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Marijuana cultivation down in Albania
The cultivation of marijuana has dropped to half its 2009 level, police
announced on 12 August. Sokol Selfollari, head of the state police's anti-drug unit,
said that the authorities had destroyed about 20,500 plants in the first seven months of
2010. Villages in Gjirokastra and Shkodra continue to dominate in terms of growing
marijuana. Fighting illegal drugs is one of the conditions Albania must meet before it
benefits from the EU visa liberalisation process.
Government criticises outgoing US Ambassador
Foreign Minister Ilir Meta has complained in a letter to US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton about comments made by the outgoing US Ambassador in Tirana, John L
Withers, about government policies, particularly the judicial vetting process for the
Constitutional Court.
It was reported on 12 August that US undersecretary for European Affairs Philip Gordon
rejected the complaint, and referring to the row over judicial appointments Gordon added
the US was calling for “complete transparency over judicial appointments and vetting
process ...” In his letter, written at Hillary Clinton's request, he said: “The
secretary and I have faith in Ambassador Withers and the work he his doing to bring
forward our relationship and help Albania achieve it full potential.
Withers relationship with the Albanian government had become strained by his defence of
the independence of the Albanian judiciary, which was widely seen as being constantly
under attack by the right-wing of Prime Minister Sali Berisha. Recently, the US Ambassador
had spoken publicly against the majority party’s move to strike down nominations for
high court judges made by President Bamir Topi, based on political preferences.
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Opposition criticises proposed 49-year lease
of military base to Russia
Plans to grant Russia a 49-year lease on its base in Armenia have sparked heated
opposition criticism of the Armenian government for allegedly compromising the country's
independence. It was reported on 15 August that the Russian and Armenian governments had
finalised a far-reaching agreement that would prolong and upgrade Russia's military
presence in Armenia.The two governments have worked out amendments to a 1995 treaty
regulating a Russian military base in the country.
The amendments are likely to be signed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's state
visit to Yerevan, which starts on 19 August.
The agreement on deploying a Russian military base in the northern Armenian town of Gyumri
was signed 15 years ago and entered into force two years later, in 1997, for a period of
25 years. The Russian government in July proposed amending the agreement to 49 years; the
lease would automatically renew for another five years if neither side called for its
cancellation six months before the end of that period. In addition to "defence of
Russia's interests," the Gyumri base "would also ensure the security of Armenia
jointly with the Armenian armed forces," the proposed amendment reads." The
agreement would promise "modern and compatible arms and specialised military
equipment."
Stepan Safarian, leader of the minority Heritage Party faction in the National Assembly,
protested that "Our country's authorities say 'yes' to everybody; they accept every
offer opposing the national interests. … In this case Russia's oversight and influence
in the region once again would get bigger, despite our national interests."
Speaking on public television on 5 August, National Security Council Secretary Arthur
Baghdasarian dismissed the objections. Russia's military presence in Armenia may be
intended to defend Russian interests, he conceded, but as Armenia's "military and
strategic ally," Russia "undertakes the protection of our country together with
the Armenian armed forces."
As a sovereign state Armenia "only welcomes an intensification of bilateral
co-operation" with Russia, Baghdasarian claimed.
Razmik Zohrabian, a deputy chairman of President Serzh Sarkisian's Republican Party (HHK),
also defended the agreement, saying that it would strengthen Armenia militarily and deter
Azerbaijan from "unleashing a new war". He thought the new mandate for the
Russian base would oblige Moscow to support the Armenian side in case of renewed fighting
in the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Commenting on the agreement's reasons and timing, Zohrabian went on to suggest that the
Russian government was seeking to secure its long-term military presence in Armenia and
keep the country from joining NATO in the foreseeable future.
Diaspora demonstrators climb Mount Ararat
Early in August a group of Armenians reached the summit of Mount Ararat. “Ararat 11”,
as the members of the group called themselves, consisted of representatives of the
Armenian Diasporas in Southern California, New Jersey, Fresno and Canada.
On the third day of their hike they reached the summit of Mount Ararat, raising the flags
of Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). The group explained that while each member of
had his own reason for joining the hike, most of them just wanted to feel that once Ararat
used to belong to them.
The event was not welcomed by Turkish authorities. “Ararat 11” had climbed the
mountain without permission. It had originally gioven permission but it was subsequently
annulled by the Turkish Ministry of Tourism.
This was not the first demonstration by Armenians. On 18 July a group of 14 students from
Iran (seven Armenians and seven Iranians) also managed to reach the summit of Mount Ararat
and raised the Armenian national flag there.
2800 years of Armenian history on internet
An internet website has set out to contain the complete history of Armenia, covering the
period between 800 BC and 2004 AD. The site includes 370 pages, more than 1000 references
and hundreds of maps. Yet its organisers say the data online is still just a fragment of
the planned content and it will be continuously updated.
Armenica aims to serve as a free
complete reference source regarding Armenia, its history and other relating issues such as
the Armenian Genocide and the Karabakh conflict.
The launch of the Armenica website came alongside the 24 April 2005 commemoration day 90
years on from the Ottoman Genocide. Among many other topics, it aims to inform and shed
light on the rationale, the implementation and the result of the first genocide of the
20th century.
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Armenia: some facts and figures
Geography - Area of 29,800 square km. Bordering
countries are Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey.
Population - 3.2 million (October 2001).
Capital - Yerevan, population - 1.1 million.
Ethnic composition - More than 95% Armenian. There are small minorities
of Russians, Kurds (Yezids), Greeks, Assyrians and Jews. Most ethnic Azeris fled in the
late 1980s and early 1990s following clashes between the two communities.
Languages - Armenian. Russian is also widely spoken.
Religion - Most Armenians belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church, an
ancient independent branch of Christianity. in In AD 301, Armenia was the first state to
adopt Christianity as its state religion. There are small Catholic, Protestant and
Zoroastrian minorities.
Government - Under the 1995 constitution Armenia is a republic.
The President is directly elected for five-year terms, of which he may
serve no more than two. The President appoints and sacks ministers, including the Prime
Minister and Supreme Court officials. The President can disband the National Assembly
(parliament), after consulting its speaker and the Prime Minister.
Parliament - 131 members elected in 2007 for four years.
Parliament can remove ministers by expressing no confidence in a simple majority vote, and
can impeach the President by a two-thirds majority vote once the Supreme Court has ruled
that the President has committed treason or another major crime.
Armed forces - No official figures, number of regular troops thought to
be 50-60,000. Young men are conscripted aged 18 for two years.
Economics
Currency: Dram. (£1 = about 680 drams; $1 = 345 drams).
Inflation 2.0% and GDP growth at 11% in 2006.
Industry - Agriculture, textiles, food processing, construction materials, diamond
cutting, mining and chemicals are all major industries. Gold and molybdenum are mined,
mainly for export.
History - In 2100 BC a greater Armenian state extended from the
Mediterranean Sea to the Caspian. Over the first millennium AD, Armenians lived mainly in
two distinct areas, where they live now and in what is now the eastern Anatolia area of
Turkey.
These areas, western and eastern Armenia, were generally under Persian and Ottoman rule
but also had periods of domination by Byzantines, Mongols, Arabs and Russians. Armenians
also lived in smaller communities in Persia, present-day Syria, Gruziya, Azerbaijan, and
the Lebanon.
Russian armies invaded what is now Armenia in 1820, and Armenians were caught up in the
1914-17 Russian-Turkish war. It is claimed that 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were
exterminated between 1915 and 1923 by Ottoman Turkey. Turkey denies the charge but
acknowledges that thousands of Armenians may have been victims of the Russian-Turkish war
raging at the time.
An independent Armenian state existed from 1918 to 1921 but was swallowed up by the Soviet
Union in 1921, later becoming a full republic until independence in 1991. Russia and
Armenia still have a close strategic relationship. |
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Opposition leaders sign agreement on electoral co-operation
The leaders of six opposition groups on 24 August signed an agreement on co-operation
during the run-up to the forthcoming presidential election.
Belarus and Latvia sign agreement on local border controls
Belarus and Latvia signed agreement on simplification of exit and entry procedures for
people living near the borders between the countries. The document was signed on 23 August
during a one-day visit to Latvia by the head of the Belarussian Foreign Ministry Syarhei
Martynau.
The agreement gives residents in border areas – which includes residents of Daugavpils,
Latvia's second-largest city - to be issued with multilateral free border crossing permits
for the purpose of visiting relatives, cemeteries, and for cultural events. They are valid
for from one to five years. The cost of permits is to be €20.
The list of towns for which the agreement is intended include on the Belarussian side
Braslau, Verkhnedzvinsk, Miyory and Vidzy from, and on the Latvian side Daugavpils, Dagda,
Zilupe and Kraslava.
PACE rapporteur on Belarus visits Minsk
Sinikka Hurskainen, the rapporteur on Belarus for the political affairs committee at the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, arrived in Minsk on 18 August to gather
information, hold meetings with people and discuss the situation in the country. She said
she was mainly interested in three aspects of the Belarussian situation – human rights,
democracy, and rule of law. The rapporteur said she would like to know what had been done
in Belarus since the last visit and agreed that she knew about bad news regarding death
penalties.
She was expected to have a number of official meetings as well as meetings with
representatives of the opposition and other non-governmental organisations.
Sinikka Hurskainen last visited Belarus in February 2010 together with the previous PACE
rapporteur on Belarus, Andrea Rigoni. In late April, she presented a draft resolution on
Belarus calling on the Council of Europe to limit high-level contacts but continue a
dialogue with the authorities and with civil society.
International companies may be invited to bid for nuclear power plant project
Belarus may offer leading nuclear power plant builders the right to build its first
nuclear power plant if it decides to implement the project without involving Russia, a
Belarussian official said on 16 August. "If we decide to decline the services of
Atomstroyexport, Belarus will make partnership proposals to internationally acclaimed
companies, such as the Areva French company, US-Japanese Westinghouse Toshiba or some
others," he said. Belarus might also consider co-operating with Chinese or South
Korean companies.
Belarus wants by 2018 to commission two nuclear power units with total capacity of 2,400
megawatts. Russia's Atomstroyexport has previously been named as the general contractor.
The project cost estimate is nearly $9 billion.
President Lukashenko now prefers the US to Moscow
Presient Aleksandr Lukashenko appears toi have fallen out with the Russian government. He
said on 13 August that he wanted better ties with the United States and criticised his
former ally Russia. Lukashenko had prevbiously pledged to build a "union state"
that would combine Belarus with Russia, but his relations with Moscow have now reached a
new low as the Russian government has cut economic subsidies to its neighbour.
"We can, and we would like, to normalise relations with America, and we do not hide
this," national media quoted Lukashenko as saying. "We have many themes for
negotiations, we have proposals from our side as well as proposals from the American side.
I believe these issues can be resolved."
Lukashenko has held on to power since 1994. Last re-elected in 2006 after forcing a change
in the constituton to allow him to stand again, Lukashenko plans to seek another term as
president in the next six months. He has recently taken steps to appease the EU and the US
by releasing inmates considered by the West to have been political prisoners. But Russia,
he said, had been putting pressure on him ahead of the election. "America stays on
its position, but Russia has sharply changed its stance, trying to bring the president of
Belarus to heel before the well-known political events," he said. "But you have
known me for ages - it is impossible to bend me and trying to do so is useless."
Lukashenko has so far declined to recognise the independence of two pro-Russian separatist
regions in Georgia, which the Russian government recognised after its 5-day war with
Georgia in August 2008. Lukashenko blamed Moscow for failing to provide incentives to
Belarus that would offset any negative consequences of recognising the breakaway Georgian
regions.
In June, the Minsk administration threatened to cut Russian gas transit to Europe in a
pricing dispute. Lukashenko also said that Moscow could lose a lucrative contract to build
Belarus's first nuclear power plant: "We are not writing off other investors. In the
near time we will decide who will build our nuclear plant." Building its own nuclear
power plant has been on Belarus's agenda since 2007 after sharp price increases for
Russian energy. But it is a sensitive matter for his own people – a third of Belarussian
land was contaminated with radiation when from the 1986 nuclear reactor accident at
Chernobyl, just over the border in Ukraine.
Belarus - key data
Geography
Area - 207,600 sq km (80,200 sq miles).
Landlocked, Belarus is surrounded by Poland on the west, Lithuania and
Latvia to the north and north-west, Ukraine to the south, and Russia to the east. A
distinct strip of territory to the west was previously part of Poland and ceded to the
Soviet Union in 1939. Mainly flat, one third of the area is forested, and 46% is farmland.
Extensive Pripyat Marshes lie in the south, bordering Ukraine. The principal river is the
Dniepr to the east.
People
Population 9.85 million, primarily ethnic Slavs; 7 million eligible
to vote.
Ethnic breakdown: Belarussians 77.9%, Russians 13.2%, Poles 4.1%, Ukrainians 2.9% and Jews
1.1%.
Capital city Minsk, population around 2 million.
Religion: Mainly Russian Orthodox. Also substantial Roman Catholic and
eastern rite Catholic communities.
Language The Belarussian language, an eastern Slav tongue similar to
Russian and Ukrainian, has been subject to pressure. Russian dominates the country's
political life and state-controlled mass media, and is therefore spoken by most people.
History
Originally part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 13th century, then in
16th century controlled by Poland. Partition of Poland in late 18th century made Belarus
part of Russia. Soviet Socialist republic 1939. Severe health and agricultural problems
followed fall-out from the Chernobyl explosion (just south of its border) on 26 April
1986. Independent state from 1991, initially with liberal government until 1994.
Administrative centre of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Under President
Aleksandr Lukashenko, in office since 1994, Belarus has become increasingly isolated. Its
government is widely criticised for repression of opposition politicians and news media;
four opposition figures have disappeared under mysterious circumstances in recent years.
Lukashenko, probably not without reason, frequently alleges international organisations
and governments are working to unseat him.
Political system
Belarus is a presidential republic and the President is elected for five years. The
President appoints the Prime Minister, who must be confirmed by parliament, other
ministers and heads of local administrations.
The Parliament consists of two chambers. The lower house of parliament is made up of 110
members elected every four years. The upper chamber has 56 members -- 10 members are
appointed by the president while others are elected by local councils.
Incumbent President Aleksandr Lukashenko, a former KGB officer, was first elected in 1994.
He then extended his rule through a referendum in 1996 and secured apparently landslide
victories in 2001 and again in March 2006. Both polls were condemned by independent
observers, Western governments and opposition as fraudulent.
Economy
The Belarussian economy is centralised with government controlling most
prices and ordering companies what to produce. In the past two years Belarus has enjoyed a
steady economic recovery, mainly due to an economic boom in neighbouring Russia, its main
trading partner. The government expects to secure about 10% GDP growth this year and next.
The International Monetary Fund forecasts 6.4% GDP growth in Belarus this year. The IMF
stopped giving loans to Belarus in 1996, and has said that reforms, tight monetary
policies and a balanced budget were required to sustain growth.
Relations with the EU
The European Commission policy paper "What the European Union could
bring to Belarus" outlines what Belarussian people could expect if the country
succeeded in establishing good relations with the EU. The aim of the paper has been to
rebuff propaganda from the government in Minsk message that nobody in Europe cares much
about political reform in the country. EU-Belarus:
New message to the people of Belarus |
Link:
The Belarussian exile organisation in Prague publishes the Belarusian
Review in English. Click for an on-line
version.
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| Bosnia (Federacije
Bosne i Hercegovine) |
Valentin Inzko to remain EU Special Representative
On 13 August the Office of the EU Special Representative in Bosnia & Herzegovina
confirmed today the mandate of Valentin Inzko as Special Representative has been extended
for another year, until 31 August 2011. Valentin Inzko is an Austrian diplomat of
Carinthian Slovene origin. In March 2009 he took over the international role of High
Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Slovak diplomat Miroslav Lajcák, who
went on to become Slovakia’s Foreign Minister. Valentin Inzko became at the same time
the European Union Special Representative.
Inzko is known for firm handling of controversial issues. In June he required the
dismissal of two senior police officials, for hindering international efforts to install
the rule of law. More recently he wrote that corruption in Bosnia could not be solved
unless its citizens consider this issue a priority in the elections and support
institutions which showed reliable determination to do something about that issue.
Republika Srpska will refuse more police reforms
Republika Srpska president Rajko Kuzmanović stated on 10 August that the republic would
not accept any requests for further of the police structure in Bosnia & Herzegovina,
regardless of the security situation. "This process for us is completed and we shall
not accept any changes to the competences of Republika Srpska institutions and legal
capacities provided by the Dayton Agreement."
Kuzmanović said he believed that the recent report of the State Department served as a
reason for "new unrealistic demands of certain Bosniak politicians for new reform of
the security system in Bosnia and unnecessary unitarisation and centralisation of police
structures in the country".
"It is perfectly well known that the roots, causes, ideological and material basis
for terrorism in Bosnia is not in Republika Srpska and not among Serb people, but in
radical Islamist movements …", he said.
The federal State Department in its annual report stated that "Republika Srpska
officials aim to undermine state institutions", that Bosnia has remained a weak
decentralised state and that the Republika Srpska had slowed down the effort to improve
federal Bosnian operational capacities in the fight against terrorism and its financing.
Search for human remains in Lake Perućač continues
In mid August the Bosnian Missing Persons Institute was continuing its search for missing
persons suspected to be murdered and thrown into the Perućač lake, formed by a dam on
the Drina river.
With help from the Emergency Service and Federal Civic Defence Directorate two groups have
been formed – one to search up the river and one down the river from Djurovici village.
Amor Masović, Director of the Missing Persons Institute is leading the group down
the river. “We are still not in a position to say with certainty what is the number of
remains found, since these are incomplete bodies, but we believe we have found at least 60
incomplete remains”, he reported.
Lake Perućač is notorious as one of the locations in Serbia where the transported
remains of Kosovo Albanians killed during the 1999 conflict were dumped. It is currently
the site of a forensic operation to retrieve the bodies of victims of the 1992 Višegrad
massacres. The level of the reservoir waters behind the Bajna Basta hydroelectric dam have
been lowered while maintenance and repair work on the dam was taking place. This allowed
the recovery of the remains of many civilians who perished in the Višegrad massacres, in
the early days of the Bosnian war. Divers are also searching for bodies of Kosovar
Albanians dumped in the lake from a refrigerator truck in 1999. Although dozens of bodies
were recovered from the truck when it was discovered in 2003 more are thought to be in the
lake, as the vehicle's doors were open when it was found. The remains of three German
Wehrmacht soldiers from World War 2 have also been found during the investigations this
year. The search for the remains in the Lake Perućač area is planned to continue until
the end of this month, when the lake will be refilled.
Balkan countries and the EU
EU foreign ministers agreed on 21 November 2005 to start negotiating a
stabilisation and association agreement with Bosnia-Herzegovina. The move
came exactly 10 years after the end of the Bosnian war. The SAA was eventually signed in
June 2008.
All the Balkan countries hope to follow in the footsteps of Slovenija,
which joined the EU among the central European accession group in May 2004. Croatia
began EU accession talks in October 2005, while in the same month Serbia and
Montenegro began stabilisation and association talks. Macedonia
was granted EU candidate status in December 2005. Albania reached a
stabilisation and association agreement in June 2006.
EU
progress reports (2005) |
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top of right-hand column
|
PM says Bulgaria can absorb at least 50% of EU funds
Prime Minister Boyko Borisov announced on 15 August that his country was ready to absorb
at least 50% of the EU funds set aside in the 2007-2013 budget framework. In addition, EU
Funds Minister Tomislav Donchev said the government's goal was for payments from the seven
operational programmes of the EU structural and cohesion funds to reach €1 billion by
the end of the year. Borisov noted that the government received a very positive assessment
during the recent visit to Sofia of World Bank President Robert Zoellick.
Bulgaria and World Bank sign memorandum
On 10 August the cabinet and World Bank President Robert Zoellick signed a memorandum on
co-operation in improving the country's infrastructure. Under the agreement, the World
Bank would provide technical assistance to improve the absorption of EU funds, as well as
to develop key sectors such as energy, the judiciary and administrative capacity. The
finance ministry stressed that the cabinet was not borrowing additional funds. Prime
Minister Boyko Borisov said experts from the World Bank would help to frame quality
projects to absorb credit lines worth nearly €1 billion (£820 million) from various
international institutions.
Links:
Bulgarian Government
The European Stability Initiative looks at the transformation of Bulgaria since
1997
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Operation Storm trial nears completion
Closing remarks in the war crimes trial of General Ante Gotovina at The Hague are due on
30 August and are expected to last up to six days.
Ante Gotovina has been charged together with Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac with crimes
against humanity and violations of the rules or customs of war, including murder, inhumane
acts and persecution. The accusations centre on their alleged role in the 1995 Croatian
military offensive known as 'Operation Storm'.
The trial, which was held over the course of two-and-a-half years, has included the
testimony of 145 witnesses called by the prosecution and the defence teams and an
additional seven called by the trial chamber.
Gotovina, Cermak and Markac are charged with participation in a joint criminal enterprise,
headed by the late Croatian president Franjo Tudjman, to permanently remove by force the
ethnic Serb population from the Krajina region in Croatia.
Gotovina was commander of the Split Military District of the Croatian Army and overall
operational commander of the military Operation Storm in 1995. Cermak was assistant
minister of defence from 1991 to 1993, and commander of the Knin Garrison during the
offensive. Markac was commander of the special police of the Ministry of the Interior from
1994.
Croatia (Hrvatska) - facts and figures
History Slav coastal tribes the Chrobati and
the Hrvati migrated from White Russia in the 6th century. The Croat kingdom reached its
peak in the 11th century. The king of Hungary subsequently claimed the Croatian throne
(1091). In 1526 the defeat of Hungary by the Turks brought the north-eastern part of
Croatia into the Ottoman Empire; the rest of the country elected Ferdinand of Austria as
king. In 1918 it became part of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, joining
with Montenegro and Serbia in what became in 1929 Jugoslavija (the south Slavs). Croatia
left socialist Jugoslavija in 1991, following the collapse of communism across central
Europe, but had to wage an independence war with its ethnic Serb minority and the Jugoslav
army. The war ended with a peace treaty in 1995, after it had recaptured territory held by
rebel Serbs in a swift offensive.
Croatia's first President and architect of its independence, Franjo Tudjman, died in 1999,
and a pro-western reformist coalition came to power in 2000.
The government estimates that some 300,000 ethnic Serbs have left Croatia since 1991,
mostly after their rebellion was crushed in 1995, and gone to such areas as Serb-held
Bosnia. According to recent U.N. figures about a third have returned to their pre-war
homes in Croatia.
On 4 October 2005 the EU opened membership talks with Croatia. It followed a
statement by Carla del Ponte, the UN chief war crimes prosecutor, that the government was
now fully co-operating with the Hague tribunal. The talks had been due to start in
March, but were held up by Croatia's failure to hand over General Ante Gotovina, charged
with war crimes against Serb civilians during a 1995 offensive.
Population 4.4 million (2001 census): Croats 3.98 million,
Serbs 201,600, Italians 19,600, Slovenes 13,000. Muslims 20,755, Hungarians 16,600,
Albanians 15,000
Geography The land area is 56,538 sq km (21,829 sq
miles) plus territorial waters of 31,900 sq km (12,316 sq miles). The Adriatic coastline,
which includes 1,185 islands, islets and reefs, is 5,740 km (3,566 miles) long. There is
fertile plain in the cetre and east and a fairly barren mountainous coastal region. One
thrd of the country is forested. The river Danube forms its north-eastern border with
Serbia. Croatia is bordered by Slovenija in the north-west, Hungary in the north, Serbia
in the east, Bosnia in the south and Montenegro in the south-east. It also has a maritime
border with Italy in the Adriatic.
The capital Zagrab (Zagreb) has a population of 867,865.
Language The official language is Croatian, written
in Roman script.
Religion Roman Catholic 88.6%, Orthodox 4.5%, Muslim
1.3%, with 5.3% of the population declared as agnostic or atheist.(2001 census).
Economy Mainly agricultural, with tourism a major
contributor on the Adriatic coast. Natural resources include bauxite, coal, copper, and
iron. Other industries are metal-working, electrical engineering, lumber and oil-refining.
The Balkan civil war badly affected its economy. Croatia became member of the World Trade
Organisation in mid-2000. It was left out from the first group of former central European
communist countries to join the European Union in 2004 because of its poor human rights
record and nationalist government. Croatia applied for full membership in February 2003.
EU leaders agreed in December 2004 to start entry talks with Croatia if the
country co-operated with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Jugoslavija.
The opening of accession talks was delayed until October 2005, but Croatia still hopes to
join the second enlargement group together with Romania and Bulgaria.
Annual inflation was forecast at below 2% this year. Before an austerity programme was
introduced in 1993, inflation ran at 38% a month.
In 2002, Croatia's GDP grew 5.2%, reaching $5,130 per capita and is expected to rise to
almost $6,000 this year. Unemployment stood at 18.3% in September.
Currency - the kuna, introduced in May 1994, valued at about 7.6 to the
euro and 6.5 to the U.S. dollar. |
Link to Croatian Information
Centre
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| Czech
Republic (Česká republika) |
Doctors threaten resignation over government proposals to cut their salaries
Members of the Czech doctors' trade unions threatened on 2 September to resign en
masse over the government's plan to shake up salary scales. The Czech Labour and Social
Affairs Ministry has proposed to introduce a single salary scale which would see the wages
of doctors at the start of their career slashed by 14%, and those of senior doctors by up
to 40%. The head of the doctors' trade union, Martin Engel, said the only adequate
response would be for doctors to resign en masse. Prime Minister Petr Nečas said the
government would review the issue, which is part of the current cost-cutting drive.
Human rights representative refuses to resign
The Czech government's representative for human rights, Michael Kocáb, on
1 September denied the Prime Minister's claim that he had tendered his resignation.
Prime Minister Petr Nečas said he accepted Michael Kocáb's resignation, and thanked him
for his work in the field of human rights. Kocáb said however that at his meeting with
the prime minister he had been pressured to resign but he had refused. The issue was
precipitated when PM Necas appointed a conservative, Roman Joch, as his adviser for human
rights. Joch had several times said that the position of human rights representative was
redundant. Michael Kocáb, formerly a rock musician, had also served as Human Rights
Minister in the previous cabinet.
Paper exposes corruption plot involving deputy defence
minister
Following another scandal over arms purchases, Minister of Defence Alexandr Vondra
announced on 1 September the creation of a new unit to oversee purchases.
Earlier the same day the Mlada fronta dnes daily newspaper had described how it
exposed a plot by a deputy minister at the Defence Ministry to take a substantial bribe to
approve for a major arms order. The paper reported that it followed the minister, Jaroslav
Kopřiva, for six months as he put together the deal with a lobbyist. They planned to set
up an order for mortars as a joint purchase with the Slovak government, helping them
bypass a public tender and winning it for the Finnish company Patria. When the paper
presented its evidence to the Minister of Defence, Kopřiva was sacked on the spot. The
paper also alleged that Kopřiva had lined up the current military expert from the TOP 09
political party, Pavel Severa, to step into his shoes and safeguard the deal if he was
forced out of the ministry. Top 09 had proposed Severa as a deputy defence minister during
the summer. He denies any involvement in the deal.
Alexandr Vondra declared his determination to cut off the tentacles of corruption that had
apparently reached far into his ministry and high into the political hierarchy. The new
overseeing unit would look into all completed, pending and ongoing purchases to check for
any suspicious circumstances. First in line would be contracts involving third party
intermediaries.
A long investigation is inevitable – the disgraced deputy minister (the Christian
Democrat party nominee) had been at the ministry in charge of procurement for seven years
starting in 2003.
Ministry of Finance plans one-off flood tax
The Ministry of Finance has tabled its budget proposal for 2011 with an extra 127.7
billion koruna (about £4.3) set aside to cover damages from the floods in early August.
The planned budget deficit of 135 billion koruna has been retained with both spending and
income boosted by the allotted amount. After much haggling, the Czech government has
agreed in principle that a special flood tax will be levied next year as a one-off measure
only. The ministry's budget proposal, which still has to be approved by the government and
lower house of parliament, relies on expected economic growth of 2.3% next year.
The prolonged flood crises continued at the beginning of September with heavy overnight
rain in northern Moravia and Silesia. Flood alerts were declared along many rivers. Fire
fighters were called out to around 160 incidents. The worst affected locality was on the
Olza river at Český Těšín where a level-3 flood was in effect. The local crisis
committee was convened but evacuations had so far been avoided. The national weather
office was predicting further heavy rainfall in the Beskydy mountains.
On 31 August Prime Minister Petr Nečas said the Czech Republic would be applying for
money from the EU Solidarity Fund to cover damages from recent floods in the regions of
Liberec and Usti nad Labem. The government was discussing a joint application with Poland
and the German state of Saxony, both of which were also hard hit by the floods in early
August. The PM said that damage suffered had so far reached 6.5 billion koruna (about
£219 million). It would not entitle the country to automatic funding from the EU. The
government had already earmarked 80 million koruna for immediate aid and a further 665
million for repairs to infrastructure.
Coalition party insists that only the PM should co-ordinate EU policy
Leaders of the junior coalition party TOP 09 said on 31 August that the
co-ordination of EU affairs policy cannot be entrusted to a specially appointed state
secretary because the coalition agreement allots that responsibility to the head of the
government. Prime Minister Petr Nečas had been planning to establish the post of state
secretary for the EU soon, saying the depth of Czech-EU relations made the post essential.
However, In the view of TOP 09 chairman and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg,
the prime minister is responsible for the co-ordination of the country's European policy,
while the Foreign Ministry is responsible for its implementation. Finance Minister
Miroslav Kalousek, who has clashed with the PM on other matter in recent weeks, also said
that the powers of the prime minister could not be performed by an appointed official. PM
Nečas suggested the remarks should be taken as a sign of pre-election uneasiness.
Czech Airlines withdraws flights to the UK from end October
On 31 August Czech Airlines warned that they would be withdrawing its scheduled flights to
the UK. The last flight between Prague and Manchester would be on 28 and 29 October, and
between Prague and London Heathrow on Saturday 30 October. Currently there were no plans
to restore the services in the future or to operate to another UK airport. The rest of the
Czech Airlines network would continue to operate as usual.

Existing reservations would be cancelled without any protection. Booking
agents would receive cancellation notice through their on-line systems and would solely be
responsible for contacting their passengers. Czech Airlines would arrange travel on its
earlier flights wherever possible, or passengers could transfer to other airlines -
provided the standard rules for involuntary procedures were followed.
Prague Zoo succeeds in breeding Komodo dragons in captivity
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In the wild there are
reportedly only around 5,000 Komodo dragons left, found in eastern Indonesia. But Prague
Zoo has enjoyed continued success in breeding the endangered lizard in captivity. Over
several days at the end of August the zoo saw the successful hatching of 20 new specimens,
the offspring of a female known as Aranka. |
Web viewers were able to watch the entire hatching process
online. The zoo’s spokeswoman Jana Ptacinská-Jirátová, explained how the successful
hatchings were observed: “We were very happy to be able to offer the public the
opportunity to watch the hatching of the Komodo dragon babies online. We installed cameras
in the incubator so that people could watch the babies Komodo dragons come into the world
… It was fascinating how many people watched and we got a lot of feedback on Facebook,
in e-mails and in the media … people were fascinated.”
“All 20 hatched within the same week … They were very lively when they were born! They
are 40 - 45 centimetres long and weigh around 100 or 140 grams. They are not so big but
what fascinated people was how they could have fit in a 10 centimetre sized egg.”
Komodo dragons grow to up to three metres in length.
Prime Minister expects up to 8% loss in public employees
Prime Minister Petr Nečas said on 29 August that he estimated between 5% and 8% of state
workers would lose their jobs due to proposed budget cuts next year. Cuts of 10% have been
demanded in ministry budgets. The Prime Minister said there was a choice between across
the board pay cuts of 10% or a 10% cut in employee numbers. He reckoned that most
ministries would opt for a mix of the above but that there would be a bigger emphasis on
job cuts.
The 2011 budget will be debated in the lower house of parliament in October. The
government programme calls for cuts across the public sector with only teachers excepted.
Education Minister pushes for clearance for standard school leaving exams
The government on 18 August agreed to introduce standard school leaving exams at the end
of the upcoming school year. Minister of Education Josef Dobes pushed for the
implementation of this controversial proposal, which has been under discussion for the
last 14 years. He argued it would be a vital component of promised education reform and
standards setting for the sector.
Schools have until now been able to set their own exams with the results that standards
vary across the country. Many schools, pupils and parents have opposed a standard exam for
the around 100,000 school leavers a year saying it would threaten the quality of local
schools. Around 180 high schools signed a protest petition earlier this year.
Liberec region seeks funds for flood repairs

The north of the country has been the worst hit by recent floods, particularly the Liberec
and Usti nad Labem regions. The total bill for damage from recent floods in the Liberec
region has been estimated at just over 2.0 billion koruna. The Liberec region has launched
negotiations with the Ministry of Transport about freeing up funds for repairs to roads
and bridges damaged by the floods. Three quarters of this consists of repairs to second
and third class roads with the rest destined for bridge repairs. It is estimated that 119
bridges were damaged in the flash floods in early August, of which around 30 are now in a
serious state. According to the regional governor Stanislav Eichler, around 80 bridges
need less costly maintenance.
Due to extensive damage resulting from the floods, a total of four train routes in the
Liberec region will remain out of service. It was reported in mid August that trains
connecting Liberec with the town of Frýdlant, which was badly affected by the floods,
would not start running again until the end of September. Other routes were expected to
resume service later in the week. Buses serving the region had also been discontinued but
would slowly starting operating again.
Pope Benedict XVI has given €25,000 euros to help Czech flood victims. News of the
donation was released by the Bishop of Litomerice, Jan Baxant. His diocese covers one of
the affected areas. The donations will be managed by the church's local charity.
Mixed reactions to plans to build camp for Prague's homeless
Prague councillors on 17 August approved a controversial plan to create a special camp for
the city's homeless somewhere in the suburbs; a place where they would be given food and
shelter, while remaining conveniently out of sight. It could be set up and ready to
operate within six months’ time, most likely in the suburb of Malešice. Councillors
argued that this would bring relief to both the general public and to the homeless.
However, human rights groups have raised an outcry against what they see as a dangerous
policy of segregation.
The initiator of the plan, Jiří Janeček, says that the centre should be a last resort
for those who have no place to go. The “integrated assistance centre” would provide
shelter, medical assistance and two hot meals a day for homeless people who have little
chance of ever returning to a normal life and who get turned away from other help centres
because they are uncooperative, drunk or on drugs.
“I have no intention of creating a centre for the entire homeless community,” Janeček
explained. “Prague has over 3,500 homeless people. Of those around 150 are in such a
pitiful state and so uncooperative that they get turned away from shelters. Then they
either sleep on the street or end up in a drunk tank. In the worst case they freeze to
death. As I see it, they would be better off in a centre where they can get food, shelter
and medical care. So we want to set up the centre, give it a trial run and see how it
goes.”
Human rights groups, however, called the plan a crude attempt at social engineering. Pavla
Vopeláková from the Czech Salvation Army says the approach would be all wrong. “What
we have to do is build up a relationship with these people and get them to trust us. They
have to accept us as people who really want to help them and not as someone who wants to
send them out of sight, to get rid of the problem.” She said something similar was tried
in Paris a few years ago, and proved a failure. “There was a special train taking
homeless people from the centre of Paris to the suburbs. But it failed because these
people would spend a night or two there and then return to the city centre because that’s
where their friends were, that’s where they could beg for money or find food.”
Official
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Unemployment relates to level of education
Minister of Social Affairs Hanno Pevkur commented in August that the most recent labour
market statistics clearly indicate factors that influence unemployment. “There is a
clear link between the education level and the unemployment rate; unqualified workers have
the highest unemployment rate,” he pointed out. According to labour market statistics,
13% of all unemployed persons are those with higher education, whereas 28% only have
secondary education. In terms of higher education levels, persons with a Bachelor’s
degree account for 7% of unemployed people while 3% have either a Master’s degree or a
doctorate, and 3% have applied higher education qualifications. 40% of unemployed people
have vocational education. 17% have vocational education acquired on the basis of basic
education. 16% of unemployed persons have basic education and 2% not even basic education.
Increased support for adoption of €uro
A recent survey carried out by Faktum & Ariko revealed that 52% of Estonian residents
would support the adoption of the euro. Among the Russian-speaking population, the support
for the euro is only 32%.
In comparison to a poll carried out in November 2009 with the same questions and choices
and the same size of sample, the number of those who support the adoption of the euro has
increased. In autumn 2009, the adoption of the European single currency was supported by
47% of respondents and only 23% of the Russian-speaking population.
The survey indicated that the higher an individual’s income and level of education, the
more they would support the euro. Support for the single currency is also higher in major
cities. Three-quarters of nearly 500 respondents predicted that the adoption of the euro
would bring an overall price increase. Hence, most of those who supported the euro also
predict an increase in prices. 89% of respondents felt that they have enough information
on the adoption of the euro.
Facts about Estonia (Eesti)
Geography The country is 45,100 sq km (17,409 sq
miles) in area, including some 800 islands. The northernmost of the three Baltic
countries, Estonia borders the Baltic Sea to the north and the west, Russia to the east
and Latvia to the south. 36% of the land is forested, and there are over 1500 lakes.
Population 1.4 million, of which 65% are Estonian,
28% Russian, 2.5% Ukrainian, 1.5% Belarussian and 1% Finnish.
Capital Tallinn, population 400,000.
Language The official language is Estonian (quite
closely related to Finnish), and Russian is widely spoken (the home language of 32% of the
population, especially in north-eastern parts of the country).
Religions Lutheran and Russian Orthodox.
Government The Republic of Estonia is a
parliamentary democracy. Power is divided between the 101-seat single chamber parliament,
or Riigikogu, the cabinet and the non-executive presidency.
President: Toomas Hendrik Ilves.
Prime Minister: Andrus Ansip.
History Estonia was under Swedish rule from 1629,
and then was ceded to Russia in 1721. It first gained independence in 1918. It remained an
independent nation between the two World Wars, then in 1940, under the Molotov-Ribbentrop
pact, it was invaded by Russia and became part of the Soviet Union. Subsequently Estonia
was occupied by Germany 1941-44 during World War 2. After WW2, Estonia was subject to the
Soviet economy and politics, including collectivisation of farms, suppression of religion
and massive deportations. The rapidly expanding planned economy brought hundreds of
thousands of Soviet immigrants to Estonia, causing widespread fear among Estonians that
their national identity would eventually vanish. The Gorbachev reforms prompted an upsurge
in nationalism across the Baltic region in the late 1980s, and independence movements won
control in 1990 after the 'Singing Revolution'. Estonia declared a transitional period
leading to its declaration of full independence on 20August 1991.
Economy Estonia set out to turn itself into a
Western-style market economy at breakneck speed after regaining independence in 1991 and
was the first country in the former Soviet Union to introduce its own currency, the kroon
(=100 centts), in 1992.
It quickly became the most liberal Baltic economy in the often painful transformation to a
market-based system, and has enjoyed fast economic growth despite a global slump, GDP
expanding by 5.8% in 2002. Exports are now mostly forestry and agricultural products.
Estonian sea ports are important transit points for Russian oil bound for the west.
The weak economies of its main European trading partners slowed its year-on-year growth to
4.1% in second quarter 2003 and full-year growth is estimated at 4.5%.
A monetary policy of balanced budgets, moderate inflation and a simple currency board
fixing the kroon to the euro has convinced Estonian leaders that switching to the European
single currency will be largely a technical matter. The government wants to join the
European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM-2), the waiting room for the euro, in 2004 and
become part of euroland in late 2006 or early 2007. |
Link: Estonian government website
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