According to the London Times and Britain’s Defence secretary Gavin Williamson who spoke to the paper, Britain has decided the deployment of more soldiers to Bosnia and Herzegovina ahead of the October parliamentary and presidential polls.
The repost spoke of “40 specialist military personnel were being sent to counter Russian influence, a growing cause of concern to NATO.”
As Williamson told The Times “This deployment demonstrates our commitment to making sure the elections in Bosnia are free and fair — and take place uninterrupted from malign external influence.”
The British government official did not name Russia but the newspaper reads that the move was “to help prevent Russian meddling”.
Balkaninsight.com wrote that “Williamson made the remarks in the wings of a NATO meeting in Brussels, where the UK was due to brief the 28 other members on the deployment.”
Britain’s Defence secretary also spoke to a British military (and wider military world) interested website, Forces Network, saying that “We’re going to be working as part of a much wider UN initiative just to make sure that the elections are free and the elections are fair (…) Britain has been involved in Bosnia and the whole region for the last 25 years. I think we’ve got a responsibility to make sure things run smoothly and make sure that we have as much stability in the region as possible.”.
British troops will join and be part of Operation Althea, “the international peacekeeping mission in Bosnia which has been on the ground under various names since the Dayton Agreement of 1995 which brought conflict to an end”, balkaninsight.com reports…. / IBNA
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Turkey-produced armoured vehicles exhibited at international Paris Fair
The leading Turkish defence manufacturer BMC will get the opportunity to showcase its new vehicles at the international Eurosatory Fair in Paris.
Six new military vehicles will be exhibited at “a 700-square-meter stall” according to Anadolu from today and until Friday this week.
“BMC is one of Turkey’s 59 defense companies that will attend the international land and air defense and security exhibition expected to host more than 55,000 visitors from more than 100 countries.
The Istanbul-based company’s mine-resistant ambush protected and multi-purpose vehicles Kirpi, Amazon and Vuran as well as a special production armoured truck will be displayed at the fair.
An ambulance version of Kirpi II with a capacity for eight seats and two stretchers will also make its debut at the exhibition.”
The Paris Exhibition menu’s specials will be Vuran that will actually make its debut and another, also newly produced, 4×4 tactical wheeled armored truck named “285”. The former was manufactured at the country’s Aselsan firm.
Last but not least, for the first time, visitors will have the opportunity to check out BMC’s Amazon “special remote-control system.” At the Fair, people will admire its latest version, first introduced during a military drill in May 2018, in Turkey…. / IBNA
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Luka Modrić: Named player of the year for 6th consecutive year
Only days ahead of the beginning of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the Croatian Football Union Association named Croatia’s captain Luka Modrić player of the year for the sixth consecutive year.
As HRT wrote “The fast-footed Croatian and his team, Real Madrid, won the 2018 Champions League title for the fourth time.”
“It’s a great honor to receive this award for the sixth time. It’s very special to me because it is shared by players and coaches”, the Croatian football ace said only to add, “It was a long and tough season. We didn’t succeed in the championship or the cup, but we won the most important trophy of all for the third consecutive year. That’s going to be tough to beat. I’m happy and proud to be part of such a great team.”
Regarding the upcoming global competition, the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, the Croatian team’s captain said “A big achievement with the team is the only thing that I still really want to do (…) Expectations are high before every major competition. Our first goal is to get through the group stage, since we haven’t managed to do that since 1998. I believe we can do it in Russia.”
Croatian Fan Zone in Moscow
Meanwhile, theCroatian Football Federation (CFF) announced it will organise the central Croatian fan zone in the heart of Moscow, in the Muzeon sculpture park, “which is a part of the best known park in Moscow and Russia, Gorki Park.”
The fan zone, most probably will be open throughout the 2018 World Cup days. It “will have all the needed infrastructure”, the HRT reads “and a culture centre at which Croatian fans can directly learn about cultural and historic attractions in the city of Moscow and in the Russian Federation. At the same time, within the framework of planned events, the idea is to additionally develop sports cooperation together with Russian football fans and visitors, as well as international guests.”
Croatian Fans
Croatia’s preliminary World Cup squad and its fixtures
The national team of Croatia plays in Group D. Their first match is with Nigeria on Saturday, June 16, then on Thursday, June 21 with Argentina and on Tuesday, June 26 with Iceland.
According to the telegraph.co.uk the 23 players who will travel to Russia to represent their country at the 2018 FIFA World Cup (the 21st such world cup) are:
Goalkeepers: Danijel Subasic (Monaco), Lovre Kalinic (Gent), Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb)
Defenders: Vedran Corluka (Lokomotiv Moscow), Domagoj Vida (Besiktas), Ivan Strinic (Sampdoria), Dejan Lovren (Liverpool), Sime Vrsaljko (Atletico Madrid), Josip Pivaric (Dynamo Kiev), Tin Jedvaj (Bayer Leverkusen), Duje Caleta-Car (Red Bull Salzburg)
A glimpse of the Croat players, Luka Modrić (centre) with the Captain’s armband
Midfielders: Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona), Mateo Kovacic (Real Madrid), Milan Badelj (Fiorentina), Marcelo Brozovic (Inter Milan), Filip Bradaric (Rijeka)
Forwards: Mario Mandzukic (Juventus), Ivan Perisic (Inter Milan), Nikola Kalinic (AC Milan), Andrej Kramaric (Hoffenheim), Marko Pjaca (Schalke), Ante Rebic (Eintracht Frankfurt)…. / IBNA
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Nicos Christodoulides met with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland
Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicos Christodoulides, met on Friday in Nicosia with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland, Simon Coveney.
At a press conference that followed, Christodoulides said he had a very sincere and productive talk with his Irish counterpart on a wide range of issues.
The Cypriot Foreign Minister said that during the consultations the two sides had the opportunity to reaffirm the excellent level of their bilateral relations and the joint commitment to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in areas such as trade, investment, higher education and the tourism.
The Foreign Minister added that regional issues were discussed at the meeting with Mr Coveney, such as the situation in Syria and the Middle East Peace Process, while also exchanged ideas on the Cyprus-Ireland cooperation aimed at promoting peace and stability in the Middle East and the wider region.
“I am convinced that there is scope for joint action in this direction”, Christodoulides said, thanking Mr. Coveney for his interest in the region, as well as the relevant information he provided regarding his tour in Jordan and Israel.
Christodoulides pointed out that during the consultations he had the opportunity to present to the Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs the tripartite initiatives developed by Cyprus with its neighbouring countries in cooperation with Greece, which aim to take joint actions to further promote solidarity , mutual understanding, and the promotion of conditions of peace, stability and prosperity. “We also discussed current issues in the Common European Agenda, as well as the latest developments with regard to Brexit and its impact on Cyprus and Ireland, since both countries are heavily influenced by the UK’s exit from the EU”, the Foreign Minister stated, stressing that Cyprus fully supports Ireland in this extremely sensitive issue.
Regarding the Cyprus problem, Christodoulides said that he informed his Irish counterpart of the commitment on the part of the Republic of Cyprus to the resumption of negotiations and the efforts made by the Republic in this direction. He also expressed his thanks for the steady and timeless support that Ireland provides in the efforts to reunify Cyprus and the solidarity it has shown to the people of Cyprus in difficult times. “We are”, he said, “grateful to the thousands of Irish soldiers who served at UNFICYP from 1964 to 2005, as well as to the Irish police officers serving in Cyprus since 1993”.
The Minister informed Mr Coveney of the developments in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus.
For his part, the Irish Foreign Minister said: “Cyprus is a beautiful island that more and more Irish people want to visit, and although we are at two different ends of Europe, we have a lot in common. We know what it means to live on a divided island, we know the difficulties of implementing a program of the International Monetary Fund, we perceive the benefits of our participation in the European Union and the protection it provides. We also share the same real interest in the Middle East peace process. For us, this is an issue that is high on our priorities”.
Furthermore, Coveney expressed the conviction that “there is much that could still be done to strengthen our already excellent bilateral relations”.
The Irish FM pointed out that both countries are adopting the same approach in relation to Brexit. “We want to see Britain as close as possible to Europe”, he said.
The strengthening of our cooperation, Coveney said, is necessary for many reasons, and the achievement of this goal “will allow us to work together for joint actions and initiatives that will serve the interests of the region, Cyprus and the European Union”.
Regarding the Cyprus issue, Coveney expressed Ireland’s willingness and readiness to provide its assistance and support in every possible way to advance the process.
Finally, he expressed his particular satisfaction with his visit and extended an invitation to his Cypriot counterpart to visit Ireland./IBNA
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OP-ED/Medium-term achievements and long-term challenges of the Albanian police
This article has been written for Albanian Free Press newspaper and www.albanianfreepress.al
By Eduard Zaloshnja
Last Friday, IDRA published the results of the third opinion poll regarding police, funded by the Swedish program SCPA (the first opinion poll was held in 2013 and the second one in 2014). An opinion poll carried out with the participation of 2500 respondents all over Albania, suggests that 63% of Albanians have a positive opinion on the State Police performance. I happened to obtain an identical result (62%) in an electronic opinion poll (completely unrelated to IDRA) and funded by the Swedish program SCPA. (In contrast to IDRA’s opinion poll, which aims at monitoring public opinion about police in the long-term, my opinion poll aims to achieve a monthly monitoring.)
According to IDRA, compared to 2013, the number of respondents who have a positive opinion on the general performance of state police has doubled. The number of respondents who believe that police treats citizens with respect or the number of respondents who believe that police is preventing criminal offenses and road offenses has also doubled.
In other words, the statistics provided by IDRA indicate that in the past five years, the public’s perception on police has improved significantly.
According IDRA’s latest opinion poll, 61% of Albanians still believe that police is influenced by politics. The opinion poll is unable to identify the reasons why Albanians believe this, but they may relate to the fact that political changes have also led to a replacement of the heads of police. The Albanian public (the same as the European public opinion) will view police as not affected by politics once there’s stability in police leading structures, regardless of political changes.
According to IDRA’s opinion poll, the public’s readiness to collaborate with police is low, while its expectations for police are high. This finding of the opinion poll suggests that the perception surrounding police during the communist regime (police were considered to be as a means of repression against the population) continues to exist. Also, the low levels of court convictions against those who are caught by police may also affect the public’s fear to collaborate with police. (Reporting a crime may be a dangerous thing for the person reporting it if the criminal is not convicted by the courts).
The removal of corrupt people from the courts (through the vetting process) may act as an encouragement for the public to denounce criminals in the future.
According to IDRA’s opinion poll, as far as bribery among police is concerned, the public has mixed opinions. This indicates that this phenomenon continues to survive despite the improved public perception about police performance in the past five years.
In the future, removing corrupt police officials (through the vetting process) could make Albanians less inclined to offer bribes to police officials and police officials may be less inclined to demand bribes.
Finally, I’d like to say a few words about a phenomenon which has not been at the focus of IDRA’s opinion poll.
The US ambassador to Tirana has publicly declared that 20 powerful criminal gangs involved in the traffic of drugs, human beings, stolen cars all over Europe, operate in Albania. These criminal groups have become very powerful and very hard to be destroyed (although they have started to be dismantled). While the activity of these groups may not have a direct impact on the lives of common people, they’re like a cancer for a normal development of the country. For as long as they export crime and insecurity to our western neighbors and they invest their illicit profits in Albania, the development of the country and its European integration continue to be at risk.
The European Union may decide to open Albania’s accession talks at the end of this month or in December, but during the time these negotiations take place, it will continue to put pressure on us in order to fight organized crime and its connections with senior state officials.
The fight against powerful mob groups in particular and organized crime in general, will be the most difficult long-term challenge of the Albanian police.
Note: The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Albanian Free Press’ editorial policy
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Albania: Government encourages the cultivation of medicinal herbs to deter the cultivation of cannabis
20 thousand hectares of land all over the country may potentially be cultivated with cannabis. This is the alarm raised by government structures, admitting that this area of land may potentially be used to cultivate this type of drug. To prevent this, the government suggests a number of measures to be taken in order to reduce cannabis cultivated areas in the country.
These measures have been included in the Action Plan against the Cultivation and Traffic of Cannabis, 2017-2020. According to the government, this threat may only be prevented if these areas of land are given to farmers to be cultivated, in particular with medicinal herbs, which, according to experts, are suitable for areas where cannabis used to be cultivated up until a while ago. “Narcotic substances have been cultivated in state owned lands, unproductive lands, lands belonging to farmers away from inhabited areas and also in forests and pastures. To reduce the possibility of misusing public assets as much as possible, these lands should be given to residents of these rural areas which are under threat”, experts argue. Meanwhile, they also say that this could be done in exchange of schemes such as the cultivation of medicinal herbs, but also other cultures that may be cultivated in these plots instead of cannabis.
“This aims at expanding plots, forests, pastures and other assets used by farmers and families in need, offering them extra opportunities for honest work”, the Action Plan also states. According to experts, this may encourage farmers and their families not to see the cultivation of cannabis as the only way to generate incomes.
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