BUDAPEST, March 18 (Xinhua) — The Hungarian government and the Defense Ministry have begun an investigation into two Israeli planes that flew over Budapest\’s Ferihegy Airport twice on Wednesday, as if to land, but then continued their flight, the daily Magyar Nemzet reported on Thursday.
Israeli Ambassador Aliza Bin-Noun said the flyovers had been routine and the craft, which belonged to the Israeli Air Force, had permission from the Hungarian National Transport Authority. The Foreign Ministry of Hungary was also aware of the action, she said, vehemently denying that the aircraft were spy planes. The two planes had conducted similar maneuvers at Varna Airport in Bulgaria,Bin-Noun added.
Hungarian Defense Ministry spokesman Istvan Bocskai said Defense Minister Imre Szekeres had initiated an investigation to determine who had granted the planes permission to conduct the \” approach and flyover\” maneuvers, adding that the Defense Ministry had no prior knowledge of the Israeli action.
Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai, meanwhile, demanded immediate information from the foreign, defense and transport ministers.
The Hungarian National Transport Authority issued a statement on Thursday afternoon saying that the two Israeli Air Force planes had been in compliance with Hungarian law and had observed all safety regulations. The request to conduct the flyover had been timely, the statement added, and had gone to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which had transferred it to the air traffic control section of the National Transport Authority, which in turn granted permission to conduct the exercise.
Security expert Georg Spoettle told local wire service MTI that the maneuvers looked like a test flight, not an espionage action because both planes were flying low and in broad daylight. He also noted that the El Al Israeli Airline flew between Tel Aviv and Budapest on a daily basis and could have been used for intelligence gathering if that had been the goal. Spoette is a German security expert who worked in Berlin with the German National Office of Criminal Investigations for over twenty years. He now lives in Hungary.
Spoettle noted that the two planes, whose photo appeared in Magyar Nemzet, were tactical craft, used to transport troops and observe foreign planes entering their home air space, not spy planes. He added his belief that the aircraft were undergoing technical tests, possibly testing to see how far they could travel without refueling.
http://www.zokn.com The on-strike taxies line up on a street in Athens, capital of Greece, March 18, 2010. Taxi drivers union in Athens called a 24-hour strike in protest against the new taxation measures announced by the Greek government on Thursday. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) The on-strike taxies line up on a street in Athens, capital of Greece, March 18, 2010. Taxi drivers union in Athens called a 24-hour strike in protest against the new taxation measures announced by the Greek government on Thursday. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) Taxi drivers attend a demonstration in Athens, capital of Greece, March 18, 2010. Taxi drivers union in Athens called a 24-hour strike in protest against the new taxation measures announced by the Greek government on Thursday. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) Taxi drivers attend a demonstration in Athens, capital of Greece, March 18, 2010. Taxi drivers union in Athens called a 24-hour strike in protest against the new taxation measures announced by the Greek government on Thursday. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) The on-strike taxies line up on a street in Athens, capital of Greece, March 18, 2010. Taxi drivers union in Athens called a 24-hour strike in protest against the new taxation measures announced by the Greek government on Thursday. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) Taxi drivers attend a demonstration in Athens, capital of Greece, March 18, 2010. Taxi drivers union in Athens called a 24-hour strike in protest against the new taxation measures announced by the Greek government on Thursday. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) Taxi drivers attend a demonstration in Athens, capital of Greece, March 18, 2010. Taxi drivers union in Athens called a 24-hour strike in protest against the new taxation measures announced by the Greek government on Thursday. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) Taxi drivers confront policemen during a demonstration in Athens, capital of Greece, March 18, 2010. Taxi drivers union in Athens called a 24-hour strike in protest against the new taxation measures announced by the Greek government on Thursday. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) http://www.znnw.com
BELGRADE, March 18 (Xinhua) — Serbia\’s possible boycott of the Western Balkans conference this weekend in protest against the invitation of Kosovo threatens to spoil the first meeting of all the political leaders in the region in 18 years.
The joint organizers Slovenia and Croatia have so far failed to secure the presence of both Serbia and Kosovo, the former Serbian province which declared independence in 2008.
The absence of Serbia would undermine the conference\’s goal of resolving regional disputes before European Union accession talks.
Serbian President Boris Tadic said earlier that Serbia would take part in the conference if Kosovo \”participates within the format defined by Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council,\” or UNMIK Kosovo, the acronym for the UN mission in Kosovo..
The ethnic Albanian-dominated Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on Feb. 17, 2008. Serbia has said it would never recognize Kosovo\’s independence, regarding the move as contrary to international law.
However, Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said he would only attend the meeting as a representative of a sovereign state, not UNMIK Kosovo.
Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said Wednesday that \”I believe that everything will be arranged and that all those whom we, as organizers, are expecting at this conference will be there.\”
Earlier, Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor described the prospects of getting Serbian and Kosovo officials together at the conference as \”an impossible mission.\”
Pahor\’s surprise trip to Belgrade on March 17 in a bid to salvage the regional conference was unsuccessful in convincing Tadic to relent.
The conference, under the name \”Together for the European Union: Contribution of the Western Balkans to the European Future,\” is to be held on Saturday in Slovenia.
The Slovenian foreign ministry said Wednesday that the meeting would go ahead this weekend regardless of a possible boycott by Serbia.
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The secretary-general told reporters at the United Nations Headquarters in New York that \”there is some broad agreement now that the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia) may need at least a few more years, to 2013 or so,\” before it can finish its work.? Full story
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