UNESCO Discussion with Bishop to Define Serbian Heritage Criteria

From: Diocese of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija (info@eparhija-prizren.com)
Sent: Fri 11/14/08 1:55 AM
To: xenspirit7@msn.com





www.eparhija-prizren.com



UNESCO IN KOSOVO AND METOHIJA



Bishop of Raska-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija and the Head of the Culture section of UNESCO in Venice held a meeting on October 15, 2008, with the goal of commencing UNESCO activities on the rehabilitation of the Serbian sanctuaries in Kosovo and Metohija.
Discussions in the meeting concerned the up-to-date UNESCO attempts to start rehabilitation of some Serbian sanctuaries in Kosovo and Metohija, after the Donours’ conference organized in May 2005. Especially emphasized was the disagreement of Bishop with the registration of the Serbian sanctuaries in the World’s cultural and natural heritage list, without the determining it a Serbian heritage. A point of view was conformed that the mechanisms of reconstruction carried out by the Council of Europe according to the Memorandum are unacceptable.
UNESCO representative was acquainted with the existence of experts’ bodies within the Diocese, and it was agreed that the existing principles of action of the Diocese and UNESCO be harmonized as a precondition to start the cooperation.
Further correspondence and closer definition of all the agreements from the meeting held in Gracanica is in course.

Press service of Raska and Prizren Diocese

Italy--U.S. Plans to Put Missiles in Poland is a Provocation to Russia-Just as Kosovo was

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AFP Photo / Sven NackstrandNovember 13, 2008, 20:11
Italy criticises US over E.Europe missiles plan
Senior Italian politicians have called on Russia and the U.S. to end a row over planned missile deployments. Italy's Foreign Minister, Franco Frattini, has appealed to Washington to shelve proposals for an anti-missile system in Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, PM Silvio Berlusconi has likened the proposed missile shield to the recognition of Kosovo: an act of "provocation against Russia."

In an interview with Italy’s Repubblica newspaper, Frattini said Russia should also show restraint and resist putting missiles in Kaliningrad.

"There is a need to advance the perspective of creating a new world order jointly with Europe, Russia and America," he said.

Frattini says the incoming American administration will be more focused on Asia than the current one, and it will not want a new Cold War with the Russian Federation. That is why, Frattini says, there should be no deployment of the ABM system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

He suggested that Washington should "change the approach" to relations with Russia.

And it wasn’t just the Italian Foreign Minister joining the debate. Speaking during a visit to Turkey, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he believed Russia had a number of reasons to be unhappy.

“Let's speak frankly, Russia was provoked by America's plans to deploy missile defence elements in the Czech Republic and Poland, the recognition of Kosovo and the possibility of Georgian and Ukrainian membership in NATO,” Berlusconi said.

He also called on U.S. president-elect Barack Obama to avoid stepping up confrontation with Russia.

Berlusconi also said confrontations like this could lead to nuclear war.

Poland sticks to its guns

However, Poland says it won't give up its plans to deploy anti-missile elements on its territory even if Russia stations Iskander missiles in its westernmost region of Kaliningrad, according to Polish sources.

Poland’s Senate speaker Bogdan Borusiewicz slammed the Italian Prime Minister for describing the U.S. missile plan as provocative and said Berlusconi's words might further aggravate Russian-American friction over the plan.

Borusiewicz added that, on the whole, Polish-Russian relations are good: trade between the two countries is worth $14 billion a year, there are regular high-level governmental visits between them, and Poland supports a proposal for resuming talks on a new partnership accord between the European Union and Russia, he said.

Poland reached an agreement with the U.S. on an anti-missile base in July this year. However, Obama’s Foreign policy advisor, Dennis McDonough, failed to give any guarantees that it would be built under the new administration.

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Kostunica saids Tadic-lead Government of Serbia should Fall

Government should fall, Kostunica
November 7, 2008 – 1:43 pm
Former Prime Minister of Serbia, Vojislav Kostunica, said that it is time for the current government to fall because it seeks to allow EULEX mission and by doing that to secretly recognize Kosovo as an independent state.

“The Parliament has not debated Kosovo in last 3 months. That is a forbidden topic for this government. At the same time, additional steps by the government could bring an imminent and secret recognition of Kosovo, and the EULEX mission is the gravest danger,” said Kostunica.

Kostunica says that the government is “secretly and behind the backs of representatives and citizens of Serbia, negotiating reconfiguration of UNMIK and installation of EULEX on the entire territory of Kosovo.”

Kostunica says that the only way to stop that is the Parliamentary initiative that will give the government a no confidence vote.

November 7, 2008
SERBIANNA