Airbornelawyer
12-23-2005, 10:11
A few interesting things that might have been missed yesterday:
Russia
EX-FOREIGN MINISTER WARNS AGAINST NATO BASES IN BULGARIA AND ROMANIA...
Yevgenii Primakov, a former foreign minister and current president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told the weekly "Argumenty i fakty" of 21 December that the establishment of NATO bases in Romania and Bulgaria would be a violation the 1997 Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation, and Security between Moscow and NATO, Interfax reported. He said that when he was foreign minister almost a decade ago, he and his colleagues realized they could not block NATO enlargement but decided to try to at least "minimize the negative consequences of this enlargement for our security," which led to Russia's stand on the Founding Act. Primakov stressed that the 1997 pact bans the deployment or storing of nuclear weapons on the territory of new NATO member states, as well as the permanent stationing of the armed forces of old NATO member states there. "And when [NATO] talks about their bases in Romania and Bulgaria, they completely violate these agreements," he said. Primakov charged that "the [establishment] of NATO bases in Romania and Bulgaria definitely threatens our interests."
...AS CURRENT MINISTER EXPRESSES CONCERN
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Moscow on 21 December that Russia is closely following what he called NATO's plans to open bases in a number of East European countries, Interfax reported. "The deployment of NATO military infrastructure and its military contingents is a subject of our most meticulous attention," he added.
DEFENSE MINISTER ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR NEW LEGISLATION ON MILITARY SERVICE
Sergei Ivanov told a meeting of the Russian government on 22 December that the Defense Ministry will submit four bills on military service for the government to consider in early 2006, RIA-Novosti reported. Ivanov said the proposed legislation would reduce the terms of conscripts to one year, down from the present two-year service. Other legislation would add new draft deferments, enforce stricter terms on voluntary contract soldiers, and grant higher university stipends and additional benefits for volunteer contract soldiers who complete three years of military service.
Southeastern Europe
KOSOVA SETS UP INTERIOR, JUSTICE MINISTRIES...
The United Nations Mission in Kosova (UNMIK) on 20 December formally established Interior and Justice ministries for the Kosovar government, turning over powers that had been in UN hands, Hina reported the same day. Speaking at a news conference in Prishtina, Kosova's Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi and Jean Dussourd, the UN official in charge of police and the judiciary, said it will take three months to get the ministries up and running. With the addition of the two ministries, Kosova's government will consist of 14 ministries. UN officials say the new ministries will assume their powers gradually and will be subject to a "vigorous accountability policy" in which the UNMIK head will have the right to intervene, Reuters reported.
...WHICH SERBIA SEES AS DANGEROUS
Serbia on 21 December called the creation of Interior and Justice ministries in Kosova a "reckless and dangerous political move," international news agencies reported the same day. "At the very start of talks on the future status of Kosovo such moves only go in favor of the extremist policy of the Albanian leadership in the province," Serbia's negotiating team on Kosova's status said in a statement quoted by Reuters. Belgrade urged UNMIK head Soren Jessen-Petersen to reconsider his decision, which it claims "jeopardizes Serbian and other non-Albanian communities in the province and directly burdens political talks on Kosovo's future status," Reuters reported.
Southwestern Asia And The Middle East
AFGHAN OPPOSITION LEADER NARROWLY ELECTED PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER
Mohammad Yunos Qanuni, who leads the main opposition to President Hamid Karzai, was elected chairman of the People's Council (Wolesi Jirga), the lower house of Afghanistan's National Assembly, on 21 December, AFP reported. Qanuni, who finished a distant second to Hamid Karzai in the September 2004 presidential election, was elected by a vote of 122-117 over Abd al-Rabb al-Rasul Sayyaf, and thus also becomes speaker of the National Assembly. In accepting the new position, Qanuni, head of the New Afghanistan Party and the unofficial leader of the National Understanding Front, said his role as chairman precludes him from leading an opposition faction. "It is for the members of the opposition parties to elect someone new," he said. Former President Sibghatullah Mujaddedi was elected chairman of the upper house, the Council of Elders (Meshrano Jirga), on 20 December.
Russia
EX-FOREIGN MINISTER WARNS AGAINST NATO BASES IN BULGARIA AND ROMANIA...
Yevgenii Primakov, a former foreign minister and current president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told the weekly "Argumenty i fakty" of 21 December that the establishment of NATO bases in Romania and Bulgaria would be a violation the 1997 Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation, and Security between Moscow and NATO, Interfax reported. He said that when he was foreign minister almost a decade ago, he and his colleagues realized they could not block NATO enlargement but decided to try to at least "minimize the negative consequences of this enlargement for our security," which led to Russia's stand on the Founding Act. Primakov stressed that the 1997 pact bans the deployment or storing of nuclear weapons on the territory of new NATO member states, as well as the permanent stationing of the armed forces of old NATO member states there. "And when [NATO] talks about their bases in Romania and Bulgaria, they completely violate these agreements," he said. Primakov charged that "the [establishment] of NATO bases in Romania and Bulgaria definitely threatens our interests."
...AS CURRENT MINISTER EXPRESSES CONCERN
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Moscow on 21 December that Russia is closely following what he called NATO's plans to open bases in a number of East European countries, Interfax reported. "The deployment of NATO military infrastructure and its military contingents is a subject of our most meticulous attention," he added.
DEFENSE MINISTER ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR NEW LEGISLATION ON MILITARY SERVICE
Sergei Ivanov told a meeting of the Russian government on 22 December that the Defense Ministry will submit four bills on military service for the government to consider in early 2006, RIA-Novosti reported. Ivanov said the proposed legislation would reduce the terms of conscripts to one year, down from the present two-year service. Other legislation would add new draft deferments, enforce stricter terms on voluntary contract soldiers, and grant higher university stipends and additional benefits for volunteer contract soldiers who complete three years of military service.
Southeastern Europe
KOSOVA SETS UP INTERIOR, JUSTICE MINISTRIES...
The United Nations Mission in Kosova (UNMIK) on 20 December formally established Interior and Justice ministries for the Kosovar government, turning over powers that had been in UN hands, Hina reported the same day. Speaking at a news conference in Prishtina, Kosova's Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi and Jean Dussourd, the UN official in charge of police and the judiciary, said it will take three months to get the ministries up and running. With the addition of the two ministries, Kosova's government will consist of 14 ministries. UN officials say the new ministries will assume their powers gradually and will be subject to a "vigorous accountability policy" in which the UNMIK head will have the right to intervene, Reuters reported.
...WHICH SERBIA SEES AS DANGEROUS
Serbia on 21 December called the creation of Interior and Justice ministries in Kosova a "reckless and dangerous political move," international news agencies reported the same day. "At the very start of talks on the future status of Kosovo such moves only go in favor of the extremist policy of the Albanian leadership in the province," Serbia's negotiating team on Kosova's status said in a statement quoted by Reuters. Belgrade urged UNMIK head Soren Jessen-Petersen to reconsider his decision, which it claims "jeopardizes Serbian and other non-Albanian communities in the province and directly burdens political talks on Kosovo's future status," Reuters reported.
Southwestern Asia And The Middle East
AFGHAN OPPOSITION LEADER NARROWLY ELECTED PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER
Mohammad Yunos Qanuni, who leads the main opposition to President Hamid Karzai, was elected chairman of the People's Council (Wolesi Jirga), the lower house of Afghanistan's National Assembly, on 21 December, AFP reported. Qanuni, who finished a distant second to Hamid Karzai in the September 2004 presidential election, was elected by a vote of 122-117 over Abd al-Rabb al-Rasul Sayyaf, and thus also becomes speaker of the National Assembly. In accepting the new position, Qanuni, head of the New Afghanistan Party and the unofficial leader of the National Understanding Front, said his role as chairman precludes him from leading an opposition faction. "It is for the members of the opposition parties to elect someone new," he said. Former President Sibghatullah Mujaddedi was elected chairman of the upper house, the Council of Elders (Meshrano Jirga), on 20 December.