Kosovo ex-PM arrested in Slovenia on Serbian warrant

Ljubljana, 17 June 2015 (MIA) - Former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, a guerrilla commander during the 1998-99 Kosovo war, has been detained by the Slovenian police on a 2006 Serbian arrest warrant, the Slovenian police confirmed on Wednesday.

Haradinaj's party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, said he had been "stopped" by police at Slovenia's Ljubljana airport on his return to Kosovo from Berlin, Reuters reported.

It called on Slovenia to allow Haradinaj to immediately resume his journey.

The Slovenian police said a citizen of Kosovo was arrested at Ljubljana airport, adding a judge at the court in the city of Kranj in Western Slovenia would determine future proceedings regarding the arrest.

A government official in Serbia, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Haradinaj had been "stopped and held".

Serbia considers Haradinaj a war criminal for his role in leading a guerrilla insurgency in its former southern province of Kosovo, which declared independence with Western backing in 2008.

Haradinaj served briefly as prime minister of Kosovo in 2004 and 2005, while it was a ward of the United Nations, before being tried and acquitted twice of war crimes at a U.N. court in The Hague.

His arrest follows that of wartime Bosnian commander Naser Oric in Switzerland last week, also on a warrant issued by Serbia. ba/19:42

###



Serbian PM surprised at Hungary's migrant fence plans

Belgrade, 18 June 2015 (MIA) - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic stated he is surprised and shocked by Hungary's plans to erect a fence along its border with Serbia to stem the flow of illegal migrants, adding that building walls is not the solution, especially because Serbia can't be responsible for the situation, Tanjug reports.

Vucic told Radio-Television of Serbia he will discuss the issue with his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban and EU officials, stating this is primarily the EU's issue, as Serbia is just a transit country.

Serbia is just a transit country for the migrants entering from the EU that is from Bulgaria and Greece, he pointed out.

The prime minister stressed he does not understand Hungary's decision to build a border fence, adding Serbia will not build walls and isolate itself.

"The people who entered Serbia do not want to stay there. We give them assistance and food, but these people do not want to stay in Serbia, and now someone builds walls," the prime minister said.

Vucic also said that the Serbian and Hungarian governments will hold a joint session on July 1. ik/10:01

###



Greek finmin doesn't expect deal at Eurogroup meeting

Paris, 18 June 2015 (MIA) - Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said on Wednesday he did not expect he and his euro zone counterparts to reach an aid-for-reforms deal at a meeting on Thursday, saying agreement was needed at the highest level, Reuters reports.

"Tomorrow we will set the scene for what we consider to be our political and moral duty, and that is to reach an agreement very, very quickly with our partners and the institutions," he said after talks in Paris at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Asked if there could be an agreement at the meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Luxembourg on Thursday, Varoufakis said: "I do not believe so."

He said preparatory work for the meeting had not gone far enough for a deal.

"Eurogroup meetings are not designed to stage fresh conversations that have not been prepared in advance," he said. "I do not believe that this preparation has taken place."

Euro zone finance ministers want Greece to put forward fresh reform proposals. Greece's top negotiator Euclid Tsakalotos told Reuters the government was ready to make unspecified concessions but not on pensions, a major sticking point.

"It is my considered opinion that now the agreement has to be reached at the level of political leaders, heads of states, prime ministers, chancellors," Varoufakis said.

Time is running out for Athens to reach a deal with its international creditors before a 1.6 billion euro ($1.8 billion) payment to the International Monetary Fund falls due at the end of the month. ik/11:42

###



Merkel says Greek deal still possible if Athens shows the will

Berlin, 18 June 2015 (MIA) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday a deal between Greece and its creditors was still possible if Athens showed the necessary will, amid mounting pessimism that the austerity-hit country might crash out of the euro zone, Reuters reports.

Neither side has shown any sign of yielding, with creditors insisting it is up to Greece to make concessions to secure a cash-for-reforms deal so the government can honor looming debt repayments and avoid a potentially disastrous default.

Far from giving ground, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras launched a new attack on the lenders in an article in a German newspaper, slamming what he called their "blind insistence" on pension cuts he said would worsen his country's crisis.

The leftist leader began a two-day visit to Russia to attend an economic forum in St. Petersburg as euro zone finance ministers gathered in Luxembourg to discuss the impasse. Given that Athens ruled out bringing new proposals to the discussion, hopes for a breakthrough at the meeting have all but vanished.

Arriving for the Luxembourg meeting, EU Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told reporters he didn't want the debt standoff to turn into a rerun of the Battle of Waterloo on the 200th anniversary of the historic defeat for France.

"Today is an important date and I have no desire to see us return to the age of Waterloo when the Europeans were all lined up against a single state," he said.

With European leaders and Greece's central bank warning a possible "Grexit" was on the horizon, European shares fell and Greek shares .ATG hit a new three-year-low.

In a sign of growing nervousness among many Greeks about their country's fate, pro-euro demonstrators will hold a rally in central Athens, calling for an end to the deadlock. That comes a day after anti-austerity protesters rallied in support of the government and against policies set by lenders.

"I'm still convinced: where there's a will, there's a way," Merkel told German lawmakers, repeating a message from last week. "If those in charge in Greece can muster the will, an agreement ... is still possible."

Merkel faces growing opposition from within her ruling conservatives to granting Greece any more bailout money, with a narrow majority of Germans now in favor of Greece leaving the euro zone.

Having been voted into power in January on a pledge to roll back austerity, Tsipras's leftist government has balked at demands for new pension cuts and tax hikes on basic goods like food and electricity. ik/13:51

###



Kosovo MPs condemn Haradinaj’s arrest

Pristina, 18 June 2015 (MIA) - Upon the request of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Parliament of Kosovo debated Thursday the arrest of Ramush Haradinaj in Ljubljana and both ruling, opposition and Serbian MPs expressed concern about the arrest, Kosovo media report.

President of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Ramush Haradinaj, was arrested Wednesday by a warrant issued by Serbia in 2004.

A Slovenian court ordered that Haradinaj should be held overnight and his passport confiscated until another hearing on Thursday to decide whether he will be freed to return to Pristina.



Прочитајте: затвори
Spain wants involvement in Belgrade-Pristina dialogue: paper
NATO starts Montenegro air patrols
Turkey, U.S. agree roadmap to avert crisis in Syria's Manbij, few details
Anti-migrant party tops Slovenia election
IDIVIDI Сервиси
Пребарување
Пребарување по клучен збор во содржина
webmail
IDIVIDI Речник
Powered by MagnumPRO
Download