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Wednesday, 9 September 2015

The European Union Times


Posted: 08 Sep 2015 02:42 PM PDT

The Bulgarian authorities made an official statement, according to which they did not permit two Russian flights with humanitarian aid to Syria over its territory.
“We have enough information that makes us have serious doubts about the cargo of the planes, which is the reason for the refusal,” the Bulgarian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman said.
The planes thus got to Syria via the Iranian air space.
Pravda.Ru reported that despite a serious pressure on the Athens from the US, Greece did not close its air space for Russian planes delivering humanitarian aid to Syria.
The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the US sent a request demanding to close Greek air space for Russian planes with humanitarian aid for Syria.
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Posted: 08 Sep 2015 02:27 PM PDT

The head of the Catholic Church has called on all priests to pardon women who have abortions and the doctors who perform them. However, this will be relevant only during the coming Holy Year, as earlier announced by the Pope.
“I have decided, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, to concede to all priests for the Jubilee Year the discretion to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it,” the Pope said in a letter addressed to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization on Tuesday.
Pope Francis said the moral burden of women who terminated pregnancies should be alleviated.
“I think in particular of all the women who have resorted to abortion. I am well aware of the pressure that has led them to this decision. I know that it is an existential and moral ordeal,” he said.
“I have met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision,” he added.
The Pope emphasized that abortion is still a grievous sin, which nevertheless can be pardoned.
“What has happened is profoundly unjust; yet only understanding the truth of it can enable one not to lose hope. The forgiveness of God cannot be denied to one who has repented, especially when that person approaches the Sacrament of Confession with a sincere heart in order to obtain reconciliation with the Father,” he said.
From his point of view, the loss of “sensitivity to welcome new life” is one of the most serious problems of the modern world.
The change would apply only during the Holy Year for now, said deputy Vatican spokesman Father Ciro Benedettini. He added only a bishop, missionary or the chief confessor of a diocese can formally absolve women from abortions.
The Year of Jubilee is a special year of remission of sins, which is normally celebrated every 25 years. The next scheduled Holy Year will be celebrated in 2025. The Pope, however, can decree an extraordinary Holy Year, which Francis has declared for next year.
Francis, 78, is the first Latin American Pope. He is known as a reformist seeking to make the Catholic Church more modern and open. In June, he said in some cases divorce can be a moral necessity, despite the fact that dissolution of marriage is prohibited by the Catholic Church.
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Posted: 08 Sep 2015 02:03 PM PDT

General Abduhalim Nazarov (Nazarzoda), with the support of commandoes, tried to arrange a military coup in Tajikistan. The general himself has a different version: it was a provocation from the government to strangle the Islamic opposition. The Americans have not yet supported the “rebels,” even though in the United States, Rakhmon is considered a “pro-Russian dictator.” The Tajik president himself is looking for traces of ISIS in the putsch.
The clashes took place on Friday in the small town of Vakhdat, some 15 kilometers from the capital, near the central directorate of the Ministry of Defense in Dushanbe and in the area of the Dushanbe airport. According to various estimates, from 17 to 33 law enforcement officers were killed in the clashes. Gen. Nazarov’s soldiers lost up to seven men.
Seven citizens of the republic, including two senior officers of the Ministry of Defense of Tajikistan, were charged with terrorism for rendering direct or indirect assistance to former deputy head of the defense department.
The general and his commandoes are now hiding in a gorge some 150 kilometers far from Dushanbe. The authorities of Tajikistan are conducting a military operation against the group.
The most recent events in Tajikistan take us back to the events in 1992-1994, a civil war of the clannish nature, when Khodzhi Khalim was a warlord fighting against commander Emomali Rakhmon.
After the peace agreement was signed with the mediation of Russia in 1997, the United Tajik Opposition (UTO) received quotas for portfolios in the government. Khalim became Nazarov and then Nazarzoda. He joined the army and made a military career. On August 28 this year, the Ministry of Justice of Tajikistan announced the activities of the Islamic Revival Party illegal.
Khodzhi Khalim said via the Internet that the recent events in Tajikistan were a provocation from Rakhmon, who decided to eliminate many former UTO commanders.
According to Khalim, the government intended to announce that commanders had been killed in combat actions. Further, the letter states that the people of the general disarmed the soldiers and took their weapons, because they had no other choice.
Was Islamic State involved in Tajikistan coup?
Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, at a meeting with residents of Vakhdat, said that the organizers of the coup were acting under instructions from the Islamic State.
“In such a region as Tajikistan, the Islamic State is more of a horror story than a real force,” Dmitry Verkhoturov, an expert with the Center for the Studies of Modern-Day Tajikistan told Pravda.Ru. – I do not think that Nazarzoda has joined ISIS. In my opinion, this is simply an attempt to explain what happened.”
“The President of Tajikistan was burdened with the fact that he has opponents, with whom he used to fight as a commander of the armed struggle, Adzhar Kurtov, a historian, political scientist, editor in chief of National Strategy Problems told Pravda.Ru. – Step by step, he started wiping out opposition from power structures. The conflict was developing within the Tajik society, and when the Islamic Revival Party failed to win the parliamentary elections, some Muslims began to perceive the actions of the authorities as a war against Islam. They started looking for support, including abroad, and the Islamic State may have used the opportunity to find its followers in Tajikistan.”
The conflict is not likely to evolve into a protracted one, because there is a Russian military base in the republic. The base is a security guarantee for Tajikistan, the expert told Pravda.Ru.
What was the reaction from the West? Washington closed the embassy in Dushanbe being afraid of another Islamic coup.
“In the early phases of the Afghan war, Mr. Rakhmonov aided the United States military by allowing special forces units to pass through Tajikistan into Afghanistan, across a long and poorly guarded border. The country is also a link in the United States’ northern supply route into the war zone, and one of the possible routes out for heavy equipment like armored vehicles,” The New York Times wrote.
Western analysts say that Rakhmon’s repressive policies may backfire in terms of the radicalization of local Muslims. President Rakhmon may eventually face an Islamic rebellion under the leadership of the Islamic State or another force that needs to conquer new territories.
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Posted: 08 Sep 2015 01:26 PM PDT

The government in Athens has refused a demand by the United States to close its airspace to Russian aircraft ferrying what it describes as humanitarian aid to Syria.
“On Saturday, U.S. Embassy [in Athens] appealed to the Greek government with a request to prohibit the flights of Russian aircraft in the FIR Athens. The Greek government refused to do so, in order not to worsen relations with Russia,” an anonymous Greek diplomat told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
Russia will use the air space throughout the month of September.
On Friday Vladimir Putin admitted during an economic forum in Vladivostok his country is providing the Syrian military with weapons and training.
The Obama administration indicated last week it is monitoring reports that Russia is conducting military operations in Syria. The White House said any attempt by Russia to support the Syrian government would be “destabilizing and counter-productive.”
Closer Greek-Russian Ties
In June Russia and Greece signed a deal to build a $2.27 pipeline through Greece. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made two trips to Moscow to consult with the Russians.
The gas pipeline will allow Russia to avoid transit to markets in Europe through Ukraine where a US State Department supported coup installed a government hostile to Russia.
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Posted: 08 Sep 2015 12:50 PM PDT

As Germany welcomes thousands of refugees, with industries seeking ways to integrate newcomers into country’s workforce, Berlin’s move to temporarily bypass EU-wide regulations has met strong criticism from France’s Marine Le Pen who accused Germany of recruiting “slaves.”
The German drive to open its doors to refugees, as well as debated plans to resettle asylum seekers across the EU has been met with strong criticism from a number of politicians, including the leader of right-wing French party National Front, Marine Le Pen who accused Germany of imposing its immigration policy on the EU.
“Germany probably thinks its population is moribund, and it is probably seeking to lower wages and continue to recruit slaves through mass immigration,” Marine Le Pen said in Marseille, refusing to admit that pure benevolence was Germany’s only motive.
Le Pen criticised European politicians for “exploiting the suffering of these poor people who cross the Mediterranean Sea.”
“They are exploiting the death of the unfortunate in these trips organized by mafia, they show pictures, they exhibit the death of a child without any dignity just to blame the European consciences and make them accept the current situation,” the National Front leader said.
Following days of chaos and uncertainty, thousands of refugees – mostly Syrians – were bused from Hungary to Austria, and then brought by train to Germany, after the countries agreed on allowing migrants access, bypassing the Dublin Regulation.
By Sunday night almost 11,000 migrants arrived in Germany, authorities in Munich said. Germany in August registered more than 100,000 asylum seekers with some 800,000 refugees overall expected to come to Germany in total this year – four times the level of last year.
However, Le Pen blamed Germany for its policies which will affect the whole of the European Union.
“Germany seeks not only to rule our economy, it wants to force us to accept hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers,” she said, adding that France would not its doors to the “world’s misery.”
While the French National Front leader criticized German actions and their potential knock-on effect in the EU, Turkish PM Ahmed Davutoglu said that German portion of the refugees influx is “ridiculously small.” He accused the EU of building a “Christian fortress” in Europe, pointing out that Turkey had already accommodated more than two million people from Syria and Iraq.
The Turkish PM’s comments came in reply to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s statements calling for the defense of Europe’s prosperity, identity and “Christian values” against Muslim migrants. On Sunday, the Hungarian PM, accused Germany of exacerbating the refugee crisis.
“As long as Austria and Germany don’t say clearly that they won’t take in any more migrants, several million new immigrants will come to Europe,” Orban told Austrian broadcaster ORF.
Austria has already announced that it planned to end emergency measures that have allowed thousands of refugees in Hungary entry into Austria and Germany, but provided no exact details.
“We have always said this is an emergency situation in which we must act quickly and humanely. We have helped more than 12,000 people in an acute situation,” Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann said. “Now we have to move step-by-step away from emergency measures toward normality, in conformity with the law and dignity.”
Meanwhile even in the face of criticism, the Germans are doing everything to warmly welcome and help the newcomers. Berlin plans to introduce a supplementary budget to free up funds for the refugees while the business elite is looking to utilize migrant skills to close the gap in the lack of professional and skilled labor on the market.
On Saturday German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said that hosting the migrants will cost the government, federal states and municipalities 10 billion euros this year as opposed to 2.4 billion euros in 2014. Angela Merkel meanwhile announced that Germany can cope with refugees without raising taxes.
Big businesses are optimistic about prospects for integrating the refugees into the German workforce, as an aging population in the country and low birth rate are eating away at its pool of skilled labor.
“If we can integrate them quickly into the jobs market, we’ll be helping the refugees, but also helping ourselves as well,” the head of the powerful BDI industry federation, Ulrich Grillo, said this week, cited by AFP.
Germany with its 6.4 percent unemployment rate is still short of 140,000 engineers, programmers and technicians. The healthcare and leisure sectors are also low on skilled workers, with sociological research showing that shortage of qualified workers will rise to 1.8 million in 2020. If nothing is done to reverse the trend as many as 3.9 million jobs will need to be filled by 2040.
The influx of migrants could therefore be the answer as many of them are young and have “really good qualifications,” said Grillo.
Meanwhile the flow of migrants risking the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean shows no sign of easing. More than 2,600 have died this year making the journey. But despite the massive influx of refugees and the flawed EU asylum system, the UN refugee chief Antonio Guterres said the crisis was “manageable.”
“The European asylum system is deeply dysfunctional, it works badly. Some countries make the necessary effort, and the effort of many others is nearly non-existent,” he told French radio station RFI and the TV5Monde television channel.
Guterres’s comments came as German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble urged EU states to “act together” to come up with a single EU-wide policy. Faymann meanwhile said there is “no alternative to a common European solution.”
On Wednesday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is scheduled to present a plan to relocate 120,000 refugees from Italy, Greece and Hungary. Under the new arrangement Germany is to accept a further 31,000 migrants, followed by France with 24,000 and Spain with almost 15,000, Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported.
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