How the world sees Greece
The Greek government denied a rift with Moscow over refusing to allow Russian air-crafts to fly over Greek airspace. The air-crafts were scheduled to transport humanitarian aid to Syria, but did not, after an alleged U.S. intervention. “No displeasure or any other negative comment has been expressed from anyone,” foreign ministry spokesman Constantinos Koutras told AFP
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Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Constantinos Koutras said the U.S. has asked Greece to cancel overflight permission for flights headed to Syria, a move aimed at Russia, and said the request is being examined by the caretaker government. The post U.S. Wants Greece to Close Air Space for Russian Planes to Syria appeared first on The National Herald.
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MOSCOW (AP) — Signs of an ongoing Russian military buildup in Syria have drawn U.S. concerns and raised questions of whether Moscow plans to enter the conflict. President Vladimir Putin has been coy on the subject, saying Russia is weighing various options, a statement that has fueled suspicions about the Kremlin's intentions. Observers in Moscow say the Russian maneuvering could be part of a plan to send troops to Syria to fight the Islamic State group in the hope of fixing fractured ties with the West. They warn, however, that Putin would likely find it hard to sell his idea to a skeptical U.S. and risks potentially catastrophic repercussions if he opts for unilateral military action in Syria. By playing with the possibility of joining the anti-IS coalition, Putin may hope to win a few key concessions. His main goal: the lifting of Western sanctions and the normalization of relations with the United States and the European Union, which have sunk to their lowest point since the Cold War amid the Ukrainian crisis. In addition, the Russian leader may be angling to make the West more receptive to Moscow's involvement in Ukraine, while retaining influence in Syria. Early this summer, the Kremlin put forward a peace plan for Syria that envisions enlisting Syrian government forces and Iran in the anti-IS coalition. A few rounds of negotiations with the Americans and Saudis have brought no visible results, and now Moscow appears to be testing the water for a next move: beefing up its military presence in Syria. While Putin said Friday there is no talk "just yet" about Russian troops joining the fight against the Islamic State, he seemed to keep the door open for the possibility, saying "we are looking at various options." The Russian leader is set to attend the United Nations General Assembly later this month, and some analysts say a proposal to deploy troops to Syria could be the focal point of his visit. Since the Soviet times, Russia has had close political and military ties with Syria, which hosts a Russian navy facility in the Mediterranean port of Tartus intended to service and supply visiting ships. While the Soviet-era facility has just a couple of floating piers along with a few rusting repair shops and depots, it has symbolic importance as the last remaining Russian military outpost outside the former Soviet Union. Moscow has staunchly backed Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout the nation's 4 ½-year civil war, providing his regime with weapons and keeping military advisers in Syria. Putin said again Friday that Russia is providing the Syrian military with weapons and training. Rami Abdurrahman, the head of the Britain-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said there have been reports since mid-August of Russian troops in the capital's airport and another airport in the coastal city of Latakia. "We don't know if they are troops or transporters of weapons and ammunition," he said, noting an increase in the flow of Russian weapons arriving in Syria since July. "The fact that (military cooperation) is not new is one thing, but there is a noticeable increase," said Abdurrahman, who has a large network of activists on the ground in Syria helping him monitor the situation. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry signaled Washington's concern in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov over the weekend. The State Department said that Kerry made it clear that if reports of an imminent Russian military build-up in Syria were accurate, "these actions could further escalate the conflict, lead to greater loss of innocent life, increase refugee flows and risk confrontation with the anti-ISIL Coalition operating in Syria." According to a U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the sensitive issue, the U.S. has seen an increasing number of Russian transport planes seeking diplomatic approval for flights into Syria. He said it's not clear what is in the aircraft or what their purpose is. Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Constantinos Koutras said the U.S. has asked Greece to cancel overflight permission given to Russia September 1-24, for flights headed to Syria. He said they are examining the request. The U.S. officials, who declined to be identified because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about the issue, said they also have seen the movement of some prefabricated housing in Syria, although they haven't seen any troops moving in or becoming involved in actual combat activities, as some media reports suggested. Sergei Karaganov, the founder of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, a leading association of Russian political experts, said that Russia was considering the possibility of joining the anti-IS coalition, but the West so far has been unwelcoming. "They are reluctant to accept proposals from Putin, whom they want to contain," he said. Karaganov, who has good connections among the Russian officials, said he doesn't expect Russia to opt for unilateral military action in Syria if it gets the cold shoulder from the U.S. and its allies. "It would involve enormous risks," he said. Igor Korotchenko, a retired colonel of the Russian military's General Staff who is now editor of the National Defense magazine, also said that while Russia has supplied Assad's government with weapons, it has no intention to send its troops to Syria. "Russia will not send its troops to the Middle East, it's absolutely excluded," he said. "It's the U.S. problem. Russia will not pay for that with its soldiers' lives." Alexander Golts, an independent military analyst, said Putin sees joining the anti-IS coalition as a chance to reach rapprochement with the West. "Russia has found itself in isolation, which has been increasingly felt," he said. He said the latest reports about the movements of troops and military cargos to Syria appeared to demonstrate Moscow's readiness to join the coalition, falling short of a big-size deployment. Pavel Felgenhauer, a Moscow-based analyst who specializes in military and security issues, said that the apparent increase in the Russian presence in Syria could be part of Kremlin efforts to raise the pressure on the U.S. to accept Putin's plan. "Such a coalition ... would allow Assad's regime to survive and allow Russia to maintain its presence in the Middle East," he said. If Russia ends up sending its military contingent to Syria, it will likely include a few combat jets along with support personnel and some troops to guard them, Felgenhauer said. Staying away from ground action would allow Russia to avoid any significant losses. Alexei Malashenko, a Middle East expert with the Carnegie Endowment's Moscow office, was skeptical, saying that Putin's apparent plan to use Syria to improve ties with the West will be unlikely to succeed. He warned that if Russia fails to strike a deal with the U.S. and tries to do it alone alongside Assad's forces, it would further damage its relations not just with the U.S. but regional powers. It will also likely trigger a negative public response, providing a painful reminder of the botched Soviet war in Afghanistan. "It will not be received with joy here in Russia; everyone will compare it to Afghanistan," he said. "If they do it, it would be a very stupid thing. It's very simple to get in, but it could be quite difficult to get out." Malashenko also warned that deploying Russian soldiers to fight the IS would draw risks of retaliation and raise the terror threat for Russia. While launching unilateral action would be extremely risky, it's difficult to predict how Putin will act if his offer of joint action against the IS is rejected by Washington, Malashenko said. "Putin is unpredictable, and he is very emotional," he said. ___ Lolita Baldor in Washington, Sarah El Deeb in Cairo and Elena Becatoros in Athens contributed to this report. Join the conversation about this story »
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By Renee Maltezou, Tom Perry and Lidia Kelly ATHENS/BEIRUT/MOSCOW (Reuters) - The United States has asked Greece to deny Russia the use of its airspace for supply flights to Syria, a Greek official said on Monday, after Washington told Moscow it was deeply concerned by reports of a Russian military build up in Syria. Russian newswire RIA Novosti earlier said Greece had refused the U.S. request, quoting a diplomatic source as saying that Russia was seeking permission to run the flights up to Sept. 24. Russia, which has a naval base in the Syrian port of Tartous, has sent regular flights to Latakia, which it has also used to bring home Russian nationals who want to leave.
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A well-rounded response to the crisis must encompass a rethinking of EU policy, economic investment in smuggling communities and fact-based debate The reason this summer’s migration crisis has slowly spread from the islands of Greece to the sports halls of Germany, via Austria’s motorways and Hungary’s train stations, is because some European countries treat refugees more humanely than others. As a result, refugees are aiming for the places that will give them the most stability. Sweden offers indefinite residence to Syrians, while other nations don’t, for instance, while some countries are faster at reuniting children with parents who have gone on ahead to seek asylum. Continue reading...
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Pressure mounts on EU to set up reception centres urgently in frontline countries such as Italy and Greece
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Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs Sia Anagnostopoulou met at the Foreign Ministry today with UK Ambassador John Kittmer. The meeting took place in a warm climate and the two countries’ excellent relations were reaffirmed.Ms. Anagnostopoulou requested that Ambassador Kittmer brief her on the course of the negotiations that will redefine the United Kingdom’s relations with the EU. Also discussed were issues concerning the future of the EMU, the Greek crisis, and the migration flows that have taken on volatile dimensions, as well as matters concerning bilateral relations.
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Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs Sia Anagnostopoulou met at the Foreign Ministry today with UK Ambassador John Kittmer. The meeting took place in a warm climate and the two countries’ excellent relations were reaffirmed.Ms. Anagnostopoulou requested that Ambassador Kittmer brief her on the course of the negotiations that will redefine the United Kingdom’s relations with the EU. Also discussed were issues concerning the future of the EMU, the Greek crisis, and the migration flows that have taken on volatile dimensions, as well as matters concerning bilateral relations.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.mfa.gr |
Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs Sia Anagnostopoulou met at the Foreign Ministry today with the Egyptian Ambassador to Greece, Ahmed Fouad El Bidewy. The excellent relations between the two countries were reaffirmed during the meeting.Also discussed were the migration issue, the Southern Dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy, and the domestic political situation in Egypt. Finally, special reference was made by the Egyptian Ambassador to the major project of the New Suez Canal, the opening of which will be attended by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
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Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs Sia Anagnostopoulou met at the Foreign Ministry today with the Slovak Ambassador to Greece, Peter Michalko, with whom she discussed bilateral relations and ways to improve them, as well as the debt crisis and its repercussions for both countries.Ms. Anagnostopoulou expressed her desire to meet as soon as possible with her Slovak counterpart, within the framework of efforts to further upgrade bilateral relations.
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Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs Sia Anagnostopoulou met at the Foreign Ministry today with UK Ambassador John Kittmer. The meeting took place in a warm climate and the two countries’ excellent relations were reaffirmed.Ms. Anagnostopoulou requested that Ambassador Kittmer brief her on the course of the negotiations that will redefine the United Kingdom’s relations with the EU. Also discussed were issues concerning the future of the EMU, the Greek crisis, and the migration flows that have taken on volatile dimensions, as well as matters concerning bilateral relations.
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Entangled in the Greek debt crisis, few European policymakers had the time or interest to pay attention to the recent summit talks in the Russian city of Ufa between the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, collectively known as the BRICS.
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Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs Sia Anagnostopoulou met at the Foreign Ministry today with the Egyptian Ambassador to Greece, Ahmed Fouad El Bidewy. The excellent relations between the two countries were reaffirmed during the meeting.Also discussed were the migration issue, the Southern Dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy, and the domestic political situation in Egypt. Finally, special reference was made by the Egyptian Ambassador to the major project of the New Suez Canal, the opening of which will be attended by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.mfa.gr |
Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs Sia Anagnostopoulou met at the Foreign Ministry today with the Slovak Ambassador to Greece, Peter Michalko, with whom she discussed bilateral relations and ways to improve them, as well as the debt crisis and its repercussions for both countries.Ms. Anagnostopoulou expressed her desire to meet as soon as possible with her Slovak counterpart, within the framework of efforts to further upgrade bilateral relations.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.mfa.gr |
Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs Sia Anagnostopoulou met at the Foreign Ministry today with UK Ambassador John Kittmer. The meeting took place in a warm climate and the two countries’ excellent relations were reaffirmed.Ms. Anagnostopoulou requested that Ambassador Kittmer brief her on the course of the negotiations that will redefine the United Kingdom’s relations with the EU. Also discussed were issues concerning the future of the EMU, the Greek crisis, and the migration flows that have taken on volatile dimensions, as well as matters concerning bilateral relations.
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.mfa.gr |
Berlin (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will meet in Berlin on Monday to give a new push to European efforts to tackle the biggest migrant crisis in 50 years.The pair will also hold talks on the resurgence of violence in Ukraine and will be joined by that country's president Petro Poroshenko later in the day.A joint press conference by the trio will be followed by a working dinner.Merkel and Hollande have put enormous political onus on resolving Ukraine's 16-month pro-Russian uprising and returning peace to the European Union's turbulent eastern front.Monday's talks will be notable for their exclusion of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.The French and German leaders had spent 17 hours locked up with Putin and Ukraine's Poroshenko in the Belarusian capital Minsk in February before emerging with a peace deal that promised to end the fighting quickly and resolve all political disputes by the end of the year.Yet the so-called Minsk II accord has repeatedly been broken by the warring sides. The death toll in the war is meanwhile steadily approaching 6,900.A Ukrainian source said Putin's exclusion pointed to the fact that "France and Germany are in the same boat as us", but a French source quickly quashed any interpretation of a "diplomatic war against Russia".The diplomatic push on migrants meanwhile comes as the EU is grappling with an unprecedented influx of people fleeing war, repression and poverty in what the bloc has described as its worst refugee crisis since World War II.Official figures show a record 107,500 migrants crossed into the EU last month and there are mounting calls for the bloc to adopt a more unified approach in dealing with the influx.- 'New impetus on migrants needed' - "There has to be a new impetus so that what has been decided is implemented," a source in the French presidency said, referring to EU decisions taken in June to tackle the crisis."The situation is not resolving itself," the source said, adding that the decisions made by the EU "are not sufficient, not quick enough and not up to the task".Their priorities include compiling a list of countries whose nationals would not be considered asylum seekers except in exceptional personal circumstances.The EU has hitherto failed in efforts to draw up a common list of such countries.The French and German leaders will also move to help speed up the setting up of reception centres in overwhelmed Greece and Italy -- two countries that have borne the brunt of the crisis -- to help identify asylum seekers and illegal migrants."As long as these reception centres are not there and there is no internal solidarity within the EU, the return of migrants -- which will dissuade further new arrivals -- will not happen," the source added.In Rome, Italian officials said the coastguard had rescued 4,400 migrants from 22 boats in the Mediterranean on Saturday alone in what was understood to be the highest daily figure in years.Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni has warned that the deepening crisis could pose a major threat to the "soul" of Europe."On immigration, Europe is in danger of displaying the worst of itself: selfishness, haphazard decision-making and rows between member states," Gentiloni told Il Messaggero.German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel meanwhile said that a four-fold increase in asylum requests -- expected to top 800,000 this year -- was the country's "biggest challenge since reunification" in 1990.Join the conversation about this story »
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By George Georgiopoulos ATHENS, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Greek government officials discussed a draft of the country's third bailout agreement drawn up on the basis of discussions with EU/IMF lenders, a government official said on Saturday, boosting hopes a deal could be wrapped up in days. Athens is racing to wrap up the bailout agreement of as much as 86 billion euros by as early as Tuesday in a bid to get the first disbursement of aid by Aug. 20, when it faces a debt payment to the European Central Bank. Officials from European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders met Greece's finance and economy ministers in Athens on Saturday, the day after EU finance officials held a teleconference and noted progress in the talks. The talks on Saturday focused on the so-called "prior actions" Greece must legislate to qualify for loans, and the two sides reached agreement on the issue, a senior government official said without giving details. Talks will continue on Sunday to discuss more contentious issues, the official said. "The agreement will be concluded comfortably before Aug.18," the official said. Greece narrowly dodged a euro zone exit last month after months of acrimonious negotiations that culminated with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras clinching a deal tied to stringent austerity and reform terms to avoid economic collapse. Since then negotiations on the agreement itself - which will spell out details of the reforms and funds to be disbursed - have proceeded remarkably smoothly, with the lenders praising Greece for its cooperation. The view of EU officials on Friday's conference call was that talks are proceeding well and may be completed over the weekend, one source familiar with the matter said. If a draft memorandum of understanding and an updated debt sustainability analysis are ready as planned on Tuesday, the Greek government and parliament would be expected to approve them by Thursday. This would open the way for euro zone finance ministers to meet or hold a teleconference on Friday to endorse the up to 86 billion euro three-year loan program for Athens. Greece would be expected to enact another package of reform legislation before Aug. 20, in parallel with national ratification procedures to receive a first aid payment in time to meet the ECB payment. (Writing by Deepa Babington; Editing by David Gregorio) -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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Economic and energy cooperation were the main topics discussed at the meeting of Alexis Tsipras with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev
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Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will visit Egypt on Thursday (August 6) to participate in the inauguration of a new Suez Canal waterway, while he will also meet with French President Francois Hollande, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev who will attend the event. Tsipras is expected to discuss the
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Greek Minister of Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Panos Skourletis met with Russian Ambassador to Greece Andrei Maslov to discuss cooperation in the area of energy, a Ministry press announcement said. “Skourletis and Maslov discussed issues of bilateral relations with an emphasis on the issue of energy. A common desire for progress was expressed, on the basis
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