio station on Friday, Tsipras said: "I do not deny that a tendency of stagnation has been recorded in SYRIZA's momentum. I, too, sense this", attributing this to the fact that a great expectation had been created that SYRIZA will manage to obstruct the government from passing the (austerity) measures and upset the policy, but was belied".

The poll showed that a five percent swing in public opinion has led to New Democracy overtaking SYRIZA as Greece’s leading party, while at the same time it showed that Greek citizens are less depressed than they were several months ago. The Public Issue poll for January gave Antonis Samaras' New Democracy part some 29 percent of the vote, which is a 3 percent increase from that in December, and SYRIZA 28.5 percent, which is a 2 percent decline in the same period.

The Golden Dawn party remained third with 10 percent while PASOK was fourth with 8 percent, the Independent Greeks Party had 8 percent, followed by the Democratic Left party with 7 percent and the Communist Party on 5.5 percent.

The new poll also showed that there has been a significant change in the number of voters who believe that the ruling ND party will win the next elections, or 25 percent more than that recorded in December 2012. On the other, those expecting SYRIZA to win the next elections are down from 60 percent to 44 percent.

The apparent shift on the political scene came as the proportion of Greeks who feel their country is heading in the wrong direction fell by 19 percentage points in a month to 68 percent. Also, those who think the state is doing its job well is up from 10 percent to 26 percent. The percentage of Greeks who think their country will default has fallen to 21 percent from 38 percent, but 52 percent believe the economic crisis will last more than five years.

Tsipras told RealFm that there are no mobilizations. "SYRIZA's momentum and the people's mobilizations are communicating vessels", he said adding that the decrease was only to be expected, and opining that "soon, the top party will be unemployment" and that the citizens' expectations of the government will also be belied soon.

He further expressed concern and worry over recent incidents of violence such as Friday's early morning spate of firebombs targeting journalists' homes.

At the same time Tsipras also passed off as "absurdities" press claims that German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had "asked permission" from Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to meet with Tsipras in Berlin next week. Tsipras is to have his first-ever meeting with Schaeuble, next week in Berlin, at a meeting that was arranged before Christmas in consultation with Germany's left-wing party Die Linke. Tsipras is tentatively due to arrive in the German capital on Saturday and will stay for four days, which may be extended by one or two days, and is scheduled to have a series of contacts with Social Democratic Party (SPD) officials, intellectuals, and will speak at a Die Linke event.

(Combined Reports - Kathimerini, Real, Amna)

Discussion For New Tax Bill Opens in Parliament

Greek parliament (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Discussion of the new tax bill opened in Parliament on Thursday, with criticism by deputies of parties in the governing coalition and the opposition. Coalition partner PASOK's sponsor, Paris Koukoulopoulos, said that the bill "does not satisfy the request for the fair distribution of tax burden" and warned that "the discussion that ended ingloriously in February 2012 with the walkout of all parties over the national tax bill will start again in the next few days on PASOK's initiative."

Coalition partner DIMAR's sponsor, Asimina Xyrotiri, criticised the Finance Ministry for not putting down the initial necessary steps to fight tax evasion and establish a process to stop it, but added that the party would vote for the bill "as a necessary prerequisite under the country's circumstances."

The main opposition sponsor, Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) deputy Dimitris Yelalis, said the tax bill had "only a revenue-collecting feature" and charged that the bill "punishes freelancers, trades people and small businesses by taxing them from the very first euro they make, and destroys farmers, since it makes no distinction between small-scale farmers and large enterprises."

Communist Party of Greece (KKE) sponsor, Nikos Karathanasopoulos, charged that "the state budget contains 31 pages of tax exemptions," which he said "reflects what's happening in shipping, where profits from the exploitation of ships is exempted; this will happen to all sectors of the economy, with the free movement of capital set out by the EU's Maastricht Treaty."

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras are hoping for the bill to be voted into law before the upcoming Eurogroup meeting in Brussels on January 21. The bill is part of a prerequisite to receiving the next loan tranche by March. (AMNA)

Lagarde List: Siemens and Venizelos in the Dock

Evangelos Venizelos,  (credit: Wikipedia)

With the assistance of French banking codes, new analyses by the Greek department of Justice suggest very strongly that several of the names on the ‘Lagarde List’ of illegal untaxed Swiss bank accounts deposited sums received directly as bribes from German arms supplier Siemens. Athenian commentators are now asserting that Evangelos Venizelos is so involved in this scandal, that he represents a bigger threat to the Antonis Samaras government’s survival than Alexis Tsipras.

Greek entrepreneurs Marios Katsikas, Panagiotis Voila, Sophocles Priniotakis D. Siafaka, Maria-Christina Makrodimou, and research and brokerage firm “Pegasus” head Rammos Athanasius have been fingered as depositing large sums into HSBC Zurich during October 2010, when the Siemens bribes to Greek officials are known to have been rife. In turn, there are alleged to be 17 instances of traceable organized crime money laundering, involving a total loss to the Greek exchequer of around €2 billion.

Sophocles Priniotakis in particular was widely accused during the Siemens scandal. The cypher through to the Swiss accounts looks as if it may have been the Bank of Greece (an institution itself that has been the subject of much criminal speculation).

The Siemens bribery case was closed in August 2011, when the Athens parliament concluded that there was no reason for further investigation or referral. Venizelos played a major part in this closure, but it’s now beginning to look as if he didn’t cover his tracks well enough after all. German paper Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote earlier this week that ‘the opposition is not the biggest threat to the government or the plans of the troika. If the government falls it will be because the government partner and president of PASOK Evangelos Venizelos is a factor of uncertainty. He refuses to clarify his role in the falsification scandal [concerning Lagarde's List] of Swiss bank accounts. Former Finance Minister George Papakonstantinou is not willing to be the only black sheep who will go to jail…’

What Samaras fears now is that Papakonstantinou will ‘shop’ Evangalos the Large. This would then drag crooked Germans back into the limelight … just as Angela Merkelopoulus is wrestling with a Cypriot bailout she may find it hard to sell to the Bundestag.

Lagarde’s List simply refuses to go away. Stay tuned.

The Slog

Papandreou Offended For Being Included In Lagarde Scandal Probe

George Papandreou (junior) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Poor chap. Former prime minister George Papandreou is very upset for being "targetted" as he says who demand that he too be included in a parliamentary inquiry for involvement in the 'Lagarde list' scandal. In a statement issued earlier this week, Papandreou said that "whatever they may do, I will be here. I will always be standing up to demagogy, populism and violence that divide the Greek people ... I will never stop fighting for my principles and values, Democracy and social justice to the public benefit."

The move to investigate Papandreou came after a move by the Independent Greek party and now has the backing of the Golden Dawn party. The move intends to probe the responsibilities of good old George and interim premier Lucas Papademos in the investigation of the scandalous "Lagarde List" which is a list of 2,065 Greeks with $1.95 billion in secret accounts in a Swiss bank -suspected of being tax evaders-.

Interestingly, two major Greek newspapers in December reported that the name of Margarita Papandreou, George Papandreou's mother is also on the notorious "Lagarde" list, with deposits of well over 500 million Euros!

According to the article in one paper, on October 2, 2012 the head of Greece's Financial Crime Squad (SDOE) Stelios Stasinopoulosse held a meeting with all the service managers of his department and asked if they knew anything about the Lagarde List, -the fate of the list of which until then was considered "missing"-. It was at this particular meeting that the name of Mrs M.Papandreou was first mentioned from the mouths of two Directors of Financial Crime.

According to Stassinopoulos, the director of SDOE's Operational Planning Nick Lekkas replied saying that he had not seen the list, but that he had heard that the woman with the 500 million deposit was linked to the political elite and then uttered the name of Margarita Papandreou. The same was also alleged by Mr. Ev. Karamanos, who is SDOE's Director of Special Affairs.

Noteworthy said the report, is that the meeting in question was held on 02/10/2012 which coincides with the visit by PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos' to the Maximos Mansion with the infamous USB stick.  (Read more about that story by clicking here)

Zoom to the present - On Thursday and knowing that her son is being targeted in the investigation, as he claims- Margarita Papandreou asked financial prosecutors Grigoris Peponis and Spyros Mouzakitis for copies of the depositions of officials of the Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE) who made the allegations. Since the alleged deposition in early December, it has emerged that the account is held by a mutual fund. Papandreou said she wanted copies of the depositions to protect herself from defamation.

Makeshift Bomb Attacks Explode At Homes Of Greek Journalists (VIDEOS)

Coordinated attacks with makeshift bombs exploded outside the homes of five well-known mainstream journalists early on Friday morning in the areas of Aghia Paraskevi, Lycabettus, Penteli and Maroussi. Among those targeted were the editor of the semi-official Athens News Agency and a host of MEGA Channel's morning talk show.

Press report said that the incendiary devices, consisting of two gas canisters, were detonated between the hours of 03.40 and 04.45 am. Fire-fighters rushed to scene, but luckily there was no need to intervene because the fires were minor.

The attacks came several days after scattered protests against a police raid to clear several anarchist squats that were illegally being occupied by radical leftists and anti-establishment groups.

The Greek government quickly condemned the attacks. Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said that it was an attempt to openly terrorize the media, which is "a vital part of our democracy." He noted the attacks came a day after protesters barged into a radio station in solidarity with those arrested at the squat.

The attacks occurred as follows: At 03.40 there was an attack of MEGA host George Economou, at 04.10 the home of Anthony Liarou was attacked, and at 04.15 the home of Skyllakou Anthony was also attacked. At the same time, an explosion occurred in Maroussi or at the home of Mr. Konsta, while at  04.45 another bomb exploded at Peter Karsioti's house.

Later on in the morning, MEGA talk show -George Economou- said "the only thing that really terrifies me is that there are people who think that can change the world this way, or that they can play such games."

Hellenic American Chamber Hails Development Measures

Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce president Yiannos Grammatidis recently expressed his satisfaction over the announcement by Development Minister Costis Hatzidakis regarding the merger between the Hellenic Foreign Trade Board and Invest in Greece as well as the operational accession of the Foreign ministry's financial advisors to the Development ministry.

"We hail the government's decision as a big and substantive step in the direction of growth. At last, the case of the management of the state's development actions is being faced in a systematic and rational way. The merger between the Hellenic Foreign Trade Board (HEPO) and Invest in Greece and the operational accession of the Foreign ministry's financial advisors to the Development ministry creates a big firepower in the country's struggle for extroversion and the attraction of investments".

Is The Greater Albania A Western Plan Against the Orthodox World?

(credit: InSapphoWeTrust)

by Alexandre Latsa
voltairenet

On Wednesday, December 5, 2012, the Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha advocated granting Albanian citizenship to all Albanians, wherever they reside. This statement was made during a visit of the city of Vlora where the independence of the Albanian state was declared, only 100 years ago. At the time Albania had just liberated itself from Ottoman rule.

This declaration follows a separate statement, collective this time, that Sali Berisha had made with his Kosovar counterpart Hashim Thaci a few weeks ago, promising the union of all Albanians. The place was, I must say, well chosen since the vast majority of the inhabitants of Kosovo today are of Albanian origin, which has not always been the case.

During the Balkan War in 1913, Serbs still constitute the majority of the population. In 1941, Kosovo is attached to the Greater Albania (already) fascist Italian protectorate. After the war, Tito would prohibit Albanian immigration since Yugoslavia, according to him, could be strong only if Serbia were as weak as possible. In 1974, it is he who attributes to Kosovo autonomous province status which would be removed by Slobodan Milosevic in 1989, while the Serbs already composed no more than 15% of the population.

When in 2008 Kosovo declares independence, nearly a decade after the Western military intervention, few commentators call attention to the dominant "Albanity" of this new small state. On the contrary, it is a time of real celebration for that supposedly oppressed people who finally gained freedom. In most Western countries and the European Union, the recognition is instantaneous, without any question being raised about the treatment of the Serb minority and the future that awaited it, despite the terrible precedent of 2004, when Christians were victims of pogroms, burned down churches, and the violation of their most basic human rights. It is true that Europe, sorry the European Union, at that time had other priorities: the essential organization of gay pride in Belgrade.

It took only 4 years for the farce of Kosovo’s independence to finally emerge publicly. Only 4 years for the Albanian Prime Minister to prove the Serb nationalists right when they consistenly maintained that it was not Kosovars (the inhabitants of the Kosovo region being Serbs) they were facing but well and truly Shqiptars, in a new episode of the ancient conflict in the Balkans that has pitted for nearly 6 centuries the Orthodox Slavs against the sons of the Ottoman Empire converts.

In October 1999, the U.S. General and NATO Supreme Commander Wesley Clark (far right) meets with the head of the UN mission in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner (second from left), and KLA leader Hashim Thaci (far left). Today, as Prime Minister of Kosovo, Thaci is accused in a report of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to have participated in the trafficking of organs taken, inter alia, from Serb prisoners by men of the KLA.

Western support for the creation of Kosovo and hostility against Serbia may seem completely inexplicable. Yet from 1991 to 2008, U.S. strategists have been led by a single logic: the destruction of Serbia, to debilitate her as much as possible for the inevitable historical moment in the future when she would again turn to Russia.

Of course, it was necessary at the same time to also devitalize Russia. If, from 1991 to 2000, a military and media war was waged against Milosevic’s Serbia with the aim of annihilating it, an economic and moral war was being unleashed against Yeltsin’s Russia. The crusade against the communist world has turned into a crusade against the Orthodox world, and essentially against its most sovereign political nerve center: Russia.

The theoretician of Russia’s containment in Eurasia, Zbigniew Brzezinski, said himself in 2007 that "After the collapse of the USSR, the main enemy of the USA will be the Russian Orthodox Church." The creation of Greater Albania can probably be seen in this historical and geostrategic light. It is like tossing a new match, one that could create a spark and start a new fire in the Balkan inferno. This fire would result in the further weakening of Europe, but also deepen the destabilization of the Orthodox world (Macedonia, Greece, Montenegro, Serbia ...) and curb its rapprochement with Russia. Indirectly, it is Russia’s influence in Eastern Europe that would be challenged, and therefore its rapprochement with Western Europe. In doing so, the United States would once again achieve their primary objective: to prevent a rapprochement between continental Europe and the Catholic and Orthodox worlds.