Daily Press Briefing
Tom Casey, Deputy Spokesman
Washington, DC
October 12, 2007

INDEX:
IRAQ

Congressman Waxman’s Letter On Corruption in Iraq and State Department’s Provision of Documents / Classification of Documents / Information
Reported State Department Directive Regarding Provision of Broad Policy Assessments on Iraqi Corruption and Iraqi Governance
Congressman Waxman’s Request for Information on Previous Blackwater Incident

IRAQ/TURKEY

U.S. Efforts with Turkey and Iraq Continue Against PKK

TURKEY

Passage of House Resolution 106 / Administration’s Opposition to Resolution
Secretary Rice’s Call to Turkish President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister / Other Department Officials’ Calls to Turkish Officials
Turkish Ambassador Asked to Return Home for Consultations
US-Turkish Bilateral Relations

VENEZUELA

Assistant Secretary Shannon’s Meeting with Member of Venezuela’s Opposition

GREECE/MACEDONIA

Greece and Macedonia Relations and Name Issue
Senator Menendez’s Comments on US Assistance to Macedonia

RUSSIA

President Putin’s Comments on Possible Withdrawal from INF Treaty

CHINA

China’s Objection to Congressional Decision to Award Medal to the Dalai Lama

KOSOVO

Reported Albanian Government Decision to Give Albanian Citizenship to All Kosovars

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2007/oct/93486.htm

Frankly I cannot understand why they did that. The only explanation I can think of is that Kosovo is not going to get independant. WTF Albania will do that, that means only trouble for the country itself..

Anyway, I am not acquainted with those Kosovo/Albania issues. Why did the Albanian govt do that?

Why wouldn't the Albanian government do that? They are Albanian just like me or any other Albanian. I think soon the Albanians in Macedonia might get Albanian citizenship as well. Today in many countries there are people with 2 or 3 passports. If the country allowes it, its ok.

Cause imagine all those people decide to move to Albania...the labour market and the social care system wouldn't be able to handle that..

^^Unless having an Albanian passport allows you to travel more freely, what is the point?

^^ Perhaps I should apply for US citizenship then :) Those bastards can travel soo freely :)

This news is not true...

^^ Perhaps I should apply for US citizenship then :) Those bastards can travel soo freely :)
Except Cuba apparently...go for a British citizenship.

Great News, if all of them take it and abandon their Serbian CItizenship, Serbia would, once kosovo gets autonomy, be able to send em all out due to a lack of residence permition. :lol:

so you didn't learn anything from 99?

Dont disgrace yourself.

Bravo! Great news! :cheers:

"President Putin’s Comments on Possible Withdrawal from INF Treaty"

For me, this is more important news. F_ckin' great!

I always thought that any foreign living could get an Albanian passport as long as they could prove their family tree or bloodline being albanian, or something. Kinda the way Israel does it.

^^ That is true also. I know many here in the US that have applied for Albanian citizenship that weren't born in Albania proper. I guess this is more of a symbolic move on Albania's part then anything else. :)

Every albanian living in the Balkans should have an Albanian Passport

Sigurisht, edhe dita te vije kur të gjithë te jetojm ne një komb. :cheers:

I always thought that any foreign living could get an Albanian passport as long as they could prove their family tree or bloodline being albanian, or something. Kinda the way Israel does it.

they practically give them out for free.

I dont think they give them out for free. I know some foreigners in Albania who had to live there for a a few years to get the passport. There is a whole set of bs on immigration laws. I gotta check it again, im not sure if they just give them out but this is a decision because those people don't want to have UNMIK Passports.

^^ I think Dardani only meant for Albanians.

well still even to Albanians I dont think it was that easy. I mean even to our national football players from Kosova it used to be harder to get but now they get them faster. There are sooooo many papers u need to fill out to get an Albanian passport. Plus every citizen that gets an Albanian passport has to be signed by the president. Mr. Topi is gonna have a lot of work to do signing 2.5 million passports lol

so wait, 3tmk closes the thread about Bulgarian elections but keeps this one open? :dunno:

btw, interesting proposal.

Why should this be closed, it's news? Idk why the Bulgarian elections would be closed

Anyway, this is a good move i think, although they might have to regulate some things. Many people are already moving to Tirane from the outside of the city, now the city might grow ever faster, which won't be good in the long run. The idea for citizenship however, is really good :)

Hello...THIS IS NOT TRUE.

Which part of this don't you get?? 2 pages of one liners on something that isn't even true....a new height for the EE forum.

Hello...THIS IS NOT TRUE.

Which part of this don't you get?? 2 pages of one liners on something that isn't even true....a new height for the EE forum.

:lol:

i was thinking to myself....is it aprils fools? but it isnt....so how true is this really?

Hello...THIS IS NOT TRUE.

Which part of this don't you get?? 2 pages of one liners on something that isn't even true....a new height for the EE forum.

At least someone gets it.

Did any of you read the actual source? That asshole Lambros was trying to stir up fears of greater Albania by stating LIES during a State Dept press conference. Oh and he also said that the Macedonian PM had agreed to a Greater Albania that would take part of Macedonia. So you can judge the truthfulness of those comments yourself.

giving citizenship? I don't think it's a good idea for newly developing country.

in other more important news. england ratified our SAA agreement a few days ago. slightly prior to that so did italy. so far 12 EU members have ratified the agreement.

in other more important news. england ratified our SAA agreement a few days ago. slightly prior to that so did italy. so far 12 EU members have ratified the agreement.

how long has it been since the signing? EU always has to drag things slow :bash:

so far 12 EU members have ratified the agreement.

13 actually. You can see a list of the members states that have ratified the agreement so far here: http://www.mie.gov.al/?fq=ratifikimi&gj=gj1&kid=156

how long has it been since the signing? EU always has to drag things slow :bash:

Well, the agreement was signed in June 2006. Our foreign minister said a few days ago that all members will have ratified the agreement by June 2008. His word is usually to be taken with a grain of salt, but June 2008 sounds about right going by the pace of the ratifications so far. So, basically there will a two year span from "signature" to "entry into force". Which is not too bad really (by EU standards, of course), since both Croatia and Macedonia took around 3 years (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlargement_of_the_European_Union#Progress_of_future_enlargements).

But, who knows... A lot of shit that can delay the ratifications can happen in the coming months.

:cheers:

EDIT: Also, the "news" in the original post is bullshit. :P

13 actually. You can see a list of the members states that have ratified the agreement so far here: http://www.mie.gov.al/?fq=ratifikimi&gj=gj1&kid=156



Well, the agreement was signed in June 2006. Our foreign minister said a few days ago that all members will have ratified the agreement by June 2008. His word is usually to be taken with a grain of salt, but June 2008 sounds about right going by the pace of the ratifications until now. So, basically there will a two year span from "signature" to "entry into force". Which is not too bad really (by EU standards, of course), since both Croatia and Macedonia took around 3 years (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlargement_of_the_European_Union).

But, who knows... A lot of shit that can delay the ratifications can happen in the coming months.

:cheers:

2-3 years for this, 2-3 years for that.... and there go our lifes waiting for the sluggish EU to go along with its procedures. It's not that our lifes will get better instantly when we join it, but the whole integration process is in the spotlight for soooooooooooo long it just gets tiresome.

2-3 years for this, 2-3 years for that.... and there go our lifes waiting for the sluggish EU to go along with its procedures. It's not that our lifes will get better instantly when we join it, but the whole integration process is in the spotlight for soooooooooooo long it just gets tiresome.

I know what you mean, man.

But, at least, the negotiations for one of the most important things, the liberalization of visas, are supposed to start in 3-4 months. Hopefully, they won't take too long with them. :tongue2:

But, at least, the negotiations for one of the most important things, the liberalization of visas, are supposed to start in 3-4 months. Hopefully, they won't take too long with them. :tongue2:

I am not familiar with Albania's candidate status. At what exact stage you are now ?

btw, around the football game between our teams one of the comentators mentioned that you get huge amounts of money invested in your country through the diaspora albanians working abroad. Is that true? The number he mentioned was even higher than the budget you'll probably receive from the EU as a full member ... It looks like you already found a different way to get the EU funds anyway :)

I am not familiar with Albania's candidate status. At what exact stage you are now ?

btw, around the football game between our teams one of the comentators mentioned that you get huge amounts of money invested in your country through the diaspora albanians working abroad. Is that true? The number he mentioned was even higher than the budget you'll probably receive from the EU as a full member ... It looks like you already found a different way to get the EU funds anyway :)

We are "Potential Candidates" along with Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia, which means that we are not full candidates just yet. Albania signed the Stabilization and Association Agreement last year and the member states are now in the process of ratifying it. SAA is similar to Europe Agreements that you guys signed in the early 90s.

Macedonia, Croatia, and Turkey, on the other hand, are candidates.

This table here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlargement_of_the_European_Union#Progress_of_future_enlargements) can show you exactly the stage where specific Candidate and Potential Candidate countries are currently standing.

As for the diaspora, you are correct when saying that a lot money comes from them. I'm not sure how large the amount of money invested from those guys is, but it IS large.

I think i read somewhere (worldfactbook?)that the diaspora sends something like $600-800 million a year home to Albania, maybe more now.

you mean million. and yes that sounds about right. if we were to join the EU we would receive something around a few hundred million annually. we already are getting 1.2 billion euros until 20120.

yea lower ur numbers dude that's like America's budget haha

It's more around 1 point something billion

yea lower ur numbers dude that's like America's budget haha

nah the budget is in the 1. something trillion range

It's more around 1 point something billion

the albanain state budget? it's at more than 3 billion euros. i think the 2008 expenditures will surpass the 4 billion euro mark.

I know america's is over 1 trillion ;) i was just saying it's MORE like america's

the second one was about how much the immigrants send back

Good numbers for the money that come back from the immigrants. :okay: All you have to do is invest them well, aim for stability and work hard and you can do even better than you expect. I know you are capable. My father had a couple of albanian collegues in the university in Praha several decades ago and he is talking only with good words about them. Good luck!

Good numbers for the money that come back from the immigrants. All you have to do is invest them well, aim for stability and work hard and you can do even better than you expect. I know you are capable. My father had a couple of albanian collegues in the university in Praha several decades ago and he is talking only with good words about them. Good luck!

Thank you thank you...no doubt we can do better. Individually we all can do better...as a group though...we need to work on that. And there are historical and culutral reasons for this that we need to overcome first.

----------

As for giving Albanian citizenship to Kosovars...that would be a great idea...but not now. Such a thing could (and will) happen only AFTER Kosova gets independence...and then as a de facto unification of the two...Kosovars get Albanian citizenship...in preperation for the eventual unficiation. But all this will not happen in the next 10 years at least.

Cause imagine all those people decide to move to Albania...the labour market and the social care system wouldn't be able to handle that..

are you kidding, they are moving from albania to kosovo, although poorest part of ex sfrj and now even poorer it is still 10x better than albania,
as for the news, that´s great I hope they all take albania citizenship and move the fuck out of serbia :D

At least people in Albania travel in a mercedes like normal people

http://zamislisrbiju.org/foto/idc_foto_10/images/serbia13.jpg

I knew I was abnormal :D

I mean...Renault seems to be a bad choice. Mercedes is quite expensive though and I really hate those ugly 80's and mid-90s models. They only burn lots of fuel and look ugly. And newer models are quite expensive ugh :(

Or any other regular vehicle:D

A running vehicle though;)

http://zamislisrbiju.org/foto/idc_foto_10/images/Novi%20Yugo.jpg

BTW I had my driving license courses on an old 90s diesel Mercedes. I still miss that car. It would not die away when I drive it slow on low RPM. The manual gear change was very easy, I still miss it on traffic congestions (I should admit I'm a bad driver)

Why are 95% of Serbs in this forum such people??? it so much to ask...

I knew I was abnormal :D

I mean...Renault seems to be a bad choice. Mercedes is quite expensive though and I really hate those ugly 80's and mid-90s models. They only burn lots of fuel and look ugly. And newer models are quite expensive ugh :(

It would make sense to buy one in the USA. With the weak dollar you can get a '07 C-class for around 24 thousand euros.

I think i read somewhere (worldfactbook?)that the diaspora sends something like $600-800 million a year home to Albania, maybe more now.

Haha wish it was billion!

I think i read somewhere (worldfactbook?)that the diaspora sends something like $600-800 million a year home to Albania, maybe more now.

But can you really see any changes made by that money? Ukrainian migrants sent over $8 billion back home last year ( National Bank argues that it's more around $21 billion, but I won't argue over this ). Frankly, I don't see huge changes. I mean people can put the money in a bank and live off the interest if it's a substantial amount, but from the occassional ability to buy a microwave or a new refrigerator, the quality of life doesn't really change that much.

But can you really see any changes made by that money? Ukrainian migrants sent over $8 billion back home last year ( National Bank argues that it's more around $21 billion, but I won't argue over this ). Frankly, I don't see huge changes. I mean people can put the money in a bank and live off the interest if it's a substantial amount, but from the occassional ability to buy a microwave or a new refrigerator, the quality of life doesn't really change that much.

i disagree. you can feel the change. every time i go there i see albania move forward one giant leap. you invest some money into your family, people open a small business. in the end your helping them. you're like their bank which gives them low interest loans for startup businesses.