Greece to build wall on Turkish border

Greece to build fence to stop migrants
ATHENS, Greece, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Greece aims to build an 8-mile border fence and boost its Coast Guard to stem illegal Immigration via neighboring Turkey. Greece's Public Order Minister Christos Papoutsis, who announced the plan Monday, said it was necessary after more than 100,000 people entered Greece illegally in 2010. "This is the hard reality and we have an obligation to the Greek citizens to deal with it," Papoutsis said in a statement. "Greek society has exceeded its limit in its capacity ...

Greece plans fence on Turkish border
Greece is considering building a fence along part of its border with Turkey to deter Illegal Immigrants. Public Order Minister Christos Papoutsis says the measure would be part of an effort to boost border Surveillance in Greece – the busiest transit point for illegal immigrants entering the European Union. Ministry officials say the proposed fence would cover an eight-mile stretch of border that does not run along the Evros River, meaning there is no natural boundary separating the two co...

Greece to Build Border Wall to Keep Out Illegal Immigrants...
The Greek government has unveiled plans to construct a wall along its 128-mile land border with Turkey in order to tackle the influx of Illegal Immigrants. Interior Minister Christian Papoutsis said the wall was a necessary measure after more than 100,000 people illegally entered the Mediterranean nation last year. But the plans - which have compared with the 650-mile barrier along sections of the border between the U.S. and Mexico - have been criticised by the European Commission as a 'short-te...

EU says IAEA should inspect Iran's nuclear sites
By Justyna Pawlak Brussels | Wed Jan 5, 2011 8:04am EST Brussels (Reuters) - The European Union's executive said on Wednesday it was up to the U.N. nuclear Watchdog to inspect Iranian atomic facilities, after Tehran invited EU envoys to tour the sites this month. The European Commission said it had yet to reply to the invitation, sent to some ambassadors, including the EU's, accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna just weeks before a second round of talks between Iran a...

EU says IAEA should inspect Iran's nuclear sites
By Justyna Pawlak Brussels | Wed Jan 5, 2011 8:04am EST Brussels (Reuters) - The European Union's executive said on Wednesday it was up to the U.N. nuclear Watchdog to inspect Iranian atomic facilities, after Tehran invited EU envoys to tour the sites this month. The European Commission said it had yet to reply to the invitation, sent to some ambassadors, including the EU's, accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna just weeks before a second round of talks between Iran a...

Greece considers fence on part of Turkish border
Not sure the Greek government heard how well the U.S./Mexico Border Fence was "working" but the Immigration news from Europe today  is that Greece is considering building a fence along a section of its border with Turkey.  Good luck Greece! KJ ...

Hungary unmoved by EU criticism over media law (AFP)
Budapest (AFP) – Hungary's government insisted Tuesday it would not bow to outside pressure and rethink its disputed media law, even after the European Commission expressed concerns and said it would sanction Budapest if necessary -- even during the nation's EU presidency. "It isn't necessary to change a Hungarian law just because it is subject to criticism from abroad," Zoltan Kovacs, state secretary for communication, told national radio. "Before criticising,...

Greece To Build Anti-Migrant Fence Along Section Of Turkish Border
Greece on Monday announced plans to build an 8-mile long fence along a section of its land border with Turkey to keep out illegal migrants. The Border Fence plan was announced by Public Order Minister Christos Papoutsis, who claimed that more than 100,000 illegal migrants had entered Greece though the porous border with Turkey just last year alone. Pointing out that Greece has reached its limit in taking in illegal migrants, Papoutsis stressed that his government was determined to build the bo...

Spelman urges EU subsidy rethink
Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman is to call for a fundamental rethink of the EU Common Agricultural Policy. She will tell farmers at the Oxford Farming Conference the policy distorts trade and must be changed. Ms Spelman will also say Subsidies should have less emphasis on food production, and reward farmers who take steps to protect the environment. Her comments come as negotiations begin ahead of major reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2014. Many of the farmers attending ...

EU may shift bank failure costs: official
By John O'Donnell Brussels (Reuters) - The European Union's executive will propose rules this week that could force those that lend to troubled banks to shoulder more of the cost of winding them up, a senior EU official said on Tuesday. The... Brussels (Reuters) - The European Union's executive will propose rules this week that could force those that lend to troubled banks to shoulder more of the cost of winding them up, a senior EU official said on Tuesday. The proposal to pass the pain of a b...

EU may shift bank failure costs: official
By John O'Donnell Brussels | Tue Jan 4, 2011 11:58am EST Brussels (Reuters) - The European Union's executive will propose rules this week that could force those that lend to troubled banks to shoulder more of the cost of winding them up, a senior EU official said on Tuesday. The proposal to pass the pain of a bank's failure on to bondholders is one of a series of measures designed to cope with lenders in difficulty. It could be law in Europe by 2012. Officials hope it will guard against a rep...

Greece plans Turkey migrant fence
Greece has announced plans to build a 12km (eight-mile) fence along part its border with Turkey to prevent Illegal Immigrants from crossing the border. Public Order Minister Christos Papoutsis said more than 100,000 people had entered Greece illegally last year and Athens had a duty to act. Greece has long complained to Turkey about Border Security. But the European Commission said such fences were "short-term measures" which did not tackle the root of the problem. The proposed fence ...

Guarding the Pork Barrel: Germany Resists Attempts to Reform EU Agricultural Subsidies
The European Commission wants to reform the Common Agricultural Policy, which eats up almost half of the EU's Budget and which primarily benefits large farms in "old" Member States. But Germany and France are resisting moves to change the system so it favors smaller, organic farms. The status quo suits them very nicely. An old cobblestone road leads to Carl-Albrecht Bartmer's property. Small, detached houses line Lindenstrasse in the village of Löbnitz an der Bode, near Magdeburg in eastern

Iran nuclear invitation draws Western skepticism (Reuters)
Tehran/VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran invited Russia, China, the European Union and others on Tuesday to visit key nuclear plants, but left out Britain, France, Germany and the United States -- the countries most opposed to its Nuclear Program. Iran's surprise invitation to ambassadors accredited to the U.N. nuclear Watchdog in Vienna was a bid to show openness before Tehran and six world powers are due to meet in Istanbul later this month to discuss its disputed atomic activities. The West...

Buoys strung on border canal to prevent drownings
An agency has quietly begun installing lifesaving buoys in a fast-moving canal along the U.S.-Mexico border in California. Several Illegal Immigrants die each year in the waterway as they sneak into the U.S., and the agency that runs the canal has long faced a moral dilemma about whether to place lifelines in the water. The Imperial Irrigation District reversed course in August and has been bolting 105 lines across the 82-mile desert canal at a cost of $1.1 million. Crews are also planting more ...

All-American Canal: Buoys Strung On Border Waterway To Prevent Drownings
CALEXICO, Calif. — A government agency on the front lines of the Immigration debate has begun installing lifesaving buoys in a fast-moving canal along the U.S.-Mexico border where migrants drown each year as they sneak into the country illegally. The debate over the lifelines has long presented authorities with a moral dilemma: Is it acceptable to do nothing when so many immigrants are dying in the water? Or do lifesaving devices lull immigrants into a false sense of security that they can c...

US Republicans to push for immigration clampdown
The new legislative agenda comes after President Barack Obama's Democrats lost control of the lower chamber of the US Congress in November Elections. However the hard-line measures, which range from an increase in Law Enforcement personnel on the US-Mexico border to denying Citizenship to Children born to Illegal Immigrants, are likely to face opposition in the Senate, where Democrats maintain a slim majority. One of the Most Powerful advocates for tougher Immigration laws is Peter King, a Rep...

The Price of Afghanistan Timelines
As talks with the Taliban gain momentum, Afghan president Hamid Karzai is purging his government of anti-Taliban and pro-Western officials. This week’s sacking of Dr. Davood Moradian, senior policy adviser at the Foreign Ministry, was the latest in a series of dismissals and forced Resignations of senior officials who oppose Karzai’s outreach to the Taliban and Pakistan (see Rah-e Nejat Daily, Tolo News, Afghan Paper).  The Coalition for Change and Hope, chaired by Dr. Abdullah ...

The Border War: Into The Valley Of Death, U.S.A.
There are two new areas of operation in which I’ve had a particular interest in setting up SAFE operations. One is Nogales, the other is the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation. The most pressing of the two, for a variety of reasons, was the reservation. Due to a confluence of facilitating circumstances, the appropriate moment to get the ball rolling there came last Tuesday, December 28, and so a team of us headed out for an initial scout of the center of the northern border of the rez...

World update: Progress in Ivory Coast standoff?
Ivory Coast crisis:  Political rivals Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara have agreed to meet, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the African Union mediator in the crisis, has told local reporters. Sudan Referendum: President Omar al-Bashir has landed in the southern city of Juba today ahead of Sunday's referendum. The vote could ultimately see the creation of a new African nation in 2011. Iran invitation to IAEA: Tehran has invited ambassadors from different countries...

Iran to let countries visit nuclear sites, not US
The Associated Press reported the invitation to tour the facilities on Monday, citing a letter from a senior Iranian Envoy that suggested Jan. 15-16 for the visit. A Diplomat familiar with the letter said Iran invited Russia, China, Egypt, the group of nonaligned nations at the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, Cuba, Arab League members at the IAEA, and Hungary, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency. Iran's economy appears to be struggling under the weight of four rounds of i...

US, EU regret OSCE office closure in Belarus (AFP)
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States and the European Union on Tuesday both slammed Belarus for ordering the closure of the OSCE office in Minsk, and urged it to release hundreds held for protesting December Elections. The joint statement issued by the State Department served to ratchet up the pressure on the Belarusian government after the United States issued its own separate condemnation on Monday. Belarus on Friday ordered the closure of the Organization for Security and Cooperation ...

Backlash against perks for EU officials
A backlash against generous European Union pay and perks is growing after it emerged that 2,000 Brussels officials, earning from £104,000 to £185,000 a year, were entitled to three months time off work on full pay last year....

EU could restrict travel for Lukashenko
BRUSSELS, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko could be slapped with a visa ban by the European Union, the Swedish Foreign Minister warned. The European Union in 2006 imposed visa restrictions on Lukashenko and several other Belarusian officials after a post-election crackdown on the opposition movement in Minsk. Lukashenko earned international scorn after a brutal crackdown on the opposition during December Elections that secured a victory for the Incumbent leader. More tha...

Pakistan assassination condemned
There has been strong international condemnation of the Assassination of one of Pakistan's best-known liberal politicians in the capital Islamabad. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regretted the death of Salman Taseer, Governor of Punjab province, saying he had promoted tolerance. Mr Taseer was shot dead by one of his Bodyguards angered over the governor's opposition to Blasphemy laws. The Governor - a senior member of the governing Pakistan People's Party (PPP) - had recentl...