Ten aspirant countries for NATO membership from the so-called Vilnius Group committed Saturday to continue to support and assist one another beyond Prague Summit, where only some of them would be invited to join the Alliance.

 

In the Declaration, adopted at the end of the two-day summit in Riga, the representatives of Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Croatia made a parallel between the preparations for gaining NATO and EU membership.

 

The participants at the Summit emphasized that their countries would do their best to prepare for integration in NATO and the European Union.

 

"We believe that as many of our countries as have completed their preparations should be invited to join NATO in November and the European Union in December. But we have also committed to continue to support and assist one another beyond Prague and Copenhagen by further strengthening our democratic institutions and by pursuing policy of continuos reform in the militaries and civil societies," reads the Declaration.

 

NATO aspirant countries reaffirmed their support to the struggle against the international terrorism and their decisiveness to participate in the international antiterrorist operations.

 

"We applaud to the new relationship between NATO and Russia that was achieved in Rome this May," the participants at Riga Summit said, adding that they were ready to contribute to success of the NATO-Russia Council and to other initiatives aimed at increasing cooperation and trade between the Alliance and Moscow.

 

"It has been our joint commitment to freedom and our cooperation that have kept our pace to reform our security and defense sectors, as well as to face the challenges in reforming our free and democratic societies, in the direction towards integration in the Euro-Atlantic structures," Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski said in his address at the Vilnius Group Summit entitled "Riga 2002: Bridge to Prague."

 

He expressed belief that this important meeting in Riga would provide further impetus to common activities in the forthcoming period and to strengthening mutual cooperation, thus contributing to the reaching of our common objective - integration of the Vilnius Group member countries into NATO, and promoting security, democracy and prosperity in the entire Euro-Atlantic zone.

 

Trajkovski proposed that cooperation and support within the Vilnius Group should continue during the phase of ratification of the membership of the countries of the group that will be invited in Prague.

 

Speaking of Macedonia's contribution to the Euro Atlantic security, Trajkovski says that since its independence, the Republic of Macedonia has proven its commitment for further development of peaceful and friendly international relations by strengthening its democratic institutions, by bringing about a better understanding of the principles upon which Euro-Atlantic democracies are founded, and by promoting conditions of stability and well being for Macedonia and the region of South Eastern Europe.

 

"The path we have chosen has not been free of serious perils and obstacles.

 

Despite the four wars in the proximity of our borders and two embargoes, Macedonia speeded up the economic reforms and development of the country, strengthened civil society and democratic principles in the country, made significant advances in political reform and has continued to boast the high level of public support for NATO membership among its citizens," the President said.

 

He reminded to the fact that in order to assist NATO in its efforts to bring stability to the region, Macedonia has put its territory at NATOs disposal as a logistic support for the mission in Kosovo. "When the danger of a humanitarian disaster was imminent Macedonia received 360.000 refugees, even though this was potentially dangerous to the frail ethnic balance in the country. Macedonia became a partner of NATO, and we will never consider that decision as anything, but right thing that was to be done in that moment," Trajkovski emphasized.

 

According to him, of vital importance for the stability of Macedonia and other neighboring countries in the region, is the adherence to the firm position of inviolability of existing state borders by use of force.

 

"It is our belief that NATO has a moral obligation, in addition to the strong security interest, to incorporate Macedonia in its structures. We aim at becoming part of the North Atlantic Alliance not for political prestige but for the benefit of the regional and global security and for the protection of our common democratic values, from the threats like terrorism and organized crime," the Macedonian President said.

 

He emphasizes that the invitation for Macedonia to join NATO will be evidence of the firm determination of the western democracies to support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Macedonia, while finalizing the successful peace arrangements in the region and it will be the best possible support of the common goal of all the South East European democracies, for the whole and free, secure and stable Europe.

 

"No part of Europe should be left isolated because of its geography or history or momentary instability. Macedonia has always been part of Europe and has nurtured the values of the Euro-Atlantic community the values of democracy, human rights and rule of law. My country is prepared to take its share of responsibilities for the future of this continent, and I hope and pray that it will be given the chance it duly deserves," Trajkovski stressed.

 

During the Summit, Trajkovski also met with Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Drnovsek, which was focused on the economic cooperation between the two countries.

 

It was emphasized at the meeting that the Free Trade Agreement was a good ground for promotion of the economic cooperation. However, it was noted that some barriers should be eliminated in order to facilitate the export of agricultural products from Macedonia to Slovenia.

 

Drnovsek agreed that it was necessary to examine the ways for reducing the trade deficit, mainly through increasing the Macedonian export, which would positively affect the development of the Macedonian economy.

 

Slovenia also expressed its interest for increasing the direct foreign investments in Macedonia.

 

 

President Purvanov: "New, Solid Law on Bulgarian Abroad Needed"

 

Zagreb, July 6 (BTA Special Correspondent Anelia Tsvetkova) - "A new, solid law on Bulgarians abroad is needed, to enable them to do business, pursue their studies and receive medical treatment on equal terms with Bulgarians living in Bulgaria," President Georgi Purvanov said, meeting late Friday evening with members of the Bulgarian community in Croatia and of the Bulgarian church community in Zagreb.

 

According to Purvanov, businessmen who support cultural initiatives of expatriate Bulgarians must be granted tax concessions. "The care of Bulgarians abroad is an essential commitment of the State," the President said. He shared his impression that the Croatian State is seriouly committed to a search of a solution to the problems of the national minorities in Croatia.

 

Purvanov promised to talk to Zagreb Mayor Vlasta Pavic about the allocation of premises in the city centre for the needs of Bulgarian community. So far the Bulgarians have been holding their meetings on the top floor of the Bulgarian Embassy.

 

Rashko Ivanov, leader of the Bulgarian community in Croatia, suggested that Bulgaria stage an impressive economic, cultural and media presentation within the 2003 Zagreb Fair.

 

According to the latest official census, Bulgarians in Croatia number 331. The Bulgarian church community, the Seven Apostles of Bulgaria, was established in May 2000. On Saturday, the Bulgarian head of state is visiting Pula and the island of Brioni. Late in the evening, the President and Mrs Purvanov will attend the opening ceremony of the Histria International Festival.

 

 

 

Prime Minister Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Back Home from Vilnius Group Summit in Riga.

 

Sofia, July 6 (BTA) - Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha described as "postive" Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski's initiative on cooperation between the Visegrad Group and the Vilnius Group.

 

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha returned Saturday afternoon from Riga, where he took part in a summit of the 10 NATO aspirant countries forming the Vilnius Group.

 

"The videotaped addresses by US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, which encouraged the NATO aspirants, are a clear sign of the Alliance's enlargement," the Bulgarian Prime Minister observed.

 

"At this stage, there is no divergence of opinions between the US administration and the US Congress on the matter of NATO enlargement," said Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, who accompanied Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in Riga. Passy reacted to a statement in Riga by Zbigniew Brzezinski that the accession treaties with the countries that will be invited to NATO now will be more difficult to ratify at the US Congress than in the previous wave of enlargement.

 

Passy believes that the Bulgarian bid is among the most solid ones, but "it should be kept in mind that any self-appreciation of what we have achieved may deconcentrate us about what remains to be done."

 

In Riga, the Bulgarian delegation took the opportunity to sign three bilateral agreements with Latvia: on mutual safeguarding of classified information, on readmission of persons entering and residing illegally on their territory, and on reciprocal lifting of visa requirements.

 

Asked to comment on the proposed amendments of the Constitution, Prime Minister Saxe-Coburg-Gotha said this is a very complicated subject.

 

"The assessment of the BSP [the left-wing opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party] on the performance of the SNM [the ruling Simeon II National Movement] that there are misfits at all levels of government with dubious qualifications and morality, whose actions are dictated by corporate interests, has to be supported by documents and other more competent opinions," the Prime Minister argued.

 

He was asked for comment on statements by SNM's coalition partner, the largely ethnic Turks' Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), that they were not consulted on the recent replacements of two regional governors. "We maintain excellent relations with the MRF, the regional governors' replacements are not something to argue about in the media," Saxe-Coburg-Gotha said. In his opinion, such matters can be discussed at personal meetings and telephone conversations.

 

 

 

Bulgaria Incinerates 803 kg of Illicit Drugs.

 

Sofia, July 6 (BTA) - A total of 803 kg of narcotic drugs (549 kg of heroin, 143 kg of hashish and 106 kg of marijuana) were incinerated in the furnaces of the Kremikovtsi Iron and Steel Works near Sofia on Saturday. The drugs have been seized at Bulgaria's border crossings since 2000, and their smugglers have been given effective sentences or decrees by the prosecuting authorities, said the Director of the National Customs Agency Asen Asenov.

 

Since the beginning of the year, the largest number of drug hauls, 19, have been made in Bulgaria, Asenov says. The largest amount of narcotics have been seized at Malko Turnovo (on the border with Turkey): one haul of 35 kg and another of 80 kg of heroin.

 

In the quantity of drug seizures (198 kg since January 1, 2002), Bulgaria ranks fourth among the countries on the Balkan route, ahead of one country with a single haul of some 460 kg, another country with some 430 kg in three hauls, and yet another country with a single haul of some 230 kg.

 

Asenov said that drug traffickers now tend to bypass the Balkan route and the traffic is decreasing. For two years now, Bulgaria has been seizing the largest quantity of heroin along the Balkan route, the customs chief recalled.

 

 

 

by Dominic Kennedy, Stewart Tendler and John Phillips

 

THE sudden conquest of Britains best-known red-light district by the Albanian mafia is alarming police as a new white slave trade in impoverished young women flourishes.

 

In less than two years Albanians have taken over 70 per cent of brothels in Soho, Londons sex-tourism honeypot, becoming majority owners of a business worth at least 12 million a year. The new vice kings are the criminal warlords of Albania, whose reach extends far beyond their anarchic, post-communist homeland into the underworlds of most of Italy and parts of New York.

 

So far the Albanians takeover has been a bloodless coup. By smuggling East European sex slaves into the country, they have undercut local womens rates.

 

A seemingly endless stream of women is available. They have a fantastic supply chain, Chief Superintendent Simon Humphreys, head of Scotland Yards clubs and vice squad, said.

 

Some women are kidnapped, others are duped into coming to Britain with false promises of a better life. Often they have been forced to work as prostitutes for gangs across the European mainland by the time they arrive here on false passports.

 

Once in Britain the Albanians snatch back the girls papers and use the bogus documents to bring others into the country. The victims do not officially exist and are powerless to resist. In Soho the girls charge as little as 30 for sex and on average deal with between 20 and 30 clients a day.

 

In Britain most Albanian gangsters are men in their 20s from the backward northern part of their country. Rather than being based around individual gangland bosses, the Albanian criminals are organised into clans, bound by an ancient code of honour called kanun.

 

The importance of clans in Albanian society lends itself to the foundation of underworld mobs with rigid internal rules and rigorous punishments of affiliates for betrayal. The clans provide cash to rent or buy flats in Soho, and police believe that some of the profits are returned to their homeland. The Albanians are renowned smugglers and it is their dominance of the people-trafficking trade that has ensured that they thrive in the prostitution racket.

 

The National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) has just completed a study of the menace posed by the Albanians, which is being studied across Whitehall and in police forces. The Albanian problem will be discussed at a national police vice conference on Monday.

 

The NCIS says: The threat posed by ethnic-Albanian organised crime in the UK is currently low, but, based on the European experience, the potential threat remains high.

 

The organisation is worried about the Albanians because they are prepared to be more brutal than other groups. There is a nagging fear about their extreme violence, a senior official said.

 

Already blood feuds are being fought out in Britain and there is evidence that the Albanians are working here for Turkish heroin gangs with access to guns.

 

The Albanians have failed to make much impact yet on other geographical areas outside Soho, or in alternative branches of crime in Britain, but Greater Manchester Police has sent a team to Soho to prepare for an expected influx of East European prostitutes as the Albanians influence spreads.

 

Mr Humphreys said: We have an emerging crime problem. Once it flourishes you will see violence and turf wars. This has happened in other countries. They will be very defensive of their territory.

 

The last violent invasion of Soho was engineered by the Maltese, who first arrived in the 1930s, nicknamed in Cockney slang Epsom Salts (ie, Malts).

 

The Street Offences Act of 1959 introduced new penalties against prostitution, but drove girls into the arms of men such as Big Frank Mifsud and Bernie Silvers. These gangsters provided flats to the girls, at rents of 100 to 150 a week, above clubs in which staff openly sent customers upstairs to visit the waiting models. The Maltese hid behind nominees and expensive lawyers.

 

Soho sex empires grew to encompass dozens of brothels, 24 strip clubs, five blue-movie cinemas and sex shops. Theirs was a reign of terror. Enforcers ensured that the girls paid their rents. Informants were kidnapped and beaten.

 

Corrupt police officers kept the crime lords safe.

 

The era ended in the 1970s with a concerted assault by Detective Chief Superintendent Bert Old Grey Fox Wickstead and his special squad.

 

The origins of Soho can be traced back to the hunting grounds where the cry of the huntsman gave the district its name. Grand town houses were built in the 17th century, but the area has long been associated with colourful outcasts, refugees and immigrants.

 

One of the strongest tribes of Soho is the Italians. Across the globe, Albanians have been displacing their Adriatic neighbours in urban ghettos and crime rackets. In New York Albanians have swept into Arthur Avenue, an Italian enclave of the Bronx. They are easily assimilated into Italian districts, knowing the language from picking up Italian television stations at home.

 

Albanian criminals supply heroin to the street gangs of the Lower East Side and have a stake in vice through the strip-club trade. They are suspected of sending money home to the Kosovo Liberation Army.

 

In Italy Albanian crime mushroomed from just 573 arrests in 1988 to a peak of 27,247 just ten years later. The Albanians began by easing out Italian crime gangs from prostitution and vice rackets, which they now dominate in northern and central Italy.

 

Pimps used ferocious methods against young victims to induce them to submit to inhuman conditions and effective slavery, the Italian Interior Ministry has reported.

 

The Albanian mafia in Italy expanded from controlling vice to murder, drugs, robbery, theft and illicit weapons. The ministry noted the criminal capacity shown by the Albanian groups and their operational ruthlessness.

 

New laws to combat the white slave trade in Britain are being demanded by police. Sir John Stevens, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, is backing calls for a ten-year sentence for living off immoral earnings, which attracts a typical two-year sentence.

 

 

By Dominic Kennedy

 

A SEX slave aged 15 can be bought for as little as £1,300 it emerged, after a Romanian girl who had been prostituted across Europe escaped her Albanian captors while working in a British sauna.

 

Her owner had pocketed up to £500 a day as he made her work in brothels for up to 20 hours at a time, seven days a week, and beat her if she resisted.

 

Natashas fate was revealed at a London trial last month. The jury was told that she was aged only 12 when her mother died. Natashas father turned to the bottle and, in violent tempers, repeatedly slapped her.

 

A cousin arranged for a friend to help Natasha to leave Romania to start a new life in Yugoslavia in apparent safety.

 

But she came to the notice of Eastern European people-traffickers and soon she was forced to become a dancing girl in a nightclub in the south of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia [sic!], where, for six months, her duties included stripping and having sex with clients.

 

She escaped this club when she was purchased, without her knowledge, by Jorgi, an Albanian pimp, for 4,000 German marks (£1,300). Natasha was forced to travel to Albania and, from there, was dumped in an inflatable boat for the journey across the Adriatic to Italy. In Naples she had to work as a prostitute until one day she was made to get into the back seat of a car, where Jorgi was waiting for her.

 

A stranger to Natasha, Jorgi put a hand over her mouth, told her not to scream, and pretended that he was rescuing her. He took Natasha to Rome, purchased false Italian identity documents for her that cost £1,500, then arranged for her to join his family in London.

 

Natasha, still only 15, arrived in Dover on a ferry from Ostend as a lone Italian tourist in July last year and was met by Jorgis relatives at Victoria station.

 

Jorgi followed her into Britain.

 

The girls hopes of escape were shortlived. Jorgi, an asylum-seeker, soon insisted that she should return to prostitution. Natasha asked if she could just strip instead, but he complained that she would make too little money.

 

I didnt have any choices because I couldnt do anything, the sobbing girl told the jury at Jorgis trial, giving evidence from behind a screen.

 

Jorgi arranged for her to be given false documents, suggesting that she was a qualified masseuse.

 

He forced her to telephone saunas and massage parlours, finding the numbers from the back pages of the magazine Whats On In London. He drove her to and from work, pocketing the cash that she was paid.

 

I was working morning, afternoon and evening. Sometimes I would get home at 7am and would have to start work again at 11am, Natasha said.

 

I hated all the men I was working for. But if you didnt do what they were saying they would always get angry and hit you and swear at you. After Jorgi hit her she would cover the bruising with make-up and go to work again.

 

She escaped after a brothel maid encouraged her to run away. Natasha fled a sauna at midnight, although her shift was due to end at 4am.

 

She spent the night in a safe house and then went to the police.

 

The girls were talking one afternoon about other girls. They had left, they had married, they had families and were happy, she said.

 

I asked if the police helped you in these cases and they said they did; that they would help you get away from it and start a new life. This girl, Lisa, said that if I ever needed to get away she would help.

 

Prosecutors were unable to find any law against Jorgi trafficking the girl as a sex slave, except for living off immoral earnings, which usually carries a two-year jail sentence.

 

Because the pair entered Britain separately, Jorgi could not be prosecuted for facilitating her illegal entry, Ecpat, the anti-trafficking charity, said.

 

Sentencing has been delayed until later this year.

 

The names in this story have been changed for legal reasons.