EU-DIGEST

Europe Defies The Skeptics: Why Europe Is Stronger Than Ever - By Andrew Moravcsik

Just six months ago, the media were rife with predictions about the collapse of the European Union and its currency in the wake of the economic crisis. Credit agencies issued downgrades or downgrade warnings for countries like Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and Greece. Even more serious debt crises were expected in Central and Eastern Europe.

Today, it's clear that the crisis has renewed European solidarity and seriousness of purpose. Europe is stronger than ever. What explains the quiet turnaround? The leading nations of Europe did not lose their nerve, and they did not work only to protect themselves, as many pundits predicted. Instead, they rushed to save their neighbors. In monetary policy, small nations realized that they lack the capacity to act as a credible lender of last resort for domestic banking systems that conduct many of their transactions in foreign currencies. Large nations, Germany in particular, realized that their banks, investors, and exporters would take a catastrophic hit if smaller neighbors went belly up. So the European Central Bank responded by pouring money into euro-zone banking systems. The Stability and Growth Pact, which restricts public spending, was relaxed to permit governments to recapitalize their banks. And in an unheralded and entirely informal expansion of EU responsibility, perhaps the largest since the 1999 launch of the euro, the central bank accepted responsibility for stabilizing EU countries outside the euro zone—those that still use their own currencies. It extended guarantees and swaps to assist efforts to stabilize financial systems that otherwise might have been forced to impose a punishing interest-rate hike or devaluation. The most striking example was the bailout of Latvia, managed jointly by the IMF and the EU. The turnaround in trade is no less spectacular. In March, European leaders made a collective commitment to avoid further protectionist measures, and they stuck to it. The core of Europe's single market—a ban on tariffs, quotas, and subsidies, protected by the Schengen Agreement prohibiting border controls and competition policy—seems to be holding firm.

Note EU-Digest: Unity is the only way forward for our EU. As the saying goes: "United we stand, divided we fall".

Labels: Constitutional Reform, EU, EU Economy, euro, European Unity, Political

Opposition to invigorate their protest

Georgian opposition which has been holding large-scale ralliesin favor President Mikheil Saakashvili's resignation since April 9 announces plans to widen their protests and move to periphery. This was recently stated by Movement For United Georgia leader Eka Beselia at a public meeting near the parliament, News Georgia reports. The number of protesters had drastically dropped over the last month resulting in the opposition leaders call for reorganization.

Labels: Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, Political

Creeping Islamism in Turkey-by Richard Shulman

The Islamist ruling party in Turkey [AKP] has “a strategy for a creeping Islamization that culminates in a Shari’a (Islamic law) state not compatible with a secular, democratic order. The AKP does not advertise this agenda and often denies it.” Turkish courts confirmed the secret agenda. However, in the name of democracy, the U.S. and the EU demand that countervailing Turkish circles accept the AKP positions subverting the military, judiciary, and educational system. This Western pressure is naïve, for it betrays the democratic elements in Turkey to the Islamists, who, as they consolidate power, crimp democracy. Democracy is not just rule by the majority but allows civil rights, minority opinion and cultural freedom consistent with constitutional order. In Turkey, democracy is a cover for creeping Islamism and the ending democracy.

Labels: APK party, Islam, Political, Turkey

US Right Wing extremism - Hate in a Cocoon of Silence - by Charles Blow

"An April assessment by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis said pointedly: “Lone wolves and small terrorist cells embracing violent right wing extremist ideology are the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat in the United States.” Slowly, but steadily, these bigots are slithering from beneath their rocks, armed and deadly. The most recent was an octogenarian-hater named James von Brunn, who, officials said, opened fire this week in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, killing a security guard."

Labels: Extreme Right, Political, US

Greenlanders Vote on Autonomy as Slump Clouds Independence Plan - by Christian Wienberg

Greenlanders vote today on a proposal to wrest more autonomy from Denmark, an effort at increasing control over their natural resources that may founder in the face of the global economic slump. The referendum, which polls show is likely to be approved, would give the 56,000 mainly native Inuit citizens of Greenland full control over deciding whether they want to secede from Denmark. Currently, the government in Copenhagen would have to approve such a move. It would also for the first time mandate a division of income from natural resources with Denmark, which has ruled the territory since the 18th century.“The prospects that Greenland will become a natural resource-based economy certainly haven’t improved,” said Lars- Emil Johansen, former premier of Greenland, and one of the lawmakers who drafted the bill that’s up for vote. Greenland is also rich in diamonds, iron ore, lead, zinc and uranium. Greenland entered the then European Community -- now the European Union -- with Denmark in 1973. It quit the bloc in 1985 in a dispute over fishing quotas, making it the only region to ever withdraw from the EU, which now has 27 members. Passage of today’s referendum would presage a vote on full independence, government officials and trade union leaders say.

Premier Hans Enoksen has said Greenland may hold a referendum on full independence by 2020, while SIK, Greenland’s biggest labor union, has said it wants a vote in 2012.

Labels: Denmark, EU, Greenland, Political

35th anniversary

A special EU-Digest report on the 35th anniversary of Eurobarometer

EU-35 years of successful Eurobarometer polling

To mark this important event, the European Commission (with the support of the EC Representation in Paris), in cooperation with the French Presidency, the European Parliament and Sciences Po is organizing the anniversary conference in Paris today November 21 and tomorrow.

The main objective of Eurobarometer as a polling tool, founded in 1973, is to identify and analyze trends in public opinion in all Member States and in the Candidate Countries. The Paris conference aims to discuss the role of public opinion polls in developing a European public sphere. The conference will focus on several crucial topics, like: the upcoming EP elections, lessons learned from European referenda, public debate on tomorrow's Europe, Eurobarometer's methodological challenges.

The event today brings together representatives of significant influence and expert knowledge from EU institutions, EU member states, politicians, academics and journalists. Among the many confirmed keynote speakers are: Margot Wallström, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, Nicole Fontaine, Jacques Santer, Noëlle Lenoir, Henning Christophersen, Gijs de Vries, Thierry Saussez, and Jacques-René Rabier.

Labels: EU, Eurobarometer, France, Green Policy, Political, Polling

Labels: EU, Integration, Political

"Pentecostalism is the largest self-organized movement of urban poor in the world," according to the U.S. urban specialist Mike Davis. His opinions on this religious movement tend to be rejected outright by many leftist intellectuals. However, Davis is convinced that "many people on the left have made the mistake of assuming that Pentecostalism is a reactionary force—and it's not." "Pentecostals not only get many people away from alcohol, but also occasionally get them to give up drug trafficking and delinquency. And they do it without pressure. However, Pentecostals are also a social and political force, not just religious. In an historical irony, the largest left party on the Latin American continent, the Workers Party (PT), created by the Catholic Church and other entities, came into power with a Pentecostal vice president, José Alencar.

The vice president's Brazilian Republican Party (PRB), created in 2005 and linked to the Universal Church, is the fastest growing political force in the country. The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God to which he belongs controls 70 television and 50-plus radio stations, a bank, several newspapers, and has 3,500 temples. Its Record TV Network vies for the largest audience against the legendary Globo Network and earns a billion dollars a year.

"It's a question of giving people alternatives and hopes for a better future". Of the 550 total legislative representatives in Brazil, 61 are Pentecostals, and 91 call themselves militant Catholics. "Anyone living in the urban peripheries of today's Brazil, can confirm that this is an important phenomenon. Many participants in the Homeless Workers Movement are also members of the local Pentecostal church. We cannot forget that religion played an important role in the formation of our left," says Marco Fernandes, an historian and social psychologist who participates in the Homeless Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Teto, MTST).

Labels: Christianity, Economy, Latin America, Pentacostals, Political

A Quick Fix: The Candidates and Energy Independence - by John Becket

To get the recent $700 billion bailout passed, some "sweeteners" were added to the package by the Senate to attract votes from certain constituencies. Among them were $18 billion in tax breaks for businesses and individuals who want to make their homes and businesses more energy efficient and/or invest in green technology. Lacking an overall strategy and insufficient funds for the job, the "sugar high" will have little lasting impact. So goes the quest for "energy independence" touted by Congress and the presidential candidates. While Congress steadfastly declines to increase taxes on an oil industry making record profits — taxes which could be used to develop alternative energy — Europe and other nations, including China, forge far ahead in weaning themselves from dependence on petroleum. While the government stumbles all over itself to hand hundreds of billions to reckless speculators, only grudgingly does it support alternative energy. And although Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is likely to be more supportive of alternative energy than Republican John McCain, neither party's platform includes the sort of aggressive plan that America really needs.

The U.S., meanwhile, has nothing like a Minister for Sustainable Development. What passes as energy policy in America is a piecemeal, stops-and-starts approach that is often ill-conceived and just as often more rhetoric than action. In late 2007, Congress called for the nation to pursue 25 percent renewable energy by 2025. But Dan Arvizu, director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Colorado-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory, told a Harvard University audience such a goal is laughable to Germany, where 25 percent is a business-as-usual mark. One hundred percent renewable by 2025, Arvizu said, is cited by the Germans as their "stretch goal." In fact, Arvizu said, U.S. public investment in renewable energy research has fallen 78 percent since 1978. To put things into proper perspective, the $150 billion total cost of alternative energy Obama's proposal is only about one-fifth of what Congress recently approved for the Wall Street bailout and one-quarter of this year's defense budget. What Obama is pledging to spend each year is slightly more than what the US is currently spending each month for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Labels: Barack Obama, John McCain, Political, US elections

Europe should step up by standing down - by Jim O'Nei

Europe should lead by example -- offering the world the benefit of its deep experience of financial diplomacy and volunteering to take the first steps forward. Given that Europe managed to construct EMU, the Maastricht Treaty, and the stability and growth pact that underlines the euro, it should be relatively easy for Eurozone experts to help devise a system for judging G7 type membership. Unless European countries take the initiative on global financial institutional reform, it will remain a lost cause.

Labels: EU, Political

The Hour of Europe - by Anne Applebaum

Way back in 1991, when an otherwise forgettable foreign minister of Luxembourg infamously pronounced that sentence, it seemed to portend great things. "This is the hour of Europe": That meant that in the post-Cold War world, Europeans, not Americans, would resolve the conflicts that were about to become the Bosnian war, and maybe a lot of other things, too. Yet he was wrong. Those Balkan conflicts were eventually "resolved," up to a point, not by Europe but by the United States and NATO. European influence in Washington dwindled -- and then dwindled further during the Bush administration, which mostly treated the very idea of "Europe" as a kind of pointless distraction.

As the election draws closer, the anxiety will grow. In a strange sense, Bush's catastrophic diplomacy was a gift to Europe's politicians. "Bush allowed them to explain away radical Islam as an understandable, even legitimate, response to the hypocrisies and iniquities of American policy," one British columnist wrote this week. Bush also allowed them to blame American "unilateralism" for their own lack of initiative, to use bad American diplomacy as an excuse for doing nothing.

Labels: EU, Europe, Political

Labels: EU, Political

Why both Europeans and Americans need a strong Europe

Make no mistake, the European Union has the potential to be a top global power. But while Europeans have such formidable assets at their disposal there is a strong reluctance to unify in the areas of foreign, security and defence policy, which is further augmented by displays of a certain timidity in some European states, which, consequentially, causes divergences with the duties and obligations that come with being a global power. If foreign countries, and especially autocratic regimes, do not respect, let alone fear, the Europeans, their international clout will not match their material assets and their adversities will be emboldened, damaging European interests all over the world. Europeans must gain the will to turn up in diplomatic forums and say, when necessary: “We are the European Union, and we are willing to make things very difficult for you if you refuse to comply with our wishes.” What is required, then, is ‘global power’ thinking: an understanding across the whole Union that the European Union is becoming—and must be—a global power.

Labels: EU, Political, US

Labels: EU, Political

Labels: EU, Political

Labels: Cuba, EU, Political

Merkel tops EU-wide poll

A poll by Harris Interactive found most European citizens consider German Chancellor Angela Merkel to be the most influential leader in Europe

Asked about concrete leaders, Europeans strongly favour Angela Merkel, who leads the chart in European countries. She is considered to be the most influential leader in Europe by 38% of the French, 29% of the Germans, 30% of the Spanish, 27% of the Italians and 18% of the British. Nicolas Sarkozy scores 18% in his own country, 10% in Germany, 16% in Spain, 13% in Italy and 9% in Great Britain. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has a modest rating of 1% in France, 3% in Germany, 7% in Spain and 11% in Italy.

A big difference is obvious regarding the perceptions of the Americans, who consider Brown the most influential leader in Europe with 23%, compared with 8% for Merkel and 9% for Sarkozy.

Note EU-Digest: the poll clearly shows how ignorant of the American population is in general when it comes to any knowledge of world wide politics.

Labels: EU, Merkel, Political

Sweden demands EU role for leaders of future presidency countries - by Lucia Kubosova

Swedish Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt has said the EU should outline a list of co-chairing tasks for leaders of future presidency countries after the new post of EU president is established. Speaking to journalists after his address to the European Parliament on Tuesday (19 February), the Mr Reinfeldt suggested that if there is no role for EU leaders in the future, it could have a negative impact on their engagement with the bloc's agenda.

Mr Reinfeldt, for his part, insisted that enlargement is "close to the hearts of the Swedish people," arguing it should not be marred by "critical voices" from some quarters. "Without continuing enlargement, we would run the risk of instability on our own continent. Enlargement is the most important strategic instrument for disseminating the values that European cooperation is founded on," he said. "We demolished one wall in Europe. We should not start building a new wall against Turkey or other European countries." Some criticised the fact that different countries publicly hold very different positions on EU membership hopefuls. "You should speak to your colleague Sarkozy about Turkey," said the leader of the Socialists, Martin Schulz. "It can't go on like this, with different prime ministers sending different messages" to candidate countries, said the German MEP.

Labels: EU, Political, Sweden

Castro - a political icon resigns

For the complete report from the BBC click on this link

End of Castro's half century in power - by Michael Voss

The news that Fidel Castro is stepping down as president after almost 50 years in power came in the middle of the night, through the online edition of the official Communist party newspaper Granma.

Under the headline "Message from the Commander in Chief", the 81-year-old revolutionary leader wrote: "I will not aspire to nor accept - I repeat, I will not aspire to nor accept - the post of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief." This effectively marks the end of an era. Mr Castro has ruled this Caribbean island since the revolution in 1959. Most Cubans have known no other leader or system, with more than 70% of the population born after the revolution.

Mr Castro pursued an egalitarian society, with free health-care and education. Mr Castro handed temporary power to his brother Raul a year-and-a-half ago after undergoing emergency surgery. A year-and-a-half later and Raul Castro appears to be firmly in control. But in a keynote speech last year Raul Castro told the nation that "structural and conceptual" changes were needed to get the island's faltering economy back on its feet. All of this has raised widespread expectations that major economic changes at least are on the way. In recent months Raul Castro has initiated a wide-sweeping internal debate over what changes people want to see.

Andrew Johnston from Leeds in the UK writes: "Castro led a regime that successfully looked after the basic needs of its people for 50 years, and he did it in the face of an American embargo. When one looks at the sorry state of the other countries in 'America's back-yard' one can only salute a man who was able to look after his own in defiance of the world's greatest military super-power. One of the last towering giants of politics will be lamented in this age of clown Prime Ministers and buffoon Presidents".

Labels: Cuba, Elections, Fidel Castro, Political

On Dec. 20, three days after his resignation as secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Christos Zahopoulos jumped from the fourth floor of his flat in Athens city centre. He has partly recovered but is going to face serious long-term health problems. The following day, Giannis Andrianos, press officer for Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, handed judicial authorities a DVD showing Zahopoulos engaging in intercourse with an ex-employee of the ministry. He claimed the DVD was given to him by a journalist. The material suggested that Zahopoulos attempted suicide because he was being blackmailed by Tsekou, who wanted permanent employment in the ministry. The ministry employs thousands of workers on seasonally updated contracts for long periods; as a result they face continuing insecurity about their employment status.It is still unclear who brought the DVD to the press officer of the PM, and for what purpose. But the situation has exposed an all-out war among big media tycoons connected to shadowy interests attached to political power. This has led to widespread expression of disenchantment with political life in the country. The government's handling of the case is particularly damaging Prime Minister Karamanlis who had made Zahopoulos, an old friend, his personal choice for the post. Karamanlis's New Democracy (ND) party has sought to present Karamanlis as a leader determined to fight corruption and to revive political ethics.

Labels: EU, Greece, Political, Sex

Waving Goodbye to Hegemony - by PARAG KHANNA

Turn on the TV today, and you could be forgiven for thinking it’s 1999. Democrats and Republicans are bickering about where and how to intervene, whether to do it alone or with allies and what kind of world America should lead. Democrats believe they can hit a reset button, and Republicans believe muscular moralism is the way to go. It’s as if the first decade of the 21st century didn’t happen — and almost as if history itself doesn’t happen. But the distribution of power in the world has fundamentally altered over the two presidential terms of George W. Bush, both because of his policies and, more significant, despite them. Maybe the best way to understand how quickly history happens is to look just a bit ahead.

In Europe’s capital, Brussels, technocrats, strategists and legislators increasingly see their role as being the global balancer between America and China. Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, a German member of the European Parliament, calls it “European patriotism.” The Europeans play both sides, and if they do it well, they profit handsomely. It’s a trend that will outlast both President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, the self-described “friend of America,” and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, regardless of her visiting the Crawford ranch. It may comfort American conservatives to point out that Europe still lacks a common army; the only problem is that it doesn’t really need one. Europeans use intelligence and the police to apprehend radical Islamists, social policy to try to integrate restive Muslim populations and economic strength to incorporate the former Soviet Union and gradually subdue Russia. Each year European investment in Turkey grows as well, binding it closer to the E.U. even if it never becomes a member. And each year a new pipeline route opens transporting oil and gas from Libya, Algeria or Azerbaijan to Europe. What other superpower grows by an average of one country per year, with others waiting in line and begging to join?

Labels: Globalization, Political, US

Government talks continue in Belgium; Central Bank chief warns about financial outlook

Would-be premier Yves Leterme soldiered on Sunday trying to form a government amid warnings from the central bank chief that the 168-day political stalemate was jeopardizing the country's financial outlook. In a rare interview in the weekend edition of the Flemish daily De Morgen, Central Bank Gov. Guy Quaden said projected budget surpluses totaling €2.5 billion (US$3.7 billion) in 2007 and 2008 may not be realized due to the deadlock between Dutch- and French-speaking parties in the government talks.

He said last year's budget was in balance and that the bank forecast a surplus of 0.3 percent of gross domestic product for this year, and 0.2 percent for next year.

Labels: Belgium, Economy, EU, Political

Why Pax Americana is failing everybody - by David Olive

Its global ubiquity has bred regional resentment toward the U.S.. It too often has yielded unsatisfactory outcomes. And it is an increasingly perilous burden on the American people. The U.S. tab for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan is officially placed between $2.4 trillion (U.S.) and $3.5 trillion (U.S.), depending on the duration of those obligations. To put that in perspective, as recently as 2000 the national debt accumulated during the entire history of the republic was about $5 trillion (U.S.). In a well-reasoned essay titled "The Case for Restraint" in the November-December edition of The American Interest, U.S. political scientist Barry Posen grades America's persistent attempts to impose its vision on the world. "Since the end of the Cold War 16 years ago, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have been running an experiment with U.S. grand strategy," writes Posen, the Ford International Professor of Political Science and director of the security studies program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"The theory to be tested has been this: Very good intentions, plus very great power, plus action can transform both international politics and the domestic politics of other states in ways that are advantageous to the United States, and at costs it can afford. The evidence is in: The experiment has failed. Transformation is unachievable, and costs are high."

Labels: Diplomacy, Political, US

The End of the West? by Charles Kupchan

"The American era appears to be alive and well. The U.S. economy is more than twice the size of the next biggest—Japan's—and the United States spends more on defense than the world's other major powers combined. China is regularly identified as America's next challenger, but it is decades away from entering the top ranks. The terrorist attacks in New York and Washington certainly punctured the sense of security that arose from the end of the Cold War and the triumph of the West, but they have done little to compromise U.S. hegemony. Indeed, they have reawakened America's appetite for global engagement. At least for the foreseeable future, the United States will continue to enjoy primacy, taking on Islamic terrorism even as it keeps a watchful eye on China. That encapsulates the conventional wisdom—and it is woefully off the mark. Not only is American primacy far less durable than it appears, but it is already beginning to diminish. And the rising challenger is not China or the Islamic world but the European Union, an emerging polity that is in the process of marshaling the impressive resources and historical ambitions of Europe's separate nation-states.

The EU's annual economic output has reached about $8 trillion, compared with America's $10 trillion, and the euro will soon threaten the dollar's global dominance. Europe is strengthening its collective consciousness and character and forging a clearer sense of interests and values that are quite distinct from those of the United States.

Editorial note EU-Digest: Mr. Kupchan's theory would make sense if the European political establishment would be able to move away from their policies of inward looking self-interest and be able to convey the need for unity and Pan-European patriotism to the citizens of the EU. At this moment in time there still seems to be a complete disconnect between the popular conception of what the EU stands for and its long term goals and the EU leadership. Indeed, if this major hurdle can be overcome the sky will be the limit of what the EU will be able to achieve as a world power in its own right.

Labels: EU, Political, US

People power - Eastern European Governments now face demanding voters

The gloomy story of east European politics goes like this. Politicians are out of touch and voters don’t care; outside pressure can be safely ignored; reform stalls or goes backwards. That certainly has seemed the case in many new member states of the European Union, and in countries queuing to join. It looks like the story of Georgia now. But the real trend may be a different one: voters are increasingly impatient with inept, heavy-handed or corrupt governments. Last month Polish voters threw out the brusque and incompetent Law and Justice party, overturning their own reputation for cynicism and apathy in the process.

Labels: Eastern Europe, EU, Political

Exit polls delayed in Polish election

Warsaw - Exit poll results are to be delayed by nearly two hours in Poland's Sunday parliamentary election until 10:55 pm (2055 GMT), Poland's State Elections Commission (PKW) announced Sunday. A shortage of ballots at polling stations in the capital Warsaw resulted in extended voting hours, precipitating the extra campaign blackout of one hour, fifty-five minutes.Polish media had originally planned to release exit

at the official close of voting.

Labels: Elections, EU, Poland, Political

Iraqi government in deepest crisis - Sam Dagher

Iraq is in the throes of its worst political crisis since the fall of Saddam Hussein with the new democratic system, based on national consensus among its ethnic and sectarian groups, appearing dangerously close to collapsing, say several politicians and analysts.

Labels: Iraq, Political

Poll: over 40% of Canadian teens think America is "evil" - by Arthur Weinreb

several Canadian newspapers including the National Post as well as the Global Television Network commissioned a series of polls to determine how young people feel about the issues that were facing the country’s voters.

n one telephone poll of teens between the ages of 14 and 18, over 40 per cent of the respondents described the United States as being "evil". That number rose to 64 per cent for French Canadian youth. This being Canada, the amount of anti-Americanism that was found is not surprising. What is significant is the high number of teens who used the word "evil" to describe our southern neighbor. As Misty Harris pointed out in her column in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix, evil is usually associated with serial killers and "kids who tear the legs off baby spiders."

Labels: Canada, Political, USA

Labels: EU, Political

Serbia - Eurovision Song Contest a sign of things to come: "New Europe and Asia grow, Britain losing influence" - by Stephen King

"What about Britain's influence in the continent's affairs? For an approximate answer, you have my daughter, Helena, to thank; or, more precisely, her geography teacher, a Mr Harris. He was the one who suggested Helena and her classmates conduct an analysis of voting patterns in last week's Eurovision Song Contest. Mr Harris clearly believed the voting would be biased, reflecting the jingoistic tendencies in individual countries. In reality the Serbs were helped out by other countries whose populations appear to have fond and long-lasting memories of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires.

Nevertheless, the voting patterns show how Europe's political map has been redrawn since the fall of the Berlin Wall. This has all sorts of implications but, from Britain's point of view, the most obvious is a gradual loss of influence elsewhere in the world.

The world is changing. Eurovision is just one sign of things to come." Stephen King is managing director of economics at HSBC

Labels: Economy, Eurovision, Political

Fractured opposition facing tough road ahead in Turkey - by Paul de Bendern

Turkey’s secular opposition parties must stop squabbling and come up with credible policies if they are to have any chance of unseating the Islamist-rooted government in elections set for July. Analysts said a pro-secular rally of 1mn people in the port city of Izmir on Sunday kept up pressure on the ruling AK Party but failed to show the opposition as a strong alternative.

The leaders of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the small Democratic Left Party (DSP) let down their supporters by refusing to meet on stage and announce a centre-left alliance, the analysts said.
Much of the attention in July will be on how many opposition parties clear the 10% hurdle to enter parliament.

Labels: Islamist, Political, Turkey

Since the end of 2005, Europe has seen the handover of top leadership in Berlin, Paris and London. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Tony Blair have received their last curtain call, with the next generation of political leaders stepping in or ready to step in.

A broader background for the three leaders' departure is: European countries have failed to cope adequately with the fast-moving globalization process, reforms have stagnated and leaders have lost public support. This, as well as their political legacies, will be an enormous challenge for the next generation. Will their successors cope better and be any wiser? Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Nicolas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown (Tony Blair's likely successor) are all ambitious politicians born after WWII. Facing huge challenges both at home and abroad, can they draw a new, better picture of the future for their nations and Europe?

Labels: EU, Europe, Political

EU Worried About Political, Legal Situation In Romania

The European Union expressed concern with the political and legal situation Romania confronts with only four months after the accession, Deutsche Welle said Tuesday, citing several German papers. Romania’s former justice minister Monica Macovei said in an interview for Die Welt on Tuesday that she is ashamed “for the Romanian parliament and government,” Deutsche Welle said.

Labels: Corruption, Political, Romania

Moscow No Match for Kiev-by Fyodor Lukyanov

For Russians the current political imbroglio in Kiev was similar to the struggle for power that took place in Moscow in September and October 1993. On the outside, the two episodes look almost identical. In both cases, the heads of state lost patience with endless opposition from the parliament and opted to call for new elections.

But a focus on these impressive similarities is misleading. The current situation in Kiev differs fundamentally from the earlier events in Moscow.

The first difference is that Russia had just experienced a critical socio-economic crisis, so the struggle for power in Moscow played out amid a mix of potentially explosive political forces. Despite numerous problems, today's Ukraine is a developing state. The second is that there were almost no systemic avenues in place in the Russian system in 1993 by which different political groupings could pursue their interests.The current collision of political forces in Kiev is but the latest in a series of showdowns to determine the direction the country will take.

Labels: Political, Russia, Ukraine

A simple model of Europe and America

"Because European government works better, Europeans demand more of it and get more of it. American liberals look at Europe and see (sometimes) better results per dollar spent. They then conclude that America should be more like Europe, whereas in reality America would end up spending more to get more bad American government. They also conclude that defenders of the American market-based order simply ignore the evidence before their eyes, evidence which supposedly shows the superiority of social democracy.

Market-oriented types look at Europe and think it is on the verge of collapse, when it isn’t. They can’t imagine that it doesn’t, in every way, have American-style government failure. Europe benefits more from America being American than America does from Europe being European. Ideas — America’s strong point — are more likely to be international public goods than good governance — Europe’s strong point."

Labels: Economy, EU, Political, US

Berlusconi's party votes against supporting Italian military effort in Afghanistan and splits opposition against Prodi - by Stephen Brown

Italian opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi may have scored an "own goal" by not supporting an Afghan peace mission in a senate vote which, instead of showing how weak the government is, split the centre right in two. Berlusconi's coalition, ousted by Romano Prodi's alliance in 2006, looked closer to what the media dubbed a "divorce" on Wednesday when the Christian Democrats (UDC), who broke ranks in Tuesday's vote, asked to meet the head of state - alone.

UDC leader Pierferdinando Casini, a centrist who has long been a thorn in Berlusconi's side, said he trusted opposition supporters would realise "that in the senate, Berlusconi made a serious mistake - an own goal" over the vote.

Labels: Berlusconi, EU, Italy, Political, Prodi

Europe at crossroads - "Eastern Europe's inflexibility towards EU unity"

On its 50th anniversary, the EU can claim quite a positive record. But anyone can see that the integration process has come to a halt. The two expansion waves have taken a hefty toll on political unification. It’s not just the practical difficulty of finding a single voice for 27 governments. Most importantly, EU attempts to wean itself from American hegemony have been seriously undermined. London is not alone in this effort anymore. Rather, it is spearheading a group of states that lend it greater political weight.Eastern European states such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary do not just fall behind British diplomacy; often, they are the ones to take the first step. They often make claims and objections without any will to negotiate in a constructive fashion. It’s not just that they are strangers to the EU’s consensus-building habits. Their inflexibility comes mostly from a feeling of superiority drawn from their US alliance.

The EU has two options. One is to fall back on familiar tactics and small, often rhetorical steps that lead nowhere. The second is to cut ties altogether and implement a policy of so-called “reinforced cooperation” with ad hoc partnerships in projects that could inject the Union with a fresh momentum. The eurozone is a precedent and could be the model for a core of states.

Labels: Britain, Eastern Europe, EU, inflexibility, Integration, Poland, Political, US

Turkey's Erdogan warns the EU: Make your decision, don't wear yourselves out

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made some sharp comments in reference to the EU's stance on Turkey's quest for full membership, saying yesterday before his ruling AKP group in Ankara, "Don't wear yourselves or us out. If you have some thoughts, make some decisions on them, and let us all continue down our roads."

Erdogan also noted "The EU is on a serious search for solutions to problems such as security, energy, expansion, and an ageing population. In fact, Turkey is in a key role in terms of being able to help the EU with these problems. We know that there have been many difficulties down this road, and that there will continue to be these difficulties. But just as we have managed to obtain our rights up until today, we will continue in the same way from now on. We are not expecting favors from anyone. We simply want whatever we have a right to. If the EU thinks negatively about Turkey, it needs to make its decision, and we will continue on our way."

Labels: Energy, EU, Integration, Political, security, Turkey

"EU launches new Central Asia policy in Kazakhstan = by Andrew Rettman

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU has said 'the time is right' for new engagement in Central Asia after a high-level meeting in Kazakhstan saw joint agreement to hold more such talks in future, with the German EU presidency hoping the dialogue will lead to political reform but with human rights groups on alert over Europe's real agenda in the energy-rich region.

Labels: EU, Kazakhstan, Political

In the new Europe, unity is the best defense

The American plan to install the forward edge of its anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic has raised memories of the great Cold War struggle over Washington's decision to deploy medium-range nuclear missiles in Europe.

The shield, moreover, is really intended largely as a defense of the United States by the United States and so only deepens the perception among many Europeans of American arrogrance and selfishness. The Bush administration has made it worse by not doing more to consult either its long time allies in NATO or its former rival Russia.

But as ever, Europe has confused the situation further by its inability to agree on any position, or speak with a single or even a few voices. Part of the problem apparently is that "Old Europe" resents "New Europe's" desire to make the Americans happy.

Europe needs to know that it's not being used as a pawn in some larger chess game between Washington and Iran. Europe should remind President George W. Bush of his long ago offer to bring the Russians into a missile defense effort. The Cold War is over, but the best defense is still a common defense.

Comment EU-Digest: "The majority of the EU members should make clear to the new Eastern European member states and Great Britain that democracy in the EU means majority, not minority rule. Maybe its time to get rid of the rotten apples before the whole EU basket gets infected."

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Political, USA

EU constitution can help meet challenges - - by HANS-GERT PÖTTERING

"From the vantage point of 50 years on from the Rome treaties, I look back with pride, and I look forward with cautious optimism. From the modest beginnings of European unification's pioneering days, there has emerged, with unprecedented rapidity, a European Union of 27 states and almost 500 million people."

Labels: Economics, EU 50, Europe, Political

Pope Slams EU for Excluding God - by Maria Mackay

Pope Benedict has come down hard on the EU for excluding any reference to God and the Christian heritage of Europe in a declaration to mark the 50th anniversary of its founding treaty on Sunday. The “Berlin Declaration” was issued by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, current holder of the rotating EU presidency, to mark 50 years since the founding of the union in Rome in 1957.

The declaration highlights European values such as democracy and outlines a vision for the future which includes fighting climate change. It contains, however, no reference to God or to Europe’s Christian roots.

“If on the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome the governments of the union want to get closer to their citizens, how can they exclude an element as essential to the identity of Europe as Christianity, in which the vast majority of its people continue to identify," he said in a Reuters report.

Labels: Christianity, EU 50, Political, Vatican

50 years of Swiss mistrust of Europe

Max Petitpierre was Swiss foreign minister when the Treaty of Rome was signed on March 25, 1957. His son, Gilles, talks to swissinfo about Swiss:EU relations.

Gilles Petitpierre, himself a former parliamentarian, says Switzerland's view of Europe always has and most probably always will be one of distrust.

Labels: EU, Integration, Political, Switzerland

Boom or Bust -The European Economy Since 1945 (Barry Eichengreen) - by Sheri Berman

Postwar European history falls neatly into two periods. From 1945 to 1973, the countries of Western Europe recovered rapidly from the almost unimaginable devastation caused by World War II and then took off, growing faster than the United States and more than twice as fast as their own historical trends. From 1973 to the present, however, their economies have struggled with low growth and high unemployment, lagging behind both international competitors and their own earlier success. As a result of this divided history, the so-called European model has both cheerleaders and naysayers. Social democrats and others on the left focus on the first period, applauding the continent’s ability to generate high living standards while cushioning individuals and societies from the ravages of unfettered markets. Right-wing critics and free marketeers focus on Europe’s contemporary problems, arguing that the continent’s generous welfare benefits and heavy regulation condemn it to continuing decline.

Barry Eichengreen, a professor of economics and political science at the University of California, Berkeley, presents not only a comprehensive account of Europe’s postwar economic experience but also an important analysis of capitalist development more generally. Drawing on his credentials as both an economist and a political scientist, Eichengreen argues that the key to understanding Europe’s initial triumphs and later troubles lies in recognizing that the recipe for growth varies, depending on one’s position in the economic race.

Labels: Economy, EU, Political

Europe’s child may look sickly at 50 but it lives and prospers - by George Parker

Europe’s leaders will gather dutifully in Berlin this weekend to celebrate 50 years of “ever closer union”. There will be formal declarations, cultural events, a cake festival and officially organised all-night raves. But do not expect the European Union’s 480m ordinary citizens to be hanging out the flags.

Half a century on from the founding Treaty of Rome, the remarkable successes of the EU have never translated into popular appeal. The Union may be widely credited with cementing postwar peace and prosperity and providing the framework for the reunification of the continent, but do people care? Not, it seems, very much."

Labels: EU, EU 50, European Integration, Political

US Politics - Gonzales’s Fall, Bush’s Impeachment- by James Bovad

Alberto Gonzales will soon be ejected from the Justice Department. Bush’s Attorney General has been caught in too many flagrant lies and abuses. The real question is whether Gonzo’s fall will signal the beginning of the end of the Bush reign. Gonzo’s fall will be widely seen as a result of shenanigans and deceits involving the firing of 8 U.S. attorneys. The White House and top Justice Department officials seem to have colluded to deep-six attorneys who threatened Republican congressmen or appointees. The pending congressional testimony by Gonzo’s former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, could create new problems for the White House. But Bush is probably in much greater danger from the derailing a Justice Department investigation into Gonzo’s possibly criminality. Murray Waas, one of the best investigative journalists in DC, has a new piece on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s role in derailing a Justice Department investigation of his own possible criminality. Waas reported last Thursday at the National Journal web page.

Shortly before Attorney General Alberto Gonzales advised President Bush last year on whether to shut down a Justice Department inquiry regarding the administration’s warrantless domestic eavesdropping program, Gonzales learned that his own conduct would likely be a focus of the investigation, according to government records and interviews. Bush personally intervened to sideline the Justice Department probe in April 2006 by taking the unusual step of denying investigators the security clearances necessary for their work. The Justice Department investigation could have exposed on the role of Bush and his top advisors in masterminding a program that some of the federal government’s top experts considered to be clearly illegal.

Democratic subpoenas are beginning to darken the D.C. sky like the English arrows at Agincourt. The subpoenas and scandals generate congressional testimony which spur the number of political appointees who could be indicted for perjury. The scandals are accelerating while support for the Bush administration seems to be collapsing.

Labels: Bush, Empeachment, Political, USA

INTERVIEW: German philosopher Habermas calls for EU referendum - by Matthias Hoenig and Eva- Maria McCormack Mar

Hamburg - German philosopher Juergen Habermas Tuesday called for a EU-wide referendum in which citizens across the bloc should decide whether the EU should have a directly elected president, as well as a foreign minister and an independent financial basis. In an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Rome treaties which marked the foundation of the EU, he said Europe's governments should 'dare democracy' and hold a referendum on the future of the bloc, to be scheduled together with the 2008 European parliamentary elections. Previous attempts to consolidate the European institutions had not failed due to the opposition of the people in Europe, said the philosopher and sociologist, who has received worldwide acclaim for his critical theory of rationality 'In most countries of the continent there are sleeping majorities in favour of further consolidation of the EU,' said Habermas.

'The deeper reason for the paralysis in the dynamics of integration is that different governments are governed by different targets in regards to the EU,' he said. Rather than putting the real question of what the bloc ultimately should be to the test, the national governments were avoiding the conflict that is to be expected in this crucial issue, he said. Note EU-Digest: Twentieth-century German philosopher Jürgen Habermas attacked the belief that modern scientific knowledge and research are objective and value-free. Habermas argued that reason and science have become tools of domination, rather than emancipating humans from myth, suspicion, and tyranny.

Labels: EU, History, Integration, Philosophy, Political

U.S. Defense Plan Could 'split Europe'

A U.S. plan to deploy a missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland could "split Europe," a political scientist said Monday. "My personal opinion is that consultations should have been conducted with Russia, and, first of all, within NATO itself. This did not happen. The German side also felt it had not been well informed on the issue," said Alexander Rahr, the director of the Russia/Commonwealth of Independent States program and a member of Germany's Council of Foreign Relations, RIA Novosti reported.

The United States has said it plans to place a radar installation in the Czech Republic and a missile base in Poland by 2012 as a defense against potential attacks from Iran. Russian President Vladimir Putin told a German security conference in February that the defense system could trigger a new arms race and accused the United States of ignoring international law.

Labels: EU, Missile Crises, Political, Russia, US

Labels: EU, Integration, Political, Polls: Perceptions

The three Europes - by Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis

Within a few days, European Union’s 27 member states’ leaders will meet in Berlin to feast in commemoration of the signature of the Treaty of Rome, on 25 March 1957. The German presidency wants to push ahead with two projects, a ringing declaration about the European values and a resuscitation of the quasi-defunct European Constitution project. What is true and what is possible for the European Union in the years ahead? The three Europes stand before us; and it is up to us to choose as early as possible!

Labels: European Integration, Political

Labels: Political

Putin, Prodi Call For EU-Russia Talks Soon

Italy and Russia said today they wanted talks between Russia and the European Union on a new strategic partnership agreement to start as soon as possible. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, in a joint statement following a meeting today in southern Italy, said that such talks could help promote economic growth and security in all of Europe.

Poland vetoed talks on a new Russia-EU cooperation accord in protest at a Russian ban on Polish meat and other farm products. The EU has said it believes the ban is disproportionate.

Labels: Political

Israeli parliament rejects ‘Armenian genocide' resolution

The Israeli parliament, the Knesset, declined yesterday to approve a resolution recognizing Armenian claims of genocide at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire, news reports said. The resolution, submitted by lawmaker Haim Oron, drew anger from some quarters in the Israeli government and was rejected by parliament, the Anatolia news agency said. "It is the duty of the Israeli parliament, as the representative of the Jewish people, to express its opinion on the need to recognize the Armenian genocide," Oron, who is from the opposition left-wing Meretz Party, was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse. "It is a debt we owe to the Armenian people and one we owe to ourselves."

Government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said that Israel "did not intend to place itself at the forefront of this issue, which is being handled by the international community." Israel has close diplomatic ties with Turkey -- one of the few Muslim countries with which it has relations -- and has in the past steered clear of the recognition issue.

Labels: Genocide, Political

Saving the World: Merkel, the Queen of Europe - by Dirk Kurbjuweit

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is often inscrutible. But her diplomatic deftness managed to get 27 European leaders to agree to a far-reaching climate policy. She has made the European stage her own.

Angela Merkel is relentlessly Angela Merkel, even when she is experiencing what others might celebrate as a triumph. A small glimmer of joy on her otherwise exhausted-looking face was all she could muster at a press conference after the European Union summit in Brussels last Friday. Her reserve was especially conspicuous next to the visible glow on the face of José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission -- he was seated next to Merkel and was soaking in the satisfaction of emerging from this meeting as a winner.

Angela Merkel's strength is her dependability, and from dependability grows the confidence that this chancellor can be a leader, even in sacrifice.

Labels: Environment, Integration, Political

Labels: Political

Cheney resignation rumors fly - by Paul Bedard

Sparked by today's Washington Post story that suggests Vice President Cheney's office is involved in the Plame-CIA spy link investigation, government officials and advisers passed around rumors that the vice president might step aside and that President Bush would elevate Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"It's certainly an interesting but I still think highly doubtful scenario," said a Bush insider. "And if that should happen," added the official, "there will undoubtedly be those who believe the whole thing was orchestrated – another brilliant Machiavellian move by the VP." The rumor mill is turning overtime.

Labels: Political

EU's Solano to visit Syria for talks

The European Union plans to send its foreign policy chief Javier Solana to Syria for talks on Lebanon and Middle East peace, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said today. The visit would end an EU freeze on high-level contacts with Damascus. "The intention is that Javier Solana will go to Damascus and I very much welcome that," Mr Ahern said after EU foreign ministers discussed Lebanon and the Middle East on the margins of a summit.

French President Jacques Chirac has been blocking EU contacts with Syria over its alleged role in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Labels: Political

Protest clashes at start of Bush's Latin American tour

George W. Bush has arrived in Brazil, on the first leg of a tour of Latin American countries. Officially, a warm welcome awaited the US leader and first lady in Sao Paulo. But earlier, clashes erupted during a huge march in Brazil's largest city in protest at his visit. At least 20 people were reported hurt.

The disturbances marred an otherwise peaceful demonstration in which activists branded the American President a warmonger and planet polluter. Denouncing what they called state-sponsored torture, US imperialism and growing economic inequality, protesters demanded an end to the war in Iraq.

Labels: Political

Labels: Political

Over 40 Turks to run for Dutch legislature

Citizens of the Netherlands will cast their vote to elect members of provincial assemblies on March 7. More than 40 candidates of Turkish origin will run to be elected deputies in the polls, which will be held to elect 564 assemblymen of 12 provincial parliaments. The elected members of the assemblies will then choose 75 representatives who will be referred to the Senate of the national parliament on May 29. Provinces are governed by the governor appointed by the Dutch Queen and are mainly responsible for health policy and recreation within their respective jurisdictions.

Unlike the local elections, only Dutch citizens participate in the provincial elections. Currently, more than 10 assembly members of Turkish origin hold office in various provinces.

The majority of the candidates of Turkish origin will run in the elections through the lists of the Social Democrat Labor Party. They mostly seek election in the provinces with a substantial Turkish population, including South Holland, North Holland and Overijssel.

Labels: Political

Labels: Energy, Political

"Europe wants to have a stable and prosperous Turkey"

The seminar organized by the International Relations Department of TOBB University of Economics and Technology, in cooperation with the British Council entitled "Life on the Edge of Europe: The Experience of Britaiın and Turkey". During the seminar Dr. Andrew Mango talked about the life in/outside of Europe bu touching upon yhe differences and similarities between the experinces of Britain and Turkey with regard to the European Union.

Europe is satisfied with relations Turkey since low cost of high investments to the country. But there are fears of fundamentalism and raising nationalism. British government is in favor of Turkey not only because it generates stability in the country but it will also waters down Europe. Improvements in the administration of Turkey and modernization of the country is good for Europe; instead of dealing with a 3rd world country, modernized Turkey is preferred.

Labels: Political

Social Democrats Barely Ahead in Denmark

Social Democrats Barely Ahead in Denmark

The opposition Social Democracy in Denmark (SD) maintains a slight edge in the Scandinavian country’s political scene, according to a poll by Megafon released by TV2. 28.2 per cent of respondents would vote for the Social Democrats in the next legislative ballot.

The governing Left, Liberal Party of Denmark (V) is second with 27.2 per cent, followed by the Danish People’s Party (DF) with 14.2 per cent, the Conservative People’s Party (KF)—currently a Liberal coalition partner—with 9.2 per cent, the Socialist People’s Party (SF) with 8.5 per cent, and the Radical Left-Social Liberal Party (RV) with 8.3 per cent.

Labels: Political

Spain learns the lessons of Ulster

Not for the first time, the course of confrontation between the Spanish government and the Basque separatists of Eta has shown uncanny parallels with that of the IRA and the British government.

The parallels are not exact, of course. Bobby Sands was in many ways an ordinary man drawn into radical politics, convicted of possession of arms, not their use. De Juana Chaos is a terrorist convicted of killing 25 people, and has never shown any remorse for his actions. Having completed a 20-year sentence for those murders, he was serving an additional three-year sentence imposed last year for issuing threats to prison governors and continuing to glorify terrorism. The additional sentence may have appeared political to his supporters, but to the Spanish right it seemed the only proper response to a terrorist not only refusing to renounce violence, but actively espousing it. And yet all the opinion polls indicate that the public at large in Spain, and the citizens of the Basque country, want peace, even at the cost of accepting terrorists into the process.

Labels: Political

Diplomacy and Empire (Part I) - by Chas W. Freeman

For much of the 20th century, the United States led the world not only economically and militarily, but also through the soft power of its ideals. As Chas Freeman writes in the first of three parts, the decision the United States made after September 11 to rule the world by force of arms has caused it to squander the prestige and goodwill it earned during the previous century — when it led by its arguments and the force of its example.

The current wave of anti-foreign and anti-Islamic sentiment in the United States also compounds the problem. A recent poll of foreign travelers showed that two-thirds considered the United States the most disagreeably unwelcoming country to visit. There is surely no security to be found in surly discourtesy.

The US spends much, much more on our military — about 5.7% of our economy, or $720 billion at present — than the rest of the world's other 192 nations combined. However, on the possitive side, with less than one-twentieth of the world's population, the US accounts for more than a fourth of its economic activity. Almost two-thirds of central bank reserves are held in our currency which, much to the US advantage, has dominated international financial markets for 60 years. The openness of our society to new people and ideas has made our country the greatest crucible of global technological innovation.

The result of aggressive unilateralism has been to separate us from our allies, to alienate us from our friends, to embolden our detractors, to create irresistible opportunities for our adversaries and competitors, to inflate the ranks of our enemies — and to resurrect the notion at the expense of international law and order that might makes right.

Labels: Political

EU extends hand to Israel - by Joshua Brilliant

The European Union insists that the new Palestinian government accept outstanding international demands and is waiting for its formation before deciding how to deal with it, a senior EU official said.

The incumbent Palestinian government, that comprises members of the Islamic Hamas, has rejected the Quartet's demands and the EU therefore stopped direct aid to it. Ferrero-Waldner noted that aid usually amounted to some €500 million a year, half from the EU and half from member states. Nevertheless, in an attempt to prevent a humanitarian crisis the EU last year channeled some €700 million to pay for fuel, fund hospitals, and aide poor Palestinians while bypassing the Hamas-led government.

Labels: Political

Croatia may enter EU by 2011, later than plan - Raiffeisen says

Croatia may join the European Union by 2011, later than the government's plan to become part of the 27-member bloc by the end of this decade, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Oesterreich AG said. Should the former Yugoslav republic continue adapting to EU standards at a moderate speed and joins in four years, the economy may expand faster than 4.5% between 2008 and 2012, the Austrian bank, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Oesterreich AG said in a report today.
The Croatian economy grew 4.3% in 2005 and last year's growth is estimated at 4.6% by the bank.

Croatia started EU entry talks in October 2005. It fell behind other former communist countries, many of which joined the bloc in 2004, due to ethnic conflicts that followed the breakup of the Yugoslav federation in 1991.

Labels: Political

Dutch Queen Beatrix arrives in Turkey

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands arrived in Ankara Tuesday for a four-day official visit, the first made by the Dutch monarch to Turkey. Beatrix was scheduled to meet with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during her stay. She was also scheduled to visit Istanbul and the central Turkey city of Kayseri.The queen started her visit to Turkey by visiting the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic.

The Netherlands has a substantial ethnic-Turkish minority and despite a recent rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in Holland, Turkish-Dutch ties are considered to be strong.

Labels: Political

Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer called on Europe to play a ``moderating role'' in defusing tensions triggered by Russia's opposition to a proposed U.S. anti-missile shield. U.S. moves to set up an anti-ballistic missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic, two former Soviet satellites, have been denounced by Russian President Vladimir Putin in rhetoric reminiscent of the Cold War.

``The tone is problematic -- we are seeing a sharpening of the tone,'' Gusenbauer said in an interview in Vienna yesterday. ``If that is the forerunner of the new arms race, it would be very bad.''

Labels: Political

Labels: Political

Longshot political bid - by CHRISTINE OLLIVIER

France's crusader of the far right, who rallied flag-waving followers at a National Front party congress Sunday, is making his sixth long-shot bid for France's presidency. The only question is, will voters this time be won over by Jean-Marie Le Pen's aggressively nationalist, anti-immigrant message?

Le Pen shocked France — and much of Europe — five years ago when he came in second behind President Jacques Chirac in the first round of voting in the presidential race. Le Pen lost decisively in the runoff, but his opponents seem concerned that he could pull off another upset in the polls.

Labels: Political

Hrant Dink and Armenians in Turkey - by Hratch Tchilingirian

The assassination of the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink on 19 January 2007 and its aftermath highlighted both change and resistance to change in Turkish society. To understand how far Turkey has travelled in the past generation, Hratch Tchilingirian examines the role of Hrant Dink himself in the context of the Armenian community of which he was voice, critic, and emblem.

The Armenian community, like that of other minorities in Turkey, experienced shame, humiliation, harassment and intimidation across the long decades from the 1950s to the 1990s without being able to speak up in its defence - and in a very different atmosphere to later controversies over Article 301 and even minimal debate about the genocide of 1915. The Armenian community in Turkey in this period was characterised by its reclusive existence and collective silence.

The defining institutions of the Armenian community in Turkey were and are the church and the school. Both faced (and face) perennial problems that kept Hrant Dink and his colleagues awake at night. The interference and heavy-handedness of the Turkish government in the Armenian community's process of electing a patriarch (in 1990, and again in 1998) were among the arduous legal problems enmeshing this key Armenian body.

Hrant Dink "was Turkey in its complexity", wrote Dogu Ergil. "He was a Turk against Armenian extremism and an Armenian against Turkish extremism."

The day of Hrant Dink's funeral was the evidence of how far Turkey had travelled since that press conference at Istanbul's Patriarchate in 1994. More than twelve years on, the Ermeni pic epithet hurled by nationalists was overtaken by the cries of Hepimiz Ermeniz ("We are all Armenians!") in the throats of tens of thousands of Turks. Hrant himself, in his life as much as his death, had played an enormous role in bringing about that change. He opened the door to a future that Armenians and Turks must find together.

Labels: Political

Brief look at centrist Francois Bayrou's platform

In an AP interview, French presidential candidate Francois Bayrou said his priority if elected would be fighting exclusion in France's depressed city outskirts, rocked by rioting by largely immigrant youth in 2005.

Bayrou also wants Europe to counterbalance U.S. power and France fully independent of Washington. "The power of a single superpower creates a more dangerous world," he says on his Web site. On Turkey he is opposed to Turkish entry in the European Union, says the nation is not European and suggests it be treated as a "privileged partner" instead.

Labels: Political

French Elections 2007 -- An American-Style Horse Race - by Matt Reichel

Whether anyone likes to admit it or not, Americans learned a great deal about building a liberal democratic republic from their French counterparts. Many of the influential founding fathers, especially Mr. Jefferson, had keen eyes on the French revolution, and the political and philosophical discourse that went into it. The western conception of self-actualizing man being granted certain rights by birth was first brought to fruition in the French republic, and then in the US on the heels of the French aided war against the British.

The government in the new USA ultimately took a considerably different form than the French one, first and foremost because it became a federal republic wherein state sovereignty was respected. Then, after the failure of the Articles of Confederation to efficiently govern these sovereign states, increasing power was granted to the federal government, and, at the same time, to the chief executive. However, the president’s power was still meant to be aggressively checked by the other branches of the federal government and by the individual states. Nonetheless, this power would be continually abused, beginning with Jefferson’s illegal “purchase” of Louisiana and continuing with the imperial destiny of succeeding presidents through to the modern day. Currently, the president has become so powerful that congress refuses to ever stop a president’s war, or flex its power of the purse to shut down an illegal war, or to use its power to check the chief executive via impeachment.

Unfortunately, the French, too, have adopted the American idea of the chief executive. The current form of the presidency in France is General Charles de Gaulle’s invention: an extraordinarily strong decision maker with a virtual monopoly of power in the realm of foreign policy. DeGaulle hoped that a strong president would help cure the inherent instabilities of the parliamentary system. In America and France the president have virtually become an elected monarch.

French and the US politics have become a crisis of presidentialism. Minority parties and ideologies are discouraged from participating, and very unlikely to win. In France the five or so left contenders will divide the anti-liberal vote amongst them and most likely not see a birth in the second round. In the French parliament they can gain seats and leverage for power, as the system of proportional representation encourages them to play along. But in the presidential race, they become an after thought.

Labels: Political

Royal Rebounds, Leads Sarkozy in France Presidential elections race

Public support for Ségolène Royal increased in France, according to a poll by CSA published in Le Parisien. 29 per cent of respondents would vote for the Socialist Party (PS) candidate in this year’s presidential election.

Nicolas Sarkozy of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) is a close second with 28 per cent, followed by Union for French Democracy (UDF) leader François Bayrou with 17 per cent, and Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front (FN) with 14 per cent.

Support is lower for Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) member Olivier Besancenot, farmer-activist José Bové, Movement for France (MPF) leader Philippe de Villiers, Marie-George Buffet of the French Communist Party (PCF), Dominique Voynet of the Greens (Verts), Arlette Laguiller of Workers’ Struggle (LO), Frédéric Nihous of Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Traditions (CPNT), Corinne Lepage of Citizenship, Action, Participation for the 21st Century, and National Assembly member Nicolas Dupont-Aignan.

Labels: Political

Italy's Political Future Uncertain as Talks Continue

Political experts have said a snap general election was unlikely in Italy, as crisis talks began on the government's future following Prime Minister Romano Prodi's decision to step down on Wednesday. On Thursday, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano began holding talks with an array of political leaders, in an effort to form a new government.

Napolitano's flurry of meetings Thursday were to continue Friday, consulting with the speakers of the two houses of parliament, the heads of parliamentary groups and the presidents who preceded him.

Labels: Political

Is Washington being sidelined on the Middle East? - by Leon Hadar

Once upon a time, an American president would have been a leader in the effort to bring peace between Israel and its neighbors, since, after all, such reconciliation would bring stability to the Middle East and serve long-term U.S. geopolitical interests.

But recently the U.S. president seems to be unable or unwilling to play the role assigned to him in that old Mideast script. Take the recent diplomatic coup achieved by Saudi Arabia when it succeeded in brokering a deal between the two leading Palestinian factions, allowing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party to join a government headed by the radical group Hamas.

n a way, the change demonstrates an erosion of U.S. influence in the Middle East, which is a direct result of the implementation of the neoconservative agenda that has led to the disastrous political and military situation in Iraq. These policies have produced a series of developments that counter the neocon goal of attaining hegemony in the region, including the emergence of Iran as a regional power, the growing tensions between Sunnis and Shiites, the failure of Israel to dislodge Hezbollah from southern Lebanon, the electoral victory of Hamas, and Turkey's increasing impatience with U.S. policy

Labels: Political

The Fall of 'Kurdistan' - by Adam Elkus

One of the most chilling parts of the recently released National Intelligence Estimate is its section on the oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk. It noted that the Kurds are moving to cement their hold on the city, annexing it into the Kurdistan Regional Province against increasingly virulent opposition from the city's Arabs. It is becoming clear that the Kurds will never accept being part of a unified Iraq--their dream of an independent Kurdish nation cobbled together out of oil-rich Northern Iraq is a higher priority. If we wish to prevent Turkey from intervening in Northern Iraq (and thus adding an entirely new and bloody dimension to the conflict), we must do everything possible to discourage the Kurdish dream of an independent state while at the same time developing contingency plans for the fallout of a possible, even likely, partition.

The Kurdish desire for an ethnic state is understandable. Kurds have been a victimized people for the past 100 years. And the atrocities that weigh most on the Kurdish mind occurred even more recently-- in the last thirty years. Saddam Hussein infamously slaughtered 100,000 Kurds with military force and poison gas during the "Anfal" campaign in 1988. Since the dawn of modern Turkey, the Turkish government has carried out a campaign to erase the Kurdish identity, barring them from politics and banning the Kurdish language. And since the early eighties, Turkish armed forces have razed Kurdish villages and "disappeared" Kurds suspected of aiding enemies of the Turkish state.

Labels: Political

Prodi stands down after surprise defeat in senate over foreign policy - by John Hooper

Romano Prodi resigned Tuesday night as Italy's prime minister after his government had suffered an unexpected defeat in parliament over its alliance with the United States and its role in Nato. Giorgio Napolitano, who as Italy's president oversees the making and breaking of governments, is to open consultations on the political future today. It was not ruled out that Mr Prodi could be asked to form a new government, and a grouping of core parties in his coalition said last night that they were prepared to back him again. But his spokesman said: "He is ready to carry on as prime minister if, and only if, he is guaranteed the full support of all the parties in his majority from now on."

The row over the US base had become linked to demands for an exit strategy in Afghanistan, where Italy has 1,900 troops in the UN-mandated but Nato-led International Security and Assistance Force. Since Italy's withdrawal of its troops from Iraq last year, the radical left of Mr Prodi's coalition had become increasingly critical of the presence in Afghanistan. The issue became urgent last month when discussions began on renewed funding for Italy's contingent there.

Labels: Political