Plot "Silver drachma" - A sick plan to get Greece out of the euro following the downfall of Karamanlis - MUST READ

The evidence that was presented by Supreme Court investigator against Corruption Dimitri Foukas can only be described as shocking and something that can only be found in spy movies. Foukas, who has been investigating the wire tapping case that occurred during Costas Karamanlis' rule as well as the assassination attempt against the former prime minister, in a clear and documented way, shows us how the US government worked to overthrow the Karamanlis government, as well as the dark and sinister role that close associates of George Papandreou played to materialize this plot (otherwise known as  "Pythia 1").

Aside from the major plot "Pythia1" which aimed to destabilise Greece politically, socially and especially financially, and just before wrapping up his investigation, the Supreme Court investigator suddenly stumbled upon yet another plot. According to what is presented in his inquiry, he apparently discovered that there was an organized effort from a group of unnamed people to remove Greece from the eurozone!

Before presenting the evidence, HellasFrappe wants to note that Foukas has been investigating the wiretapping case as well as the "Pythia1" plot, that concern preparatory acts of treason during Karamanlis' rule. Both cases, were merged into a grand investigation in 2013, and now that they have reached their completion will be submitted to the Supreme Council's Appeals Court where the judiciary will decide what further course of action to take. The investigation is featured in a multi-page document that shockingly also reveals a plan for a new national currency, or "silver drachma", in 2012, and which once again stars Alex Rondos, one of George Papandreou's closest associates. The case also links powerful personalities, secret service agents in Greece and in the US, (agents who suddenly disappeared), confidential reports and Wikileaks cables.

(If you wish to find out more about Alex Rondos then we propose that you click on one of the links below.)

Back to our story, the plot to remove Greece from the Eurozone was surprisingly discovered when Foukas was monitoring the telephone calls that were made by Alex Rondos -a man who had reportedly known about the plan to destabilise Greece as noted in previous reports on HellasFrappe-. During this period, the name of a Mexican businessman (silver mine owner) suddenly surfaced. According to what was noted, the name of Julio Salinas Price surfaced, a man who had once also acted as an economics advisor to the Mexican government.

Foukas' report claims that Rondos came into contact with Salinas Price in 2012 when Papadimos was in power, (just a little after George Papandreou resigned as premier). The purpose, according to the evidence, was to promote Greece's exit from the eurozone and then introduce a new national currency (that the military news site defencenet -which revealed the story- calls "silver drachma"). The plot, according to Foukas, foresaw the introduction of a new currency with an estimated value that would have been twice the annual GDP, capped at 20% of silver value, and which would have been supplied by Price.

With all this new information in hand, Foukas then began to investigate Price's visit (s) to Greece as well as the contacts the the Mexican businessman made in Athens. He even seized incriminating evidence on these visits after conducting a search at a private home from an unnamed source. The military news site defencenet claims that it knows the name of this individual but reserves the right to keep his/her identity confidential -for the time being- because the investigation is still ongoing. Nonetheless, it is reported that 70 billion Euros would have been issued towards the issuance of this new currency, to which consultancy fees and brokers' fees would have also been added.

The Supreme Court Investigator has already began criminal proceedings against all the unidentified individuals involved in this new sinister plot, and the possible actions that followed or proceeded this act and that aimed at lobbying and forcing the Greek government at the time to alter policies that concern Greek international affairs.

It should be clarified, that these actions also include the assassination attempt (s) against Costas Karamanlis as well. Those who have followed this story on HellasFrappe in previous posts know that Foukas' investigation discovered that the perpetrators behind this grand plan worked feverishly to end Greece's political and economic rapprochement with Russia in the areas of energy, and the supply of military equipment and procurement.

(Karamanlis who had made the first opening to Russia with the aim of making Greece and international energy hub, was not well-liked by the West because of these political choices. HellasFrappe has presented a plethora of articles that prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that George Papandreou's rise to power was well planned by the West so that all the agreements that were signed during Karamanlis' rule could be dissolved. If one examines Foukas' report they will discover that there is even a paragraph dedicated to the Bourgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline as well as the controversial South stream pipeline, These two references alone prove the motive behind the unjust downfall of Karamanlis.)

Foukas also featured Wikileaks cables and the testimony of key witnesses in his report proving that when Karamanlis and Vladimir Putin decided to move ahead with the pipeline projects, the US government made a decision to dissolve these agreements as soon as possible (and obviously get rid of the Karamanlis government).

The above information is corroborated by fact sheets from the Greek secret services (EYP) and testimony from an agent with the  codename "ΘΣ 13".

According to the judicial report -which we once again repeat was featured on the military web site defencenet on Friday- the US began to reveal its support for the TAP pipeline after 2009. This was confirmed in Victor Resti's testimony, who after meeting with the US president in May 2012, began to promote the US' position -which was in favor of the TAP pipeline- to the Greek leadership. The result was a gradual abandonment of the Russian pipeline projects that were signed by Karamanlis, and a commitment from the Greek side -or the then Papandreou government- to favor the TAP pipeline instead. At the same time, the purchase and supply of military equipment from Russia was also abandoned.

According to Foukas, on 26.03.2014 a former agent from EYP contacted his office requesting an extraordinary meeting. At the meeting, which took place the very same day, the Greek agent conveyed a message to Foukas that was passed on to him by a member of the US intelligence service demanding that the mega investigation -into Karamanlis' assassination and Greece's destabilisation- be stopped right away, because Greek-US relations were once again on track and the case was preventing their further development.

Foukas of course did not stop the investigation and continued on feverishly and as such also discovered this new plot.

In his inquiry he talks about the wire-tapping scandal revealing that specialized phones were used to monitor dozens of politicians, members of the government and dozens of others, including Costas Karamanlis. According to what he discovered, the wire-tapping occurred from August 2004 until March 2005 by an American agent with the code name William B. The phones that were used in this operation were apparently purchased in the area of Piraeus by William B's wife with the name Petros Markou. When one of the four phone lines were being investigated by Foukas, it was discovered that the telephone connection was activated by another device with subscriber information linked to the American Embassy. When the case was brought to light, William B suddenly and mysteriously disappeared from Greece.

The inquiry -supported by Wikileaks cables- also reveals that during Karamanlis' rule there were officials at the National Intelligence service that were leaking information -breaching state secrets- because they were not in favor -or political fans- of the leadership. As it turned out in 2005 some of these intelligence officers -who had access to top secret information-, removed confidential state documents without any authorization and passed them on to the then MEP for the PASOK party Michalis Karchimakis -another very close associate of George Papandreou-. Reference - defencenet

What is the Pythia1 Plan - according to previous posts from HF:

The Pythia1 plan had four main points: The assassination plot against Karamanlis had as its objective to postpone and/or cancel his government’s decision to move ahead with an energy policy that would make Greece a fair player in the global energy market, while it was part of a larger plan that was set to totally destabilize the country’s economic and political system.

First Phase:  Political instability. During Karamanlis' run as Prime Minister, the political climate in Greece began to crumble and the mainstream media (which some hint was bought out to do so) suddenly began broadcasting stories suggesting that the government of Karamanlis was accepting kickbacks or was involved in money laundering in the Monastery of Vatopedi case. The news began to tarnish the image of Karamanlis’ Cabinet, while the aim was to strike at the core… Karamanlis himself so that he could lose his credibility with the people. It worked. After months and months of propaganda, the people turned their back on Karamanlis, his political career was totally tarnished, and he lost the elections to George Papandreou in October 2009.

Second Phase: Economic unrest: This was achieved with various methods that even included the various kidnappings of several prominent businessmen, throwing the business community in a panic.

Third Phase: Social instability. This was implemented with various forms of social unrest, including terrorist acts.

Fourth Phase: Weaken Foreign Policy. Karamanlis’ foreign policy began to suddenly show signs of weakening and Greece began to suddenly lose ground with its allies.

For more please read...

OPINION - Does The Papandreou +Rondos +Lazzard +Sorros Alliance = The Rothchilds? You Bet It Does!
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/11/opinion-does-papandreou-rondos-lazzard.html

Arrest Warrent Against Head of KYP... In Assassination Attempt Against Karamanlis
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2015/02/arrest-warrent-against-head-of-kyp-in.html

PASOK MP Implicated In Karamanlis Wire-Tapping Case - Breached State Secrets
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/11/pasok-mp-implicated-in-karamanlis-wire.html

RealNews Report Says Greek-Americans & NSA Behind Spy Network Against Costas Karamanlis
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/11/realnews-report-says-greek-americans.html

SPECIAL REPORT - Supreme Court To Merge Cases Of Wire-Tapping, Pythia Plan,Assassination Plot Against Karamanlis Into ONE
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2013/02/special-report-supreme-court-to-merge.html

Case on Suspicious Death of Vodafone Employee Associated to Greek Wire-tapping Scandal Re-opens
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.gr/2012/04/case-on-suspicious-death-of-vodafone.html

PART l - Plot to assassinate Costas Karamanlis revealed (VIDEO)
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/06/plot-to-assassinate-kostas-karamanlis.html

PART II – Plot to assassinate Costas Karamanlis revealed (VIDEO)
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/06/part-ii-plot-to-assassinate-kostas.html

PART III - Authorities launch formal investigation into assassination plot against Karamanlis
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/08/authorities-launch-formal-investigation.html

SPECIAL REPORT - Prosecution Wraps Up Investigation Into Assassination Attempt Of Karamanlis
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2012/03/special-report-prosecution-wraps-up.html

SPECIAL REPORT - Either You Leave, Or We Kill You - (Karamanlis) A Hostage For 242 Days
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/12/special-report-either-you-leave-or-we.html

Makeleio Show Explores Papandreou and SYRIZA Role In Downfall of Karamanlis (VIDEO)
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2012/12/makeleio-show-explores-papandreou-and.html

Was Mossad, MI6 & CIA Behind Assassination Plot Of Karamanlis?
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2012/03/was-mossad-mi6-cia-behind-assassination.html

Ambassador Threatens Greek MP Over Energy Policy - Connected To Karamanlis Assassination Plot
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2013/01/ambassador-threatens-greek-mp-over.html

Does Papandreou agree with Rondos’ views about sharing the Aegean with Turkey?
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/10/does-papandreou-agree-with-rondos-views.html

Epikaira article confirms that Papandreou was in secret talks with US + Israel over natural gas + oil
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/08/epikaira-article-confirms-that.html

SPECIAL REPORT - Classified documents reveal US energy coup & Papandreou's retreat on FYROM
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/10/special-report-classified-documents.html

SPECIAL REPORT - Does Papandreou work on behalf of Greek or US interests? (VIDEOS)
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/10/special-report-does-papandreou-work-on.html
References: HellasFrappe, AMNA, enikos, www.kontranews.gr

Lafazanis Slams TA NEA Report over fuel shortages in case Greece leaves Euro

Minister of Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Panagiotis Lafazanis on Friday slammed reports stating that he had instructed Hellenic Petroleum (ELPE) to prepare an emergency plan to secure Greece’s petroleum supplies for a period of nine months, should Greece be forced out of the euro.

According to a report in the (PASOK backed) Ta Nea newspaper, ELPE’s rumored emergency plan involved three phases. At first Greece’s strategic three-month reserves would be used, while in the second phase the refineries would purchase petroleum to last for a further three months. Finally, in the third phase, ELPE would acquire crude oil and pay suppliers with refined products.

On Friday press reports quoted Lafazanis as noting that the reports are nothing more than a “figment of a morbid imagination”, since ELPE already has a policy of maintaining and planning petroleum reserves. Anything else, said Lafazanis, is “aimed at terrorizing the Greek people” and only serve “unacceptable intentions”.

On his part, the managing director for ELPE Grigoris Stergioulis told the state news agency ANA-MPA that European directives provide that his company must secure fuel reserve for 90 days, adding that it is standard practice for companies to secure reserves to last more than three months.

Russia & Greece Sign Memorandum On Extension of Turkish Stream Pipeline

Russian and Greek Energy Ministers, Alexander Novak and Panagiotis Lafazanis respectively, signed a memorandum on construction of the extension of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline across Greek territory at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum.

     "Our meeting today is a historical meeting… The memorandum expresses the readiness of both sides to bring the south direction of the pipeline to implementation," Lafazanis said.

According to Lafazanis, the project will unite all the people of Europe who will be involved in it.

     "The pipeline will connect not only Greece and Russia, but also the peoples of Europe. Our message that it is a message of stability and friendship… The pipeline we are beginning today is not against anyone in Europe or anyone else, it is a pipeline for peace, stability in the whole region," the minister said.

According to the Greek minister, energy could play a uniting role to counter the Cold War. Moscow and Athens are opening a new productive path towards Europe, Lafazanis said, adding that he hoped the countries would complete the project.

     "We go to the next step — to the second step. We hope that we will win the second battle, as we won the first one," Lafazanis said, referring to the process of reaching the pipeline deal

Sources:  RT, Sputnik ,

Lafazanis Tells US: Choice to support Russian natural gas pipeline is beneficial for Greece

Greece is not a plot and cannot be blackmailed, nor does it believe that with its choices in the energy sector can become "part of a problem", stated Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis in response to statements from US Department of State coordinator for International Energy Affairs Amos Hoschstein in regards to Greece's stance on a proposed Russian natural gas pipeline.

During the 31st convention of the International Coordinating Committee "Justice for Cyprus" (PSEKA), Hochstein demanded that the construction of the gas pipeline from Turkey to Greece be stopped. He claimed that the pipeline would undermine alternative plans to supply energy resources to Europe and increase reliance on Russia.

     "We are dealing with the energy crisis in Europe. If Greece continues to promote a pipeline for supplying Russian natural gas to Europe, it will be part of the problem, not a solution," Hochstein said.

According to him, Central and Eastern European countries buy gas from only one supplier, but now it is possible to diversify shipments and "Greece would play a major role" in the diversification.

Lafazanis was quick to reply:

     "On the contrary, our choice to support a pipeline carrying Russian gas on Greek territory is nationally and economically beneficial (for Greece) and gives positive solutions for cooperation, sufficiency in energy and the safety of the region and Europe. Greece is following a new independent and multidimensional energy policy with the ambition to make the country a multilateral energy hub within which will be allocated and distributed the routes and the natural gas origin sources without exclusions and neo Cold War prejudice. The new emerging independent Greece is a source of stability, safety and trust for all peoples. A force that shows a different way for peace, progress, justice and relations of equality among all countries." 

Earlier in May, on a visit to Athens, Hochstein had apparently voiced his opposition to the construction of the new gas pipeline. At the time Lafazanis had once against said that the project would serve Greece’s national interests.

Note on PSEKA conference: Greek-American and Cypriot-American leaders from across the United States representing major national and local organizations of the community gathered in Washington, DC for the 31st Annual Cyprus and Hellenic Leadership Conference June 3-5. The Government of Cyprus was represented by the Presidential Commissioner for Humanitarian Issues and Overseas Cypriots Photis Photiou. The conference was held to show the importance Cyprus can play as a strategic partner of the United States, in a volatile area and influence high-level administration officials who formulate U.S. policy toward Cyprus, Greece and Turkey.

Editor's Note: We are not fans of SYRIZA, and especially Mr. Lafazanis but we applaud him for his stance and courage. Greece has every right to make its own decisions that are beneficial to the country's national interests. Because of our geo-strategic position, many foreign interests have never allowed Greece to accelerate and develop its energy industry. This was about to change in 2007 with former conservative leader Costas Karamanlis when he foresaw the tsunami that was coming and decided to steer Greece towards the East. As such, China made a huge investment in Greece and today the Piraeus port can challenge other major ports in Europe. He also listened to his long-time advisor and veteran diplomat Petros Molyviatis and strengthened relations with Moscow with the aim of making Greece an international energy hub. Unfortunately we all know what happened to him. His government was toppled from the inside from various conservative hawks (D.B) and from American puppet George Papandreou, he was discredited and made to look incompetent and there was even an attempt to assassinate him. It takes courage to say NO to the West. Until now only Costas Karamanlis was able to say NO on the issue of FYROM, Cyprus and the Grey Zones in the Aegean. Let us hope that Lafazanis will follow suit. If you want to find out more about the manner in which the US has been pressuring Greece over the past few years to abandon its energy ambitions with Russia because of its own interests, and what happened when Karamanlis decided to say NO to the West then please click HERE.

Lafazanis: Financing agreed to extend Russian pipeline to Greece - Deal to be signed in St.Petersburg

The financing of the extension of a pipeline carrying Russian gas from Turkey to Greece has been secured and a deal could be signed this month, said a report from France24 quoting Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis. The report, quoting Lafazanis' statements in an interview with Russian public television, notes that he had had a series of very productive meetings in Russia, which is ready to participate in the financing. Lafazanis said there is "enormous interest" among Greek companies for an extension of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.

Moscow axed its South Stream gas pipeline to southeastern Europe in 2014, even though construction had already begun, as relations with the EU hit a nadir over Russia's role in the Ukraine conflict. Instead Moscow announced a pipeline to Turkey, which should be ready in December 2016, and told European nations they would need to build links to get the gas.

Ever since the radical-left SYRIZA party swept the elections in January, Moscow has been courting Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, a former communist who has made no secret of his desire for closer ties with Russia and criticised the EU sanctions imposed over Ukraine. Tsipras is struggling to unblock EU and IMF rescue funds and Russia has dangled the possibility it will help finance the project, which it has alluded will generate revenue that Athens could use to help pay off its mountain of debt.

     "We already know that it will be a Greek public company which would be in charge and furthermore, the question of financing is already resolved: the infrastructure costs are estimated at around two billion dollars," said Lafazanis.

The minister said a deal could be reached by the three-day Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum that begins on June 18. Russian media have said that other countries interested in linking up the pipeline in Greece are hesitant for fear of angering the European Union.

Source: France24

GEOPOLITICS: Russia Turkey and the New Greek Sirtaki

According to geopolitical analyst F. William Engdahl, the European Union has an uncanny knack for shooting itself in the foot. He claims that under strong pressure from a Russo-phobic Washington administration and various Russo-phobic EU governments, Brussels decided to take steps in 2014 to block the bilateral agreements between Russia’s state Gazprom and EU countries such as Greece and Bulgaria to buy gas from a new Russian pipeline that was to have been called South Stream, the southern counterpart to the Gazprom-Germany North Stream line.

F. William Engdahl (NEO) - For the neoconservatives in the Obama State Department and Pentagon, that would have forged far too strong EU-Russia economic ties that would significantly weaken America’s ability to blackmail the EU. The EU Commission is brazenly violating all legal precepts by trying to enforce, retroactively, new laws that they claim Gazprom has violated. Further they forced the weak government of Bulgaria last year to back out of their Gazprom contract.

Washington’s Russo-phobes were gloating as they fantasized about getting a nuclear deal with Russia’s ally Iran that could woo Teheran to double-cross Moscow and sell Iranian gas from South Pars, the world’s largest gas field, via another pipeline through to Iran’s city of Bazargan at the border with Turkey where it would transit Turkey on to Greece and Italy.

Unlike the failed US Nabucco gas project which lacked gas, the Persian Pipeline, were Iran to be foolish enough to let Washington control it, would have gas, lots of it to weaken Russia’s hold on EU gas markets that were previously supplied via Gazprom via older Ukraine pipelines.

Putin calls EU bluff

As we noted at the time last December, Russian President Vladimir Putin caught the EU by surprise when he announced cancellation of the South Stream Gazprom EU project during a visit in Turkey with President Erdogan. There Putin proposed instead an alternative that would pipe Russia’s gas through Turkey to the door of EU member Greece. There different EU states could “take it or leave it.” The advantage for Gazprom and Russia is that they would not be responsible for construction of the needed EU pipelines.

When he announced the decision, he stated bluntly, “If Europe doesn’t want to realize this, then it means it won’t be realized. We will redirect the flow of our energy resources to other regions of the world. We couldn’t get necessary permissions from Bulgaria, so we cannot continue with the project. We can’t make all the investment just to be stopped at the Bulgarian border. Of course, this is the choice of our friends in Europe.” South Stream would have provided secure delivery to southern EU countries including Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Croatia and also Serbia. It would avoid the current transit pipelines running through Ukraine.

Now less than six months later Russia and Turkey have completed the landmark deal to begin deliveries of Gazprom Russian gas via a new “Turkish Stream” pipeline into and across Turkey through a pipeline now in construction. Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller announced on May 7 that, “An agreement has been made on the beginning of exploitation and deliveries of [Russian] gas along the Turkish Stream in December 2016.” The statement came following Miller’s meeting earlier in the day with Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Yıldız. The new pipeline will travel through Turkey to a gas hub on the Turkish-Greek border for further distribution to European customers.

A geopolitical cherry on top

And only minutes after the successful Russia-Turkish agreement, Putin, reported to be a master chess player, made a master geopolitical chess move into the European Union disaster that is called the Eurozone.

Greek news outlet, Capital.gr, reported that the very same day Miller’s Turkey Gazprom deal was finalized, Putin had an apparently very cordial phone chat with Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras. After the talk, Putin’s office released a statement that Putin had told Tsipras that Russia would be willing to extend money to Greece in return for Greek participation in the Turkish Stream project into the EU. The Kremlin statement said, “In that context, the Russian side confirmed its willingness to consider the issue of extending financing to state and private companies that will cooperate in the project.”

    In Tsipras’ April 8 meeting with Putin Russia denied it had made a deal on energy; that all changed on May 7 after Turkey finalized Turkish Stream

After Tsipras’ talks with Putin in Moscow on April 8, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, issued a denial of Der Spiegel reports that the two had come to an agreement in which Moscow would advance the cash-desperate Greek government with an immediate €5 billion cash advance from Russia based on expected future profits linked to the pipeline. The Greek energy minister said at the time that Athens would repay Moscow after 2019, when the pipeline is expected to start operating.

That was on April 8. Flash forward to May 7 and the finalization of the Russia-Turkish Stream deal, and it seems now that there is also a Russia-Greece deal to advance Athens the sizeable cash sum, just before Athens must come up with large sums to repay IMF and EU loans in order to get more senseless EU and ECB “support.” The difference was clearly the finalization of the Turkish Stream. Now EU bureaucrats in Brussels have new gas pains as Putin puts a Greek cherry atop Moscow’s Turkish geopolitical deal on gas.

If the Russia cash advance to Tsipras comes to pass, not only will Athens be able to dance a Sirtaki. This time it will be a dance in which the role of Zorba is played by a Russian, Vladimir Putin, not the Mexican, Anthony Quinn.

Wolfgang Schaüble, Angela Merkel, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker all will have three options. They can decide to stand on the sidelines and clap to the sensuous rhythms of the new Sirtaki. They can join in the dance by refusing Washington blackmail on renewing EU economic sanctions against Russia. Or they can go on to boycott the dance and sink deeper into a new crisis of the Euro.

The ongoing panic selloff in German bond markets over recent days suggests it might be wise for the Berlin government to consider an entire new choreography for its European Grand Strategy. The old Atlantic NATO dance is rapidly becoming a Danse Macabre for Germany and for Europe. Putin’s Sirtaki would be far more fun for Europe and the world.

The author, F. William Engdahl, is strategic risk consultant and lecturer, he holds a degree in politics from Princeton University and is a best-selling author on oil and geopolitics, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.

ENERGY - US urges Greece to abandon Russian pipeline project

The US is urging Greece to drop the idea of hosting a controversial Russian pipeline project, arguing the Turkish Stream pipeline running across the Black Sea to Greece would end up harming Greek and European interests — but Greece is resisting. Amos Hochstein, the State Department’s special energy envoy, said Athens should instead promote the Southern Gas Corridor project aimed at bringing Caspian gas to Europe via Turkey and the planned Trans-Adriatic pipeline (TAP), rather than deepening Greece’s dependency on Russian energy.

The US said it was concerned that Athens’ consideration of an extension of the Moscow-backed Turkish Stream pipeline will not increase energy diversification, may be of concern to EU competition authorities, and is not a long-term solution to Greece’s energy needs.

Instead, the EU-backed Southern Gas Corridor project would bring much-needed cash and jobs. According to the embassy statement, “TAP will result in €1.5 billion in foreign investment in Greece, generate 10,000 jobs during construction, and provide many millions of euros in revenue annually over 25 years.” But after the recent meeting with the US official, Greek Energy Minister Panayiotis Lafazanis said his government would continue to back Turkish Stream, “because we think it will be useful for our country.”

Cash-strapped Greece, backed against the wall by its international creditors and on the look-out for revenue, has intensified relations with Russia in the past months, a move that has been watched by Brussels and Washington with growing concern.

Alexei Miller, chief of Russian energy giant Gazprom, recently announced that his company would start building Turkish Stream and that gas would flow to Turkey by December 2016.

Brussels has been skeptical of the pipeline’s commercial viability. Many experts share this view.

According to Laszlo Varro of the International Energy Agency, Gazprom is in no position to undertake large new investment projects in 2015.

While 2013 saw record profits for the company, in 2015 the “idea that Gazprom will be able to finance large new infrastructure investments in South Eastern Europe has zero credibility in our view,” he said at a Brussels conference.

References: OCC247, Politico.eu

Lavrov: Chaos in FYROM Linked to Turkish Stream, Refusal of Sanctions Against Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow sees the worsening situation in FYROM as tied to the country’s refusal to join economic sanctions against Russia and its support towards the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.

     “I cannot judge with a final definition, but objectively it turns out that these events in FYROM are developing on the backdrop of the FYROManian authorities’ refusal to join in the sanction policy against Russia, as well as on the backdrop of its active support that Skopje showed in regard to the planned construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, which many in Brussels and those overseas are against,” Lavrov said during a joint press conference with Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic in Belgrade.

(Sputnik)

CHAOS IN FYROM - The Gears of War Grind for Greater Albania

The massive terrorist attack in Kumanovo is the latest provocation in the quest to create a Greater Albania and simultaneously sabotage Russia’s Balkan Stream project. 

(sputniknews) - FYROM was rocked by a large-scale terrorist attack last Saturday when over 40 armed individuals fought with police for control of the city of Kumanovo close to the country’s capital. The attackers were from the so-called “Kosovo Liberation Army” (KLA), a former terrorist group that was thought to have been disbanded after NATO occupied the Serbian province, and Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said that some of them had received their militant training in the Mideast.

The combined carnage wounded 37 police officers and killed 8 of them, while ultimately eliminating 14 terrorists and leading to the capture of 30 others.

The fighting has raised serious concern that the flailing Color Revolution attempt ongoing since January may desperately coordinate with the ethnically shaded Unconventional War, as both destabilizations are directed from abroad and have the shared objective of regime change.

If they succeed in overthrowing the government, then the forces behind them can sabotage Russia’s Balkan Stream project and formalize the creation of Greater Albania.

Complex Contexts

The chaotic events in FYROM are occurring in a complex environment, but the contexts associated with them can roughly be divided into the domestic and international categories:

Domestic: Democratically elected Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski and his government have been fending off a Color Revolution attempt since the beginning of the year, and thus far, they’ve been relatively successful in avoiding the “opposition’s” provocations to escalate the crisis.

Zoran Zaev, the Color Revolutionary figurehead, was charged at the end of January with conspiring with an unnamed foreign government to stage a coup d’état, yet this hasn’t stopped him from continuing to call for regime change. His campaign has sought to cultivate and exploit youth grievances in order to acquire the illusion of critical mass needed to attract overt international (Western) support for his plot. Importantly, however, the two main Albanian opposition parties have refused to go along with Zaev’s conspiratorial actions and have continued to support democracy and the legitimately elected government.

Their loyalty is exceptionally important because ethnic Albanians constitute over a fifth of the country’s population and largely inhabit the border regions with Albania and the occupied Serbian province of Kosovo, thus meaning that their defection to the regime change movement would be catastrophic not just for the government, but also for the country’s very existence.

The main reason they support the authorities is because the government endows them with the best minority rights afforded anywhere in the world as a result of the 2001 Ohrid Agreement. They largely understand that their forced incorporation into Greater Albania would do away with these generous privileges and subordinate them to second-rate citizens in the irredentist state, thereby doing away with their former role as first-rate ones in multiethnic FYROM.

In fact, they may not even feel like citizens at all in a Greater Albania, since if Albanians in “Kosovo” are any indication, then hundreds of thousands of them may flee from their failed “state” and completely abandon it to the terrorist and criminal gangs that made it “independent” in the first place.

International: This brings about the necessity in discussing the project for a Greater Albania, which Tirana threatened to bring about as recently as last month. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama warned that his country would “unite” with the Serbian province of Kosovo whether the EU supports such a move or not, calling the forthcoming annexation “inevitable and unquestionable”.

(HF readers may recall that Edi Rama was -and still is- very good friends with Mr. Socialist George Papandreou. And we all know that good old George never worked for Greece's interests but rather for others.)

In what Albania would like the world to believe was just a completely random occurrence, the dormant KLA terrorist group was suddenly revived and carried out what now appears in hindsight to have been a test-run terrorist attack late last month near Gosince.

It should be clear at this point that the two pervious provocations are intimately interconnected with the catastrophe in Kumanovo, and that all three of them combine to form the war cry for a Greater Albania. But there’s an even larger international component at play here, and that’s the US’ obsession with derailing Russian-European energy cooperation via the Balkan Stream pipeline, the de-facto successor of South Stream.  Envisioned as an expansion of Turkish Stream, it’s projected to carry Russian gas from Greece to South Stream’s former Serbian hub, critically passing through FYROM en route.

Accordingly, if FYROM is thrown into chaos and/or its government is illegally removed, then Balkan Stream becomes a pipedream (pun intended) and would never get built, hence why the combined Color Revolution and Unconventional War have been unleashed on the geostrategic country. The destabilization in FYROM is thus essentially a Western proxy war against Russia in the context of the New Cold War.

Not Civil War, But External War

Many in the foreign media are saying that the terrorist attacks could herald in a possible civil war between Albanian and Slavic FYROManians, but such an assessment is misleading, and in the case of Western reporting, purposely so.

To channel Syrian President Bashar Assad as regards his own country’s conflict, what is happening in FYROM “is an external war carried out by internal elements.”

Most of the attackers were FYROManian citizens (the others being Albanian and “Kosovan”), but many of them received their highly specialized training in the Mideast, a euphemism meant to signify ISIL.

Their adept and lethal handling of sniper rifles, explosives, and automatic weapons proves that they weren’t run-of-the-mill drug-trafficking thugs and lends convincing credence to this claim.

Furthermore, these terrorists were professionals and were planning to carry out coordinated large-scale attacks against soft targets such as sporting events and shopping malls prior to their interception by the authorities, and they had already stockpiled loads of arms (many of which were consequently used against the police) in anticipation of this.

The revival of the KLA and its latest terrorist violence are meant to provoke Albanian FYROManians into abandoning the government and siding with the militant irredentists.

The concept of Greater Albania is an emotionally charged tool designed to increase the country’s destabilization and consequently facilitate regime change in conjunction with the simultaneous Color Revolution attempt. It endeavors to craft the illusion of consensual acceptance by all Albanians, even though this clearly isn’t the case at all.

In fact, it can be said that the resort to ethnically affiliated terrorism indicates desperation on the side of the external anti-FYROManian actors, since they recognize that this is the last option they have in trying to get the Albanians to turn against the government and instigate a racial and religious division of society.

The conspirators wouldn’t utilize such extreme methods if they felt they could achieve their objectives in a simpler manner, such as through intelligence-front NGOs or by ‘legitimately’ winning them over to the side of the Color Revolutionaries.

The violent, last-ditch effort to christen Greater Albania through a sea of killings testifies to the fortitude of Albanian FYROManians in heretofore resisting this tempting Fascist-era ideology, hence the need to export Wahhabist ISIL terrorists to this latest New Cold War theater in order to mangle FYROM and break Russia’s Balkan Stream plans.

GEOPOLITICS: Victoria Nuland & the Balkans

With regard to the production of geopolitical discourses, the field of critical geopolitics distinguishes between the "intellectuals of statecraft" and the "dissident intellectuals". The intellectuals of statecraft are those whose activities are directed toward the extending and deepening the power of the status quo, whereas the dissident intellectuals endeavor to demystify and deconstruct the existing networks of power and privilege.[1] The former are the creators of official manipulations and lies, while the latter seek to reveal the hidden truths behind them. While the latter write for Boiling Frogs Post on a voluntary basis, the former work for the government agencies for a lot of taxpayers' money. This article is about one such intellectual of statecraft and the little known aspect of her geopolitical activities.

Filip Kovacevic (Boiling Frogs Post) - Victoria Nuland attained global spotlight relatively recently in connection to the Euromaidan events in Ukraine in early 2014. Her expletive regarding the EU travelled around the globe within minutes of the appearance of the leaked telephone conversation between her and the US ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt on Youtube.[2] The very day the conversation became public, I took part in the panel discussion on the geopolitical significance of the events in Ukraine at the Center for Civic Education in Podgorica, Montenegro.[3]

In my presentation, I stated that we would be able to judge as to whether there was any commitment to political accountability and sensible diplomacy in the US State Department by Nuland's subsequent professional fate. I claimed that if she did not resign after such an outrageous diplomatic scandal, it would mean that the moral decay and corruption, coupled with imperial and aggressive disregard for all differences in approach and opinion, took hold within the State Department and was now beyond repair. Not surprisingly, this is exactly what happened. Nuland held on to her post and her brand of "diplomacy" appears to have become the norm in the US relations with both the allies and the supposed opponents in Europe and beyond.

Even though Nuland became a high-level functionary of the State Department only about a year and a half ago (she was appointed assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs in September 2013), she has been active in the US foreign policy establishment for more than two decades.[4]

She began her career in the US embassies in Russia and Mongolia and later worked in the US Mission to NATO. From 2000 to 2003, she was the US deputy permanent representative to NATO, and she became the (18th) US permanent representative (ambassador) to NATO from 2005 to 2008. In between the two NATO stints, she advised (who else but) the imperial chief strategist, the US vice president Dick Cheney.

Obviously, she has been involved in formulating and implementing the expansionist geopolitical policies of NATO from the late 1990s. In this manner, she contributed a great deal to current political and economic instability on the European continent.

Together with her husband Robert Kagan, a well-known neoconservative author and one of the founders of the imperialist/globalist Project for a New American Century (PNAC), Nuland has been a member of the Washington inner circle of those who think that the US should make the entire planet serve its imperial interests. The government, professional, and academic networks of the Nuland-Kagan couple show that there is basically no distinction between the Democrats and Republicans when it comes to the goals of the imperial foreign policy.

In addition, just like some of the most powerful "intellectuals of statecraft" in the recent US history, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Madeleine Albright, Nuland has family roots in Eastern Europe (Odessa, Ukraine) and this may in part explain (but cannot justify) her distrustfully aggressive attitude toward Russia, its national interests and foreign policy goals. In fact, considering that the reductive anti-Russian worldview propelled the careers of both Brzezinski and Albright, the same could be anticipated in the case of Nuland as well. If the US foreign policy continues going down the current, ultimately destructive path, I would not be very surprised to see her appointed as the secretary of state in the next presidential administration.

While Nuland's geopolitical activities on the rimlands of Russia are well covered by the alternative and anti-imperial media (e.g. distributing monetary aid to the pro-imperial political forces in Ukraine and, more symbolically, cookies to the Maidan protesters),[5] not much has been written about her activities in the Balkans.

This article aims to remedy that significant lacuna. In my opinion, the US-NATO extensive involvement in the Balkans is just as important for the success of the overall imperial agenda as the heavily militarized engagement on the borders of Russia and its Central Asian allies.

Nuland in the Balkans

In her capacity as the assistant secretary of state, Victoria Nuland visited the Balkans for the first time in the mid-July 2014. The general aim of her mission was two-fold. First, to further the imperial goals of strengthening the US-NATO hold over the region, and, secondly, to oppose the historical Russian and the emerging Chinese influences, using all the means at her disposal (from open threats to promises to look the other way while the attacks on free thought and human rights are being perpetrated by the Balkan governments).

Nuland first landed in Croatia and took part in the Croatia Forum in Dubrovnik on July 11, 2014. The Croatia Forum is a decade-old annual gathering of the foreign ministers and other political dignitaries from Europe and beyond involved in the formulation of foreign policy. Considering that Croatia is a member of NATO since 2009, it is not surprising that Nuland called it "a fantastic ally".[6] However, on the issue of gas and oil industry, Nuland cautioned the Croatian allies to be careful and make "smart decisions".

This was an implicit reference to the talks going on at the time on the possible business deals between the Croatian oil and gas companies and the Russian Gazprom.[7] Also, at the time, the building of the South Stream oil pipeline was still in the cards and Nuland was concerned that Croatia's involvement in its future operations would lead to its developing tighter and mutually profitable economic links with Russia. As is known, the pipeline was later cancelled after the intense political pressure by the US and EU officials on the Bulgarian government.

Obviously, in this respect, Nuland got what she wanted, but this outcome will lead to the imposition of heavy economic costs on the ordinary citizens of the Balkans left without a source of cheap(er) energy.

Even though Nuland did not visit Bosnia-Herzegovina, she did not miss the opportunity to mention it in her Dubrovnik speech by calling for the strengthening of the country's unity, a code phrase for the revision of the 1995 Dayton Agreements which ended the civil war. She publicly contradicted her "fantastic ally", the Croatian prime minister Zoran Milanović who, at the same forum only a day earlier, said that the revision of the B-H constitution was "unrealistic".[8] However, Nuland's statement points to the existence of a policy disagreement between the "allies", and therefore we could expect more political and economic instability in B-H in the coming period in order to suit the US imperial "strategy of tension".

The next stop on the Nuland's Balkan tour was Podgorica, the capital city of Montenegro. Nuland met with all the top corrupt political dignitaries, the prime minister Milo Djukanović, a long-time CIA asset, the "president" Filip Vujanović, illegitimately elected in the rigged elections in April 2013, and the "usual puppets," the ministers of foreign affairs and defense, Igor Lukšić and Milica Pejanović-Djurišić.[9] She vexed ecstatic on the "political progress" in one of the most extensively mafia-controlled countries in the world and of course promised her help to get Montenegro an invitation to NATO membership by the end of 2015. Needless to say, Nuland also praised  Djukanović, who has been in power since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and is known to have been involved in the massive war crimes as well as many organized crime operations over the last 25 years.

From Podgorica, Nuland went to Tirana, the capital of Albania where she met with the top level Albanian officials, the prime minister Edi Rama, the president Bujar Nishani, and the speaker of the Parliament Ilir Meta. All three thanked Nuland on the continued US support, while Rama also mentioned the US support for "the Albanian people in the region".[10] This mention is of extreme relevance as it has to do with the relations between Albania and Kosovo, which have become very close since Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008. In some circles, the increasing economic and political integration between the two conjures up the fear of a "Greater Albanian" state, the efforts on behalf of which by certain influential Albanian political elites (both in the region and in the US) could seriously destabilize the Balkans.

In Montenegro and Albania, Nuland also met with the leaders of the parliamentary opposition. These leaders brought up serious charges against both Djukanović and Rama, which were no doubt the source of cynical laughter among the US Embassy officials after the end of the meetings. In both countries, the US puppets are in power, and, no matter how corrupt they get, while they remain puppets, they will get all the support they need to keep holding on.

After Tirana, Nuland's next stop was Prishtina, the capital of Kosovo, which many have called a "NATO state", considering that Kosovo's separation from Serbia was heavily supported by the US and its NATO allies. However, it is important to point out that not even all the NATO states have recognized Kosovo, which shows to what extent its recognition by other states (close to 110 at this point) was the result of the US imperial arm-twisting and not based on international law and relevant procedures. Is it surprising then that Nuland was herself lavished with praise from the Kosovo political leaders, including the suspected war criminals, Ramush Haradinaj and Hashim Thaçi? The president of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga thanked Nuland on the US support for Kosovo's "broad Euro-Atlantic integrations", which is a code phrase for the close cooperation with NATO military and intelligence networks.[11]

On July 13, 2015, Nuland visited Belgrade and met with the Serbian president Tomislav Nikolić as well as with the foreign minister Ivica Dačić. Nikolić stressed that Serbia wants to have good relations with both "the West and the East", which is definitely not what Nuland wanted to hear.[12] The US imperial interests demand that the Balkan countries cut off all good and mutually beneficial relations with the East. At the end of the day (unless, in the meantime, there is the End of the World), this will no doubt turn out to be a Quixotic quest on the part of the US, but not before much more economic and political instability is imported into the region as the preferred weapon of imperial control.

In contrast to Nikolić, Dačić, the close ally of the former Serbian authoritarian leader, Slobodan Milošević, was - perhaps due to the past sins in the US eyes - more amenable to Nuland's rhetoric. He talked about the strengthening and extending the relations with the US on various economic and security issues. Nuland returned the "compliment" and asserted that she was "impressed" with the progress of Serbia and the "ambitious reform plan of the Serbian government". Is it necessary to point out that the ambition of this plan consists only in further applying the neoliberal austerity measures on the already heavily impoverished population of Serbia?

The last segment of Nuland's Balkan trip was in Skopje, FYROM. She met both with the president George Ivanov and the prime minister Nikola Gruevski. Predictably, the topics of discussion included the "Euro-Atlantic" integrations and the implementation of neoliberal economic policies.[13] Not much was mentioned about the prevailing corruption and human rights abuses in the country, but Nuland stressed that more needed to be done by the FYROManian government to alleviate the concerns of the "Albanian regions". This emphasis should be enough to explain the praise Nuland received both in Albania and Kosovo for the continued US support. No doubt the location of one of the newest and biggest US military bases in Europe (the Camp Bondsteel) in Kosovo, not far the FYROManian border, has something to do with it.

Nuland has not visited the Balkans since July 2014, but there are some indications that she will visit again this summer.[14] However, since her visit, she often met with the Balkan leaders either in Washington, DC or at the margins of various international political gatherings, such as, for instance, the Munich Security Forum. This means that the two-fold Cold War agenda of keeping the US-NATO Empire in, and all the others (including the autonomous populist forces) out, is in the full swing at this time.

However, if we take into consideration the political events in Greece since SYRIZA's coming to power, this agenda has hardly any long-term viability.

Filip Kovacevic is a Boiling Frogs Post contributing author and analyst, a geopolitical author, university professor and the chairman of the Movement for Neutrality of Montenegro. He received his BA and PhD in political science in the US and was a visiting professor at St. Petersburg State University in Russia for two years. He is the author of seven books, dozens of academic articles. He has been invited to lecture throughout the EU, Balkans, ex-USSR and the US. He currently resides in San Francisco, and can be contacted at fk1917@yahoo.com

NOTES

• [1] See for instance Gearóid Ó Tuathail, Simon Dalby, and Paul Routledge (eds.). The Geopolitics Reader. New York: Routledge, 1998, especially Tuathail's "Introduction", pp. 1-14. This geopolitics reader is incomplete as it does not include the classic and contemporary writings of the Russian (Eurasian) geopolitical school.
• [2]  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV9J6sxCs5k
• [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNrW09Y2TFI
• [4] http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/214343.htm
• [5] http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2014/02/05/us-assistant-secretary-nuland-visits-ukraine-some-thoughts-share-i.html
• [6] http://dalje.com/en-economy/us-diplomat-says-croatia-must-make-smart-decisions-in-energy-sector/514772
• [7] http://serbia-energy.eu/hungary-gazprom-buys-mols-share-in-ina-croatia-oil-company/
• [8] http ://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Hrvatska/tabid /66/articleType /ArticleView/articleId/ 250853/Default.aspx
• [9] http://www.rtcg.me/vijesti/otvoreno-o-nato-u/58412/sad-ce-pomoci-cg-na-putu-ka-nato-u.html
• [10] http://www.top-channel.tv/english/artikull.php?id=12299
• [11] http://www.balkaneu.com/nuland-pushes-continuation-talks-serbia-stable-government/
• [12] http://www.rtv.rs/sr_lat/politika/nikolic-i-nuland-za-nastavak-dijaloga_502492.html
• [13] https://adukovska.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/assistant-secretary-nuland-the-u-s-supports-vision-of-integrated-macedonia/
• [14] http://www.tanjug.rs/news/164338/dacic--serbia--usa-relations-on-upward-trajectory.htm

GEOPOLITICS: Gas for Greece, Mayhem for FYROM

At the exact same time that Greece has received a guarantee for billions of cubic meters' worth of Russian gas, FYROM is being rocked by the threat of a renewed Albanian insurgency designed to offset Russia’s pipeline plans.

Andrew Korybko (Sputnik) - Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller announced that Russia will guarantee 47 billion cubic meters of gas a year to Greece via the Turkish Stream, which would then go onwards to supply the European market. While it's not yet specified exactly which path the pipeline will take from Greece to the EU, it's more than likely that it'll go through FYROM en route to the former South Stream's envisioned Serbian hub, and thenceforth through Hungary, Austria, and beyond, just like Russia originally anticipated last year.

There's one major obstacle to that strategy, however, and it's that the US is attempting to transform its failed Color Revolution in FYROM into an Unconventional War to neutralize this geostrategic route, utilizing the specter of an Albanian terrorist campaign modeled off the Syrian template to achieve its destructive goals.

From Color Revolution to Unconventional War

In the years since the War on Yugoslavia, the US has perfected and patterned a novel method of regime change that proceeds according to pre-established escalation checkpoints. Washington first issues either a direct or implicit/covert ultimatum to the targeted government, the rejection of which serves as the ‘dog whistle' for activating the dormant Color Revolution social infrastructure present in the country. Should that plan come to fail, then some of the associated destabilizing actors are transitioned into launching an Unconventional War.

The final step, should that fail and a Great Power doesn't diplomatically intervene (as Russia did with Syria in September 2013), is to repeat the Libyan Scenario of a conventional intervention that leaves no doubt as to the success of its regime change odds.

Adapting this template for the FYROManian application, it can be seen how the country has thus far successfully repelled the Color Revolution attempt by Zoran Zaev, which in turn led to concrete Russian investment in the country's pipeline infrastructure that set the stage for the Putin-Tsipras agreement earlier in April. Now that the Balkan Stream pipeline plans are rapidly gaining traction, the US realized that it needs to act quickly to in order to sabotage them, hence the sudden reemergence of Albanian terrorism in FYROM.

While this problem was previously so serious as to push the country near civil war in 2001, it's generally subsided since then, with only a handful of extremists unhappy with the generous Ochrid Agreements that guaranteed the Albanian minority vast political and social rights. Nonetheless, that hasn't stopped the country of Albania, the US' regional Lead From Behind proxy, from threatening regional destabilization in order to create Greater Albania.

An international scandal rocked the Serbian capital of Belgrade last fall when Albanian nationalists used a drone to fly a Fascist-era Greater Albania flag through a football stadium during a heated match, threatening to rekindle ethnic tensions that had long remained on edge in that corner of the Balkans. The provocation thankfully didn't result in any deaths, but it did raise fears that the same style of World War II historical revisionism from Ukraine was slithering down to the Balkans with implicit US strategic support, opening up a new geo-ideological front in the New Cold War.

Earlier this month, (friend of George Papandreou and socialist) Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama confirmed that Fascist-era thinking is indeed alive and well in Tirana when he officially pushed for the creation of Greater Albania. He spoke of his country's plans to annex the Serbian Province of Kosovo (which he calls "unification"), saying that it was "inevitable" and "unquestionable", and that the only question is "Will it happen in the context of the EU as a natural process and understood by all, or will it happen as a reaction to EU blindness or laziness?"

The Serbian government rightfully responded with indignation, warning Albania against "banging the war drums" and saying that the two entities would "never unite".

This was just the opening salvo of Tirana's regional agitations, however, as a short while later, Hashim Thaci, the former political leader of the terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army and Foreign Minister of the unilaterally self-proclaimed government of Kosovo, said he would travel to Belgrade to attend a conference he was invited to. Serbian Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic warned that "If he turns up in Belgrade, the Ministry of Interior will act according to the law and bring him to justice", since Thaci had been convicted in absentia of terrorist-related offensives in 1997 and sentenced to a decade imprisonment.

Not even a week later, about 40 individuals identifying themselves as members of the thought-to-be disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army, the same group that Thaci himself once led, crossed over from Kosovo (now under NATO occupation and no longer administered by Serbia) and raided a FYROManian police post near the border. They took a couple police officers hostage and ominously declared that:

     "We will have an Albanian state", before scurrying back to their NATO protectorate after a few hours.

Thus, just as Albanian nationalism threatened to make South Stream a pipedream, so too does it seem poised to do the same with Balkan Stream, as in the course of only six brief months, Albania and its Kosovo satellite have shockingly:

• Flown a Fascist-era flag over Belgrade;
• Openly declared their intentions to unilaterally impose a Greater Albania on the Balkans;
• Revived an irredentist terrorist organization;
• And staged a violent border incursion into FYROM.

The most destabilizing aspect is that the US, EU, and NATO haven't condemned any of this whatsoever, and in fact, Albania and Kosovo enjoy de-jure and de-facto NATO support, with the former being an official member and the latter being occupied by one of the US' largest bases in Europe, Camp Bondsteel.

These disturbing facts reveal implicit Western support for Albanians aggressive actions, adding credence to the analysis that they are indeed being coordinated by the US in order to sabotage Russia's Balkan Stream project.

Forecast Indicators And Coming Consequences

Here's what to monitor as the situation further develops:

• Possible expansion of terrorist raids into Serbia's Albanian-populated Sandzak and Presevo Valley border regions;
• Albanian/Kosovar/NATO/US military reactions and official statements to the terrorist incursion (whether in FYROM and/or Serbia);
• The loyalty of Albanian political parties to the democratically elected government of FYROM;
• And the ‘second wind' potential of the FYROManian Color Revolution and its possible transformation into a EuroMaidan-like meltdown.

Other than the possible disruption of Balkan Stream's construction and the violent formalization of Greater Albania, the consequences of renewed ethnic destabilization in the Balkans could include:

• A strengthening of Serbian-FYROManian ties centered on shared victimhood;
• Intensification of CSTO/SCO/Eurasian Union outreaches to beleaguered non-NATO and non-EU members Serbia and FYROM;
• The threatening of China's Balkan Silk Road plan for high-speed rail from the Greek port of Piraeus to Budapest (via FYROM and Serbia);
• And subsequently, possible Chinese shadow mediation at settling the conflict before it spirals out of control.

Finally, be on the lookout for US/EU ‘mediation' attempts that are nothing more than ‘good cop' diplomatic tricks to pursue their ‘bad cop' geopolitical designs. Also, be wary of any initiative or statement that could be interpreted as a subversive invitation for US/NATO military intervention in Serbia and/or FYROM.

Lafazanis: Russian pipeline does not compete with IGB-VGC

The Russian pipeline carrying natural gas via Turkey and Greece does not in any way compete with the Vertical Gas Corridor (VGC) which is planned by Greece, Bulgaria and Romania, Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis assured his counterparts in Sofia, Bulgaria on Wednesday.

Speaking one day after his meeting in Athens with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller about the Russian pipeline project - which is to traverse Greece and supply gas to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Serbia, Hungary and the rest of central Europe - Lafazanis pointed out that the two pipelines would cross and supply different countries on their path. Lafazanis was in the Bulgarian capital for the first meeting of the high-level group on the VGC, attended by his counterparts from Bulgaria and Romania.

The minister presented a detailed report on the government's plans on energy connections, noting that Greece was in talks for its potential participation in the construction of the Russian pipeline "in accordance with European law and the third energy package." The project is intended to replace the existing Russian natgas route via Ukraine to central Europe, which will cease operating in 2019.

He noted that the VGC linking the natgas systems of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania was not only potential solution in the case of an energy crisis but promoted the interlinking of the region with "Europe's energy arteries, putting an end fo the isolation of our countries" and promoting a convergence in gas prices.

Referring to the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), he said this would provide southeast Europe's most efficient access to new sources of natural gas, from various areas and not just the Caspian Sea. He also noted the possibility of supplying the Balkans through the Liquified Natural Gas station at Revythousa in Greece.

ANA - MPA

Athens & Moscow work on pipeline construction agreement

Greece and Russia are working on a memorandum for the construction of a "Greek pipeline" of natural gas that may be signed in Athens as early as next week, according to RIA-Novosti Russian news agency citing a Greek source, who said he was quoting Greek Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis.

The new pipeline is slated to begin operations in December 2016, and the Greek section will connect to a pipeline delivering Russian gas to Turkey and southern Europe, according to the agency, which also said that signing on the Russian side would be Energy Minister Alexander Novak.

According to the calculations, the Greek section is estimated to cost as much as 2 billion euros and run from the Greek-Turkish borders to the borders with FYROM. From here it will extend to Serbia and Hungary, ending up in Austria, according to Russian-based Gazprom.

The agency quoted Greek sources as saying that construction would be carried out by the private sector and agree fully with EU legislation.

No further details were available.

ANA-MPA

Fuel shortages leave Greece helpless against Turkey, says a report in Newsweek

The lack of fuel has left the Greek Armed Forces helpless against the ever-increasing Turkish aggression, claims a report in Newsweek. According to the article, the financial crisis has put a major strain on the supply of fuel, leaving the Greek military unable to defend itself against acts of aggression.

Panteion University Professor and military expert Kostas Koliopoulos told the American magazine that “Turkey is the reason we have very large armed forces. And now Turkey is sensing a shift in the balance of power. Their increased activities in the Aegean are an attempt to wear us out”.

Furthermore, the article points that the Turkish Air Force has escalated its violations of Greek airspace in recent times. Meanwhile, in spite of the financial crisis, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) revealed that  Greece spent 4 billion euros (2.5% GDP) on defense in 2014, which is the highest amongst European countries.

The Institutes’ head of military expenditure project Sam Perlo-Freeman questioned the necessity of some of the military purchases, given the critical need for fuel. The magazine article underlined that Turkey is aware that “Greece has to respond” whenever its territorial waters or airspace are violated, putting a further strain on resources.

More at Newsweek

Lafazanis in favour of Turkish Stream pipeline - Russian natural gas to EU via Greece

Productive Reconstruction, Environment & Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis on Tuesday referred to the outcome of his two-day visit to Moscow ending Monday, underlining that he is in favour of the extension of the Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline - planned to reach the Greek-Turkish borders - to carry Russian natural gas to Europe via Greece.

The minister clarified that the final decision will be reached on collective government level and by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who is visiting Moscow on April 8, pointing out that if the plan is approved the benefits for the country will be "from exceptional to quite exceptional."

He also announced that Russian companies will participate in the hydrocarbon exploration in the Ionian Sea and south of the island of Crete. He referred to the maritime zone delimitation based on international law, noting that this is a firm government position and will benefit both Greece and Turkey.

In regions where Turkey has no legal claim, exploration can take place within the 6 mile limit, he said.

If adopted, the natural gas pipeline plan provides that Russian natural gas will reach central Europe through FYROM and Serbia after crossing the Greek-Turkish borders. Lafazanis said that Europe needs the Russian natural gas and underlined that this pipeline should not have the fate of previous plans, like the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline and the South Stream natural gas pipeline. He also expressed opposition to Russia being placed in an "energy quarantine."

The minister stressed that if this pipeline is not built, Russia will be linked with Europe only via Germany and Europe's germanization will be further reinforced, raising obstacles to equal cooperation between countries and peoples.

He said that the extension of the pipeline will be made based on national and European legislation, underlining that "Greece has no complexes, is nobody's satellite and is not subordinate energy-wise to any major power or alliance of countries. Greece wants to exercise an independent national energy policy that will serve national interest," he said, adding that it is unthinkable and unacceptable the fact that agreements between EU states and third countries have to be checked in advance by the EU.

     "We want to develop an energy policy that will cut energy prices and the cost of energy supply in raw material," he underlined.

Referring to the talks he had in Moscow with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Garzprom's Alexey Miller, the minister said that they discussed issues concerning the natural gas supply price and the take or pay agreement, adding that the Russian side pledged that Russian companies will participate in the tender for hydrocarbon exploration in 20 offshore blocks in the Ionian Sea and south of the island of Crete.

Lafazanis said that he is against the EU embargo on Russia and asked that Greek products be exempt from the Russian embargo on EU farm products, noting that he expects a positive outcome during the prime minister's visit to the Russian capital.

He also said that the issue of Greece's financing by Russia was not raised and as regards privatizations, he pointed out that there is no question of privatization of public-run energy production companies.

Sources: ANA-MPA, enikos, protothema, To Vima

Lafazanis: Greece to examine benefits from TAP pipeline

Environment and Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis announced that his ministry is planning set up committees to examine the offset benefits to Greece from the consortium constructing the TAP pipeline. The announcement was made following a meeting with Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Greece Rahman Mustafayev, SOCAR Vice-President on Investments and Marketing Elshad Nasirov and BP's Vice-President Southern Corridor Joe Murphy.

The Greek minister expressed satisfaction with the constructive dialogue held with BP and SOCAR on TAP, repeating the SYRIZA's support for the pipeline and promising action necessary for its faster implementation. Parallel to this he noted the need to bring offset benefits to Greece, beyond those directed at local communities where the pipeline is expected to pass.

Reports claim that the company representatives were positive about open up a dialogue with the Greek government that would focus on these offset benefits. Both sides agreed to appoint members that are going to take part in the committees to examine the issue, as well as other issues relating to better preparation for implementing the project.

Lafazanis: Gov't fully supports the TAP pipeline

During his visit to Azerbaijan to participate in the first meeting of the advisory council for the Southern Gas Corridor, Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Minister, Panagiotis Lafazanis,said that the Greek government fully supports the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and is ready to work for its earliest possible construction.

During his trip, Lafazanis met and held talks with the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. Discussions focused on the cooperation between the two countries, as well as the need for further development. Parallel to this, Lafazanis also met with EU Vice President Maros Sefcovic, in charge of Energy Union, with whom he discussed southeast European energy matters, including the TAP project.

The Greek Minister also had a chance to speak with his Bulgarian counterpart (or Energy Minister) Temenuzhka Petkova, to reaffirm Greece's commitment for a fast completion of the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) pipeline. A need to further examine the project’s progress in the near future was also addressed.

Moreover, Lafazanis met with the Energy Minister of Azerbaijan, Natiq Aliyev, and noted the need for compensatory measures accruing from the construction of the TAP pipeline for Greece, which would benefit all concerned (including Greece). The same issue was also raised during the Minister’s meeting with the TAP CEO, Ian Bradshaw.

Lastly, the minister met with BP regional president for Turkey-Azerbaijan-Georgia, Gordon Birrell. Reports in Athens say that Lafazanis presented Birrell with the request of the Greek side for compensatory measures from the TAP pipeline and Birrell reportedly stated that he might look into the Greek proposal further.

Greece to hold military exercises with Cyprus, Israel and Egypt

During an official visit to Cyprus, Greece's Defense Minister Panos Kammenos announced that Greece, Cyprus and Israel would carry out joint military exercises, while Egypt is also expected to participate.

While in Cyprus, Kammenos met with his Cypriot counterpart Christoforos Fokaidis. Speaking to the press he said that the Cypriot dispute remains a matter of “invasion and occupation” for the Greek government, while he stressed that the presence of the Turkish Barbaros research vessel in the area remains a “clear provocation”.

Interestingly, Turkish provocations continued while Kammenos was arriving in Nicosia. Reports claim that a Turkish Navy frigate was instructed to enter the Cypriot EEZ and monitor the ongoing surveys for hydrocarbons.

Asked about whether or not we should expect the revival of a Joint Defense Doctrine, Kammenos said that this issue would be decided in the months to come.

On his part, Fokaidis thanked Greece for showing its support to Cyprus and stated that Greece and Cyprus are the main pillars of stability, security and democracy in the region.

SYRIΖΑ Το Respect Energy & Defence Contracts Made Between Karamanlis & Putin

The Greek foreign ministry posted a photo of the meeting between Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Wednesday where geopolitics, energy and defence were the choice topics for discussion. The meeting in Moscow was initiated by Russia when Lavrov sent a telegram to Kotzias and the invitation came after the new Greek government spoke out against further anti-Russia sanctions. The topics of discussion included energy, Russia's assessment of the situation in Ukraine and possible ways to settle the conflict peacefully, cooperation in defence, transport and finance.

A report on the military news site defencenet claims that the Greek Foreign Minister assured his Russian counterpart that the government will observe all the agreements that were made by the former government under Costas Karamanlis, referring of course to the massive defense and energy deals that were made while the latter was in power between 2004-2009.

Lavrov's response was immediate: "We have kept our word, we welcome the government's decision to reactivate the agreements. We will prepare new agreements." At the same time, Lavrov said that Russia would examine a request for economic aid by Greece, if such a request was made.

Speaking at a joint news conference later on, Lavrov said Russia appreciated the "constructive" position of Greece in ties between Moscow and the European Union, which has imposed several waves of sanctions on Russia over Ukraine. The Russian FM said that the two ministers agreed that there could only be a political situation to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has killed more than 5,000 people.

On his part, Kotzias said he hoped there would be a "significant" agreement at talks in the Belarussian capital Minsk later on Wednesday and mentioned the issue of ethnic Greeks living in eastern Ukraine.

The minister said over 100,000 ethnic Greeks live in eastern Ukraine and he will make it a priority to give them assistance. "We have a special problem with Ukraine. As you know, in Mariupol and other parts of eastern Ukraine there are about 100,000 people of Greek origin and we are trying to do everything possible to help them," Kotzias said.

It should be reiterated that former premier Costas Karamanlis had signed intergovernmental agreements with Russia for the purchase of TDMA BMP-3 which will dramatically upgrade the capabilities of Greece's armed forces they protect personnel with immeasurable firepower.

Speaking about fire-power, Greek philosopher and historian Ilias Iliopoulos told RIA Novosti that Russian arms are more reliable and effective during crises since they cannot be switched off by manufacturers of weapons systems produced in the US and sold overseas. In the article he notes that Greece will only benefit from shunning US weapons in favor of more reliable Russian arms to allow the country to meet its national security needs.

     "What should I think when buying US weapons if they can be switched off during crisis? This is a waste of money," Iliopoulos said.
     "Think about Saddam Hussein, who bought French weapons, including air defense systems and radars. At the critical moment all that electronics was switched off remotely via a satellite," Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the Russian National Defense magazine, told Sputnik Turkey.
     "Just like French weapons, US arms … can be remotely shut down. This is reality," he emphasized.

Although Greece's new government is mainly focused on finding a way to help the country’s ailing economy to recover, Yannis Mandalidis, editor-in-chief of the Lambrakis Press Group, told Sputnik Turkey that Athens is promoting greater cooperation with Russia.

     "Greece’s new government, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, will seek closer ties with Russia. Hence, military cooperation with Moscow will come to the fore in the future," he said.
     "Greece will have an edge over its adversaries since they will not be familiar with Russian weapons," Mandalidis added. 

(Editor's Note: Although HellasFrappe has rallied hard for Karamanlis, and everyone who regularly reads HellasFrappe knows that the editor of the blog is a HUGE fan of this former prime minister, we are somehow not convinced by SYRIZA's sudden love story with Russia. We cannot get the picture of Alexis Tsipras and some of George Papandreou's buddies at the Soros-backed Brookings Institute out of our minds. Certainly we applaud this development, if true, but we are not about to count our chickens before they hatch and recommend that our readers soak up all the information with a grain of salt as well. Why? Our instinct tells us that it is just a show... or dust in the eyes of all of those who are against Russia, meaning the US and the EU, so that Greece can have better ammo at the ongoing negotiations in Brussels. Besides, we believe that diplomacy that secures energy and defence deals is not really publicized on news sites and the social networks... We could be wrong, things are very hazy at the moment, but we will wait and see what happens. Stay tuned Frappers.)

Referenes:
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20150211/1018111141.html
http://www.defencenet.gr/defence/item/%CE%BD%CE%B
http://www.defencenet.gr/defence/item/%CE%AD%CE