962,326 Albanians have been affected by natural disasters, mainly floods.
During the floods taken place in 2010, the damages amount to 6% of GDP, while in FYROM they amounted to 18%.
Meanwhile, climate changes and urbanisation of areas which are prone to natural disasters may increase these threats by four times in Albania and the Balkan region by 2080, the World Bank warns.
In May 2014 alone, the heavy rainfalls that were registered in Bosnia and Herzegovina affected 1 million people or 25% of the population, while damages amounted to 15% of GDP. /ibna/
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Katrougalos to participate in the EU FAC in Brussels on Monday, December 10th
Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Katrougalos will be in Brussels on Monday, 10 December, taking part in the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
The discussion will focus on international developments, with emphasis on Iran, Venezuela, as well as Ukraine in light of the recent incidents in the Azov Sea.
Regarding regional affairs, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs will discuss developments in the Western Balkans, focusing on the situation and the prospects of the countries of the region.
Discussions will also cover EU-African Union relations, in view to the forthcoming 1st Joint EU-AU Ministerial Meeting on 21-22 January 2019./IBNA
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Alexis Tsipras in Marrakesh for the Conference on the UN Global Compact for Migration
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will be in Marrakech, Morocco, on 10-11 December 2018 to attend the Intergovernmental Conference on the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
The participation of Alexis Tsipras at the Conference, according to information of the International Balkan News Agency, will enable the Greek Prime Minister to have bilateral contacts and meetings with country leaders who will be in Marrakech.
According to organizers, the heads of State and Governments, ministers and other senior leaders, civil society representatives and representatives of the private and public sectors will gather in Marrakesh at a high-level conference from 10 to 11 December to formally adopt the first-ever Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
The Conference, hosted by the Government of Morocco, will convene under the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly as agreed to by Member States in the “New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants”.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, President of the General Assembly María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for International Migration Louise Arbour will open the meeting. Ms. Arbour will also serve as Secretary-General for the Conference.
The programme of work for the Conference will consist of a plenary debate over the two days, during which Member States will confirm their political commitment to the Global Compact for Migration. Two interactive dialogues with a keynote speaker and a panel of three will provide a pathway for implementation and partnerships at all levels with stakeholders.
The first dialogue, “Promoting action on the commitments of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration”, will be led by keynote speaker, Madeleine Albright, former United States Secretary of State. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia and chair of the High-Level Panel on International Migration in Africa, will be the keynote for the second dialogue, “Partnerships and innovative initiatives for the way forward.”
The Global Compact for Migration is the culmination of more than 18 months of discussions and consultations among Member States and stakeholders including local officials, civil society and migrants, in accordance with the New York Declaration, which was adopted unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2016. It is the first-ever United Nations global agreement on a common approach to international migration in all its dimensions.
“It is an opportunity to maximize the contribution that millions of migrants are already making to our societies and to agree a set of actions to ensure that the rights of all migrants are fully respected,” the Secretary-General said at the launch of his report “Making Migration Work for All”.
The ultimate aim of the Global Compact for Migration is to improve the cooperation and management of cross-border movements of people. The Global Compact also makes clear that it is legally non-binding, fully respecting the sovereignty of all States.
The Global Compact encompasses 23 objectives to help manage migration at all levels – global, national and local. Among others, it addresses such issues as adverse drivers that impede people from accessing sustainable livelihoods in their countries of origin; risks and vulnerabilities faced by people during various stages of migration; concerns of States and communities; the economic and social effects and implications migration may have on social and environmental levels as communities undergo demographic changes; and it strives to create conditions to help migrants add value to societies through their human, economic and social contributions to sustainable development.
Each objective represents a general goal, with the Global Compact providing a catalogue of possible actions that States can draw from to develop their responses to assist in implementing their migration policies. These actions are based on internationally recognized best practices and lessons learnt that were collected in the consultation process ahead of the negotiations./IBNA
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The first step has been taken in Moscow
While the ice might not have melted in the relations between Greece and Russia in the frozen Moscow during the visit of the Greek Prime Minister, it was a first step in the right direction, as pointed out by Greek sources at the end of the official program of Alexis Tsipras in the Russian capital.
The Russian side is maintaining a waiting stance with regard to the revival of the two countries’ relations, as the crisis that broke out in the summer with the deportations of well-known diplomats have not yet been overcome, as was evident by the Russian President’s statements.
The positive of the meetings in Moscow, however, can be focused on the fact that the actual visit took place, despite the fact there were second thoughts from the Russian side.
It takes time to re-instate relations and verbal intentions to do so are not sufficient. Russian diplomats stressed to the IBNA that “we have a lot to do and Greece has to prove the sincerity of its intentions. We are open to cooperation, as long as they see us as strategic partners”.
Those knowledgeable of the semantics of these meeting, commented on the IBNA that the timing of the meeting suggests that there was a good ground for discussion and we are counting on the positive aspects of the visit.
As Greek officials pointed out, the agenda for the first time was far greater than the previous times Alexis Tsipras and Vladimir Putin had met. Bilateral and regional issues, as well as Russia’s energy planning, were discussed, in addition to whether Greece could be involved in this planning through the Turkish Stream.
The road to “regularity” is long, but the first step was on solid ground, pacing the way that could lead to further cooperation, for the benefit of both countries.
Russia needs a friendly voice within the EU and NATO, and Greece needs Russia’s positive contribution to an unstable environment in the wider Balkan region and Southeastern Mediterranean./IBNA
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Giorgos Katrougalos in New York and Washington
US Deputy Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos will travel to the United States on December 12-14 to have a series of meetings, both in New York at the first stop of his visit on December 12 and Washington on December 13-14.
In New York, Katrougalos will meet with the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Cyprus, Jane Holl Lute, who will travel to Nicosia in the coming days to continue consultations with the leaders of the two communities, as a continuation of the new initiative by the UN Secretary General to resolve of the Cyprus problem.
According to information of the International Balkan News Agency, apart from the meeting with Lute, the Greek deputy Foreign Minister might also have a meeting with the United Nations Special Representative for the naming dispute of fYROMacedonia, Matthew Nimetz, but the meeting has not been finalized yet.
Late in the evening of December 12, Katrougalos will head to Washington where he will meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo the following day, for the start of the Greek-US Strategic Dialogue, a meeting that had been finalized in September, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, by former Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias.
The United States, nearly two years after Donald Trump came to power, re-enforces its Foreign Policy, which is easily understood by the multiple meetings of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over the past three months with counterparts from around the world.
The particularity of Giorgos Katrougalos’ visit to the United States has to do with the strategic planning of the United States for closer multilevel cooperation with Greece on a number of issues of common interest.
The Strategic Dialogue process is structured on the basis of specific thematic axes of mutual interest, such as regional cooperation, defense and security, economic and trade relations, energy and cooperation on cultural and cultural issues.
More specifically, discussions will focus on the wider Balkan region and the Mediterranean area, the prospects and the role of Greece in the promotion of partnerships through the tripartite initiatives, the multilateral and multilateral cooperation with countries in the region, and the Prespes Agreement, all of which strengthen cooperation and stability, highlighting Greece as a pillar of stability and security.
Also in the agenda will be investments, infrastructure and network development, as well as economic cooperation in the Balkan region, the refugee issue, bilateral security and defense issues, developments in the Middle East, terrorism and border security.
Particular emphasis will be placed on the energy sector, both through the TAP, IGB, EastMed interconnection pipelines, the gas terminals in Alexandroupolis and Revythoussa, as well as renewable energy sources.
The delegation of Greek officials will include the Deputy Minister of Economy and Development, S. Giannakidis, the Deputy Minister of Digital Policy, Telecommunications and Information, L. Kretsos, the Chief of the General Staff of the Hellenic Armed Forces, Admiral E. Apostolakis, the Foreign Ministry Secretary General responsible for International Economic Relations, G. Brachos, the Secretary General of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, M. Veríopoulos, as well as other officials.
This historical development in Greek-American relations is of course not going to be without continuity. On the contrary, delegations from both sides are expected to meet systematically at least once a year to further promote cooperation. The next meeting is scheduled for 2019 in Greece./IBNA
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Skopje responds to Bulgarian Deputy PM Karakachanov’s threat over Zaev’s ‘Macedonian language’
The Foreign Ministry in Skopje has responded to Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and VMRO party leader Krassimir Karakachanov’s threat to block the former Yugoslav republic’s path to the EU and Nato if its Prime Minister Zoran Zaev continues to claim the Prespa Treaty recognises a “Macedonian language”.
Words such as those by Karakachanov could reate negative attitudes and hostility instead of friendship, the Foreign Ministry said.
“The Republic of Macedonia will continue its active, constructive and good neighbourly policy in the future in the spirit of the Treaty with Bulgaria and the European values,” the Foreign Ministry in Skopje said.
Karakachanov, in a statement issued by VMRO on December 8, had advised Zaev not to “misuse” the topic of the Macedonian language.
The VMRO leader accused the representatives of the former Yugoslav republic on the joint commission with Bulgaria on shared history of wanting to “validate a false version of history”.
Karakachanov said that he could not accept “people with unclear views and with an inverted reading of the history to slip into Nato and the EU, on the back and at the expense of Bulgaria and historical justice, least of all by pushing the Macedonian language behind the scenes”.
He said that unless the joint historical commission acknowledged that up to 1944, the Republic of Macedonia and Republic of Bulgaria had a shared history, he would insist that an annex be added to the bilateral good-neighbourliness treaty specifiying this.
If this was refused, he would oppose Bulgaria’s support for the neighbouring country joining Nato and the EU, he said./IBNA
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