Montenegrin opposition woos minority lawmakers to topple premierPodgorica, 19 October 2016 (MIA) - The largest opposition party in Montenegro on Wednesday offered the post of prime minister to an ethnic minority representative in a bid to overturn the victory of longtime Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic.
The pro-Serbia and pro-Russia Democratic Front (DF), one of the four opposition parties that jointly outnumber Djukanovic‘s Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) in the upcoming parliament, plans to offer the post to a Bosniak member of parliament, dpa reports.
Because of ethnic tensions, a Bosniak would find it difficult to enter a coalition with a pro-Serbian party, so DF has offered to support an anti-Djukanovic government from the outside.
"We would support that government, but not participate. That government would have the task to prepare new, fair and democratic elections after a certain time," Nebojsa Medojevic of the DF bloc told the daily Pobijeda.
According to provisional official results from Sunday‘s vote, the DPS has 36 seats in the 81-seat chamber.
The combined opposition has 39 seats: DF has 18, the coalition Kljuc (Key) has nine, Democrats of Montenegro have eight and Djukanovic‘s estranged longtime allies, the Social Democrats, have four.
The remaining seats are held by the ethnic minorities: two Bosniaks, one Croat and one Albanian. The final two seats are held by other social democrats, who will ally with Djukanovic.
The opposition - fragmented over virtually all issues apart from the goal of removing Djukanovic from power after 25 years - was deemed unlikely to be able lure the minorities into backing it; it apparently did not even remain united in a decision not to recognize the election results. lk/19:07
###
Croatia PM-designate vows to boost reform, bridge divisions
Zagreb, 19 October 2016 (MIA) - Croatia's conservative prime minister-designate said Wednesday that his future government will work to boost economic recovery and overcome political divisions in the European Union's newest member state, AP reports.
"The government I will lead will be the government of all Croatian citizens," Andrej Plenkovic told lawmakers as he presented his future Cabinet to the Parliament.
Lawmakers are set to approve the new government later on Wednesday amid hopes the vote will mark an end to months of political turmoil triggered by the fall of the previous government in June.
The proposed government includes ministers from Plenkovic's conservative Croatian Democratic Union, or HDZ, and the populist Most, or Bridge, party with the support of minority groups.
A months-long political crisis has stalled reform in the Adriatic nation that joined the EU in 2013 but remains one of the bloc's weakest economies.
PM-designate Plenkovic said the future government plans to carry out changes needed to boost the business environment — including tax reform and easing of regulations.
The 46-year-old former European Parliament member also announced further education and judicial reform and urged support, insisting that national goals should come before political differences.
Some lawmakers were skeptical.
"We heard a wish list, but no plan how to achieve them," Kreso Beljak from Croatia's Peasants' Party said during a parliamentary debate.
Plenkovic took over the leadership of HDZ following the collapse of the previous, right-leaning government led by the party. A moderate, Plenkovic has excluded hard-line ministers who were part of the previous Cabinet. lk/20:22
###
Croatia parliament approves new conservative-led cabinet
Zagreb, 19 October 2016 (MIA) - The Croatian parliament approved on Wednesday a new government led by the conservative HDZ party leader Andrej Plenkovic whose main task will be to boost growth and sort out fragile public finances in one of the weakest European Union economies, Reuters reports.
The new government was formed by the HDZ and its junior center-right reformist partner Most ("Bridge") after several weeks of negotiations following a Sept. 11 snap election.
The government got support of 91 out of 151 parliamentary deputies.
"We will be the government that knows how to bring about changes," Plenkovic told the parliamentary deputies while presenting his cabinet.
He said that spurring growth and improving the business climate would be his government's priorities.
"We will ease conditions for doing business and implement tax reform to make the taxation system simpler and ease burden for citizens and businesses," Plenkovic said.
In the past many investors have largely shunned Croatia due to red tape, high taxes, frequently changing regulations and a slow judiciary.
Plenkovic said that the 2017 budget, which is expected in November, will clearly reflect efforts to reduce the fiscal gap and public debt which now stands at around 85 percent of gross domestic product. lk/21:42
###
Albania introduces tough new patrols against drug smuggling
Tirana, 20 October 2016 (MIA) - Albanian police have initiated tough new measures to close its maritime border for illegal drug trade, MIA correspondent reports. a total of 272 police officers have been engaged in a new, non-stop regiment of patrols that is supported by the United States and will include special operations units with modern equipment.
This is the first time that Albania has introduced this type of patrols. The country is a major producer of marijuana that is sold in Italy and Greece and actions against producers have taken on dramatic proportions in the past.cc/08:40
###
Evoking Ottoman past, Erdogan vows to tackle Turkey's enemies abroad
Ankara, 20 October 2016 (MIA) - Smarting over exclusion from an Iraqi-led offensive against Daesh in Mosul and Kurdish militia gains in Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Wednesday that Turkey "will not wait until the blade is against our bone" but could act alone in rooting out enemies, Reuters reports.
In a speech at his palace, Erdogan conjured up an image of Turkey constrained by foreign powers who "aim to make us forget our Ottoman and Selcuk history", when Turkey's forefathers held territory stretching across central Asia and the Middle East.
"From now on we will not wait for problems to come knocking on our door, we will not wait until the blade is against our bone and skin, we will not wait for terrorist organisations to come and attack us," he told hundreds of "mukhtars", local administrators generally loyal to the government.
"Whoever supports the divisive terrorist organisation, we will dig up their roots," he said, referring to Kurdish PKK militants who have waged a three-decade insurgency against Turkey and have bases in northern Iraq and affiliates in Syria.
"Let them go wherever until we find and destroy them. I am saying this very clearly: they will not have a single place to find peace abroad."
Erdogan has struck an increasingly belligerent tone in his speeches in recent days, frustrated that NATO member Turkey has not been more involved in the US-backed assault on Mosul, and angered by Washington's support for Kurdish militia fighters battling Daesh in Syria.
He is riding a wave of patriotism since a coup attempt failed to oust him in July, his message of a strong Turkey playing well with his fervent supporters.
Ankara has been locked in a row with Iraq over the presence of Turkish troops at the Bashiqa camp near Mosul, as well as over who should take part in the offensive in the largely Sunni Muslim city, once part of the Ottoman empire and still seen by Turkey as firmly within its sphere of influence.
Erdogan has warned of sectarian bloodshed if the Iraqi army relies on Shiite militia fighters.
He said agreement had been reached with the US military on Turkish jets joining the Mosul operation, although Washington has said it is up to the Iraqi government who takes part.
"They thought they could keep us out of Mosul by bothering us with the PKK and Daesh... They think they can shape our future with the hands of terrorist organisations," he said. "We know that the terrorists' weapons will blow up in their hands soon."
Turkey has felt increasingly powerless to control events across its borders as the US-led coalition focuses on fighting Daesh in Syria rather than on removing Syrian President Bashar Assad, the root cause of the war in Ankara's view.
It has been particularly angered by US support for Kurdish militia fighters in Syria. Washington views the Kurdish YPG as useful allies in the fight against the extremists, but Turkey sees them as a hostile force and an extension of the PKK.
"We know this business in this region. You are foreigners here. You do not know," Erdogan said, to loud applause, in a speech on Tuesday to mark the opening of the academic year.
While criticising the West, the Turkish leader has restored ties with Moscow in recent weeks, vowing to seek common ground on Syria after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, despite Moscow's backing of Assad.
Erdogan said he discussed with Putin by phone an agreement on Tuesday night on removing from Aleppo the group formally known as the Nusra Front, and now called Jabhat Fatah Al Sham. He gave no details.
Erdogan has made repeated references in his speeches this week to the term "Misak-i Milli" or National Pact, referring to decisions made by the Ottoman parliament in 1920 setting out the borders of the Ottoman Empire.
He often laments the concessions made by Turkish leaders after World War I, with the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne that brought modern Turkey into being in 1923. Pro-government media this week published maps depicting Ottoman borders encompassing an area including Mosul.
He warned of efforts to "restructure the region" and said Turkey would not sit by.
"I'm warning the terrorist organisations, the sectarian fanatic Baghdad government and the Assad government that kills its own people: you are on the wrong path. The fire you are trying to start will burn you more than us," Erdogan said.
"We are not obliged to abide by the role anyone has set for us in that sense. We have started carrying out our own plan.
|