Tsipras asks his former spokesman to resign from Parliament

Athens, 19 November 2015 (MIA) - Cracks began to re-appear in the Greek ruling leftist SYRIZA party, as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was forced to request the resignation of his former spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis from Parliament.

MIA correspondent in Athens reports that Sakellaridis refused to attend the voting for several draft laws that are part of the required set of reforms Greece must introduce if it wants to continue receiving bailout funds from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The reforms include some difficult to swallow issues for the leftist members of SYRIZA, such as the request to allow banks to foreclose on primary homes of their borrowers.

SYRIZA already suffered a major rift in the dramatic days during the referendum Tsipras called and the capital controls his Government was forced to introduce to prevent the banks from collapsing. The farthest left faction of SYRIZA left the party and competed in the early elections on its own, but failed to gain any seats.cc/15:24

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Russian diplomat warns Montenegro against trying to join NATO

Moscow, 20 November 2015 (MIA) - Russia warned Montenegro against attempting to join NATO, saying that it would be a rash decision at this point. Russian Deputy Ambassador to Podgorica Vladimir Gurko said that the country should reconsider its application, a decision on which is expected to be made by NATO foreign ministers next month.

"The Russian Federation considers the project of NATO expansion to be opposed to the realistic needs in the realm of security. Mechanical enlargement of the Alliance that does not take into account the interests of all states of the Euro-Asian community has already led and continues to lead to new lines of division", Gurko said.

The Montenegro opposition, led by its Serbian minority parties, held several rounds of unruly protests, demanding that long serving Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic steps down and that the process of NATO enlargement is stopped. NATO said it will admit Montenegro, if the country performs in the fight against corruption, and if it can show that a sufficient percentage of the public supports NATO membership. Polls usually put the level of support little short of 50 percent. Montenegro was bombed by NATO in 1999, when it was still part of Yugoslavia. Meanwhile, Russia is a major investor in its industrial and real-estate sectors, on top of having maintained historically close ties with the small country, ever since the days of its fight against the Ottoman rule.cc/09:05

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NATO lifts aerial restrictions against Serbia

Belgrade, 20 November 2015 (MIA) - NATO lifted 16-year old flight restrictions against Serbia along the boundary with Kosovo, reflecting Belgrade‘s improved ties with the West, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday, DPA reports.

"As of today [NATO‘s mission in Kosovo] KFOR will fully relax the air safety zone. This means that the restrictions that have been in place since 1999 are now lifted," Stoltenberg said in Belgrade after meeting Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

"This is a very concrete expression of the improved relationship between NATO and Serbia," he said.

NATO bombed Serbia in 1999 to end the crackdown of Slobodan Milosevic‘s regime on the majority Albanians in Kosovo. The ousting of Belgrade‘s forces from the province paved the way for its formal secession in 2008.

Serbia has since remained militarily neutral, cooperating with NATO but maintaining close ties with traditional ally Russia. Its position turned into a tightrope act after NATO and Russia clashed over Ukraine.

"I am also aware of the sensitivities in Serbia towards the Alliance," Stoltenberg acknowledged. "Our air campaign was never against the Serbian people. It was about stopping unacceptable actions by the Milosevic government."

NATO will continue its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, Stoltenberg said.

While refusing to accept Kosovo‘s independence, Serbia has agreed to normalize relations with it in a process brokered by the European Union.