Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/434696
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 17 DECEMBER 2014 7 News The Chairman, Board Members, Management and Staff at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority wish everyone a Peacful Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. 7KH$XWKRULW\ZRXOGOLNHWRQRWLI\LWVFOLHQWVDQGWKHSXEOLFWKDWLWVRI¿FHVZLOO be closed between noon of the 23 rd December until the 31 st December 2014. Documents may still be submitted during the shutdown period and acknowledgements will be mailed out after the 2 nd January, 2015. The Environment Protection Directorate at Hexagon House in Marsa Wharf will be rendering the following services: &,7(62I¿FH Wednesday 24 th , Friday 26 th , Monday 29 th and Wednesday 31 st December 2014 from 9am until 11am. In case of perishable goods, applicants are to call 24 hours in advance on 9921 0404. :DVWH6KLSPHQWVDQG&RQVLJQHPHQW1RWHVMonday 29 th and Wednesday 31 st December from 9am until 12 noon. ZZZPHSDRUJPW The Authority's 24 hour emergency service numbers, 99269926 (illegal development) and 99210404 (pollution control and nature protection) will remain running throughout. Socialist leader, writing him down as "a reformed alcoholic" who "has never managed to control emo- tions". Senior EU and Council of Europe officials likewise expressed concern on December 9 over the detention of Azerbaijani investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova. Ismayilova worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is funded by the US State Department. This gave her a level of immunity that other journalists in Azerbai- jan don't enjoy. Her arrest signals a turning point in relations between the US and the Aliyev regime. In the past the regime had resort- ed to intimidation in a bid to silence her. In 2012 Aliyev's police planted hidden cameras in her apartment and filmed her having sex with her boyfriend. Now she is to be charged with pressuring her ex-boyfriend and driving him to suicide, and is facing a seven-year prison term. A spokesperson for European Un- ion foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini called Ismayilova's de- tention "a step against the freedom of expression" that is "key to any democratic society." Muscat's visit comes a week after this arrest and as Prime Minister of an EU member he is expected to voice his concern on these human rights violations. The spectre of Nagorno Karabakh Until very recently, Azerbaijan saw President Vladimir Putin's Russia as a hostile force trying to undermine its pro-Western policy and support- ing neighbouring Armenia in the conflict over the Nagorno-Karaba- kh enclave. Nagorno-Karabakh, which once formed part of Azerbaijan, became an independent enclave run by its Armenian majority, following a bloody war which preceded the dis- solution of the Soviet Union. After the most serious military confrontation between the two countries since 1991 Russian Presi- dent Vladimir Putin intervened by hosting the two rival Presidents in a meeting in Sochi in August. The meeting underlined Russia's role in maintaining stability in the region. Aliyev is now praising Moscow and saying, "Azerbaijan and Rus- sia are two neighbouring friendly countries which are developing to- gether and are ready to face world challenges". He has recently blamed the west for the rise of ISIS by opposing the Assad regime in Syria. After an- nexing Crimea and destabilising Ukraine, Putin has been able to use the Nagorno Karabakh crisis to re- mind Azerbaijan of the risks it faces if it drifts further away from Rus- sian hegemony. With the west becoming increas- ingly uneasy over the treatment of Azeri dissidents, Aliyev may ulti- mately choose Russia as his political ally, while still using gas pipelines as leverage on energy hungry western nations. According to analyst Mamedov ultimately, the EU could settle for a purely transactional relationship with Azerbaijan, cooperating in selected areas of mutual interest, especially in the energy sector, but eschewing any pretence of shared values. "It would be the type of relation- ship that the EU has with Saudi Arabia." But in the absence of solid ties with the West, the country could be left defenceless "if Russia were to become aggressive again in the South Caucasus." In fact the escalation in the con- f lict with Armenia over the dis- puted Nagorno Karabakh region may have ultimately strengthened Vladimir Putin's hand in the Cau- casus, thus undermining the claim that gas from Azerbaijan could pro- vide an alternative to Russian gas. Ultimately Putin may end up con- trolling both energy sources (his own and indirectly Azerbaijan's) as the Aliyev regime becomes politi- cally dependent on Moscow for its survival. Joseph Muscat shakes hands with Ilham Aliyev