FOLLOWING THE EUROPEAN UNION

Interesting....now I have labels I can use.

Agreed. And a left Catholic, a local/regional traditionist, a world citizen, but at the first place a European. :wink:

I don't know who has followed the Presidential elections in Poland, which this weekend ended with a victory for Lech Kaczynski against Donald Tusk, but it was fascinating, sorta. It was a strange race, pitting two right-wing candidates, once both part of Solidarity, in a fight against each other over some very basic values.

I started a thread on it (after all), because I couldn't find any existing one yet, to my surprise (only the odd post or two on this thread). Here it is:

Kaczynski victory in Polish fight between two types of Right

Thanks for the new thread. As you have noticed, I just gave a link to this and the previous results of the presidential election in Poland.

Oh, I'd only seen the results of the first round in this thread, must have overlooked those of the second round.

In any case, I thought its a good topic to discuss more specifically ... but I seem to be the only one to think so ;-)

Oh, saw the post now, ok.

Yes, the Viennese elections. Its always nice to see the reds and greens together get almost two-thirds of the vote... <smiles>

Still cant suppress a slight disappointment, tho ... the polls had predicted 55%, perhaps even 60%, at least 50% for the Social-Democrats; they got 49%. The polls had the Greens speculating about coming in second as the right imploded; instead they came in fourth, and the OVP actually won votes.

But still, jolly good show, all in all. Up 4% to 63% remains a pretty impressive result for red-green. ;-)

For some reason the headline and first sentence of this article made me laugh ... ("feta fight! yaaay!"). But it's also relevant news, on a sideline, kinda. (Bet Cav would have had something to say about it - anyone remember that cheese thread?)

Of course I remember.

Quite interesting re 'Danish Feta' is the fact that Denmark of course has protected Danablu and Esrom, the UK nearly one dozen cheeses, among them 'Stilton'. :wink:

PDO, PGI and TSG

even in canada the "feta" decision made it into the newspapers - really not surprising with the large number of greek immigrans living here. locally our favourite cheese-shop is owned by a greek/canadian ... usually stocks good esrom, emmenthaler and a good variety of other european cheeses - even "harzer kaese is available, i haven't had it in years. of course there are also some excellent canadian cheeses - mainly from quebec where some of the monasteries produce some great cheeses.

i followed the polish presidential elections mainly through european news sources . in canada the polish election was overshadowed by the "feta" decision ! interestng twist was the german (or perhaps better : danzig/gdansk) connection of tusk. it looked from reading the newspapers that it did not play any role in the election (?). hbg

Indeed. Makes one wonder how he manages to remain such a nice fellow.


It's interesting you would call them "two right-wing candidates", which I think makes them seem more comparable than they really are. To me, it was more like a fight between good and evil. Evil won. I'm depressed.

Well, they were both very much right-wing. Flat-taxer free-market ideologues - no way to call Tusk's Civic Forum leftwing or centrist. Anti-gay, anti-foreigner, deeply religious and nationalist: cant call the Kaczynski's leftwing or centrist either.

Thats why I thought the race was fascinating. Normally we only talk about left versus right. But in this case, you do have two right-wingers - and yet they couldnt be more different.

A nota bene there is in place though. Their electorates and campaign rhetorics couldn't be more different. In actuality, Tusk and Kaczynski are quite close.

They're good friends, for one, which had Kaczynski hilariously switching to the Polish equivalent of "du" in one TV debate, moping that "always when you want to say something unpleasant about me, you switch to a formal way of addressing me".

In policy too, the soup won't be eaten as hot as it was served, as we Dutch say. They've worked together before. Although the differences of world view were basic enough, a large extent of the political fireworks were just show. Kaczynski already backtracked directly after his victory on some of those identity issues. On the death penalty, for example, he suddenly said that although he was in favour personally, he didn't actually see any practical way to implement it. He also suddenly assured his market economy credentials.

All of that might come as some comfort to you. Me, I expect the worst of both worlds. Kaczynski will pragmatically compromise on a free market course, just like all his predecessors who won elections campaigning for its moderation (eg, the conservatives in '91, the ex-communists in '93). The Civic Forum in turn will focus on that exact core of their program, and in exchange allow Law and Justice its way on eye-catching cultural issues.

Yes -- I guess my point was that it's simplistic and misleading to presuppose a one-dimensional political spectrum. The World's Smallest Political Quiz, which is simplistic in other ways but does work with a two-dimensional spectrum, would correctly attribute a larger difference to the two candidates.


If it's any consolation to you, I find mandatory Catholicism quite a depressing government policy in its own right. I spend most of my posts on A2K arguing about economic nannying, but I detest cultural nannying just as much.

re Blair<>Berlusconi, the Mai on Sundayl asks today why Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi has "given 18 luxury watches in four years" to the Blairs. And re Blair, the Observer suggests he is "losing his grip", and the Sunday Express agrees as it reflects on what it says is "the week that Blair finally lost control".

Some interesting news stories about / from Europe from the past three weeks that may have passed you by.

It's not a random listing, tho it may look that way: they're hand-picked!

Let me know if an overview like this is useful for y'all, or just another copy/paste that's scrolled past.

Youths riot for second night in Paris suburb
2005/10/29 · Reuters

French youths fought with police and set cars ablaze in a Paris suburb in a second night of rioting, which was triggered when two teenagers were electrocuted while fleeing police. Firefighters intervened around 40 times in Clichy-sous-Bois, a suburb of high-rise social housing with many immigrant residents. A police trade union officer called for help from the army: "There's a civil war under way. My colleagues neither have the equipment nor the training for street fighting." Several hundred people took part in a silent march to honour the two teenagers.

Berlusconi TV fraud hearing starts in Italy court
2005/10/28 · Reuters

Closed-door hearings began on whether to indict Prime Minister Berlusconi and 13 others for alleged fraud at his family's broadcaster Mediaset. If charged, the media tycoon-turned-politician could find himself on trial during a close-fought general election next April. The hearing follows a four-year investigation into claims of embezzlement, false accounting, tax fraud and money laundering. For Berlusconi, the most serious accusation is tax fraud, which carries a sentence of up to 6 years.

German Chancellor Schröder Attacks EU at His Final Summit
2005/10/28 · Deutsche Welle

Outgoing Chancellor Gerhard Schröder took advantage of his last speech on a European stage to criticize Tony Blair. "As you are no doubt aware, this wasn't a summit where any groundbreaking decisions were made," he told reporters in Hampton Court. He let loose with sharp criticism for the Anglo-Saxon social model, saying it should "certainly not" be used as an example for the EU: "We should not accept social dumping or the undermining of environmental standards in the name of services liberalization".

Summit paper calls for green light for east European workers
2005/10/27 · EU Observer

EU member states should "rapidly" lift the temporary work blockades imposed on citizens from central and eastern European countries, argues a report the UK presidency will present to the bloc's leaders at Thursday's summit. The report points out that data collected in three countries - Britain, Ireland and Sweden - that have fully opened up to workers from the east have registered labour flows which proved "both manageable and beneficial".

Polish leaders side with hardline eurosceptics
2005/10/27 · EU Observer

Events in Poland have taken a dramatic turn, with the Law and Justice party voting with Self-Defence, the League of Polish Families and the Polish Peasants Party to install Marek Jurek as speaker in the lower house. Jurek is a staunch catholic who was among the few party members who opposed Poland's entry into the EU. The Civic Platform broke off coalition talks with Law and Justice after the move. The markets responded too, with the zloty falling steeply against the euro.

Germany, Poland Split on Expellee Center
2005/10/27 · Deutsche Welle

A proposed center against war-time expulsions remains contentious. On the night of his victory in Poland's presidential election, Lech Kaczynski spoke up against it. He is not alone in his rejection of the center, which Germany's League of Expellees (BdV) proposes to open in an unused Berlin church. BdV president Erika Steinbach said she expected Germany's next government to support it, but the SPD's foreign affairs spokesman said: "It's an explosive topic in the coalition negotiations".

43 guilty in French political corruption trial
2005/10/27 · National Post

The suspicion of past corruption returned to haunt President Chirac, when a court imposed suspended sentences and fines on dozens of his former aides. Three former ministers were convicted of helping to rig public works contracts to obtain illegal party funding. 43 defendants were found guilty regarding kickbacks worth more than $93 million, paid during Chirac's tenure as Paris mayor. The investigation came close to Chirac himself, but he refused to appear before the judges, claiming presidential immunity.

Netherlands: Blaze kills 11 in Schiphol deportee jail
2005/10/27 · International Herald Tribune

Fire roared through a prison at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, killing 11 illegal immigrants awaiting deportation. The prison is used to detain people who have been refused entry to the Netherlands, including drug smugglers and failed asylum seekers. Firefighters and airport police officers were among the injured. A prisoner said that guards initially did not take prisoners' warnings seriously: "They didn't open the door. They kept us locked up. Our throats started hurting. We were kicking and screaming."

Kosovo: "Our compromise is independence"
2005/10/27 · B92

Kosovo's Parliamentary Speaker said that Kosovo Albanians "cannot, dead or alive, accept anything but independence". The international community "should not waste their energy, time and money on any other variation, because our compromise is independence for Kosovo," Nexhat Daci said. "We will talk about standards which must be implemented for the citizens of Serbian nationality," but "we will also seek war reparations of Serbia for the 124,000 pillaged homes and the 14,000 civilians killed."

Iceland: Massive women's demonstration against wage disparities
2005/10/26 · TerraViva Europe

Thirty years after a milestone women's strike, Icelandic women returned to the streets. This time more than 50,000 women rallied in Reykjavik and another 10,000 in other towns, a phenomenal number considering the total population is only 292,000. The main focus was wage differences: women's wages are 72 percent compared to men's wages when hours of work, years of experience and level of education are taken into account. Large employers and unions had urged women to take part.

EU candidates warned, vow to fight corruption
2005/10/26 · International Herald Tribune

The EU warned that Bulgaria and Romania risked having their entry delayed if fraud, bribery and organized crime were not brought under control. Commissioner Rehn noted that Bulgaria had not prosecuted a single high-level political corruption case during the past year. The EU's stance underscored concerns about lawlessness in countries with judiciaries that have not completely reformed institutions left over from their communist pasts. Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Turkey all have more entrenched corruption than the 10 newest members did before joining in May, according to TI.

Serbia arrests nine policemen for Kosovo murders
2005/10/26 · Reuters

Serbia has arrested nine policemen for the murder of Kosovo Albanians found buried in a mass grave near Belgrade. They "are suspected of having killed 48 people, including four babies, on March 26, 1999, in Suva Reka," said a spokesman for Serbia's war crimes prosecutor, which ordered the arrests. It was the first arrest linked to the discovery in 2001 of pits filled with the remains of more than 800 victims of the 1998-99 Kosovo war. Six of the policemen were on active duty when they were arrested.

UN Security Council endorses start of Kosovo status talks
2005/10/25 · Southeast European Times

The Security Council backed Kofi Annan's recommendation on the launch of talks on Kosovo's future status, after being briefed by Kai Eide, Annan's special envoy to Kosovo, about his review of the province's progress in implementing UN-set standards. Although the targets have not been met, a postponement of talks was unlikely to spur significant improvements and it is crucial to keep the political process from stagnating, Eide concluded. Former Finnish President Ahrisaari likely would lead the negotiations.

Straw axes 10 BBC services to fund new Arabic TV channel
2005/10/25 · The Guardian

Jack Straw will today announce the end of 10 of the BBC World Service's historic foreign language services to mostly eastern European states, to find the £25m worth of savings needed to fund the corporation's new Arabic television channel. His announcement is likely to upset diplomats associated with the countries affected, who will predict a loss of British influence in an increasingly important new part of the EU. The Croatian, Bulgarian, Thai and Kazak services are said to be included in the list.

EU Parliament Grills Commission On Swedish Labor Dispute
2005/10/25 · The Business

MEP's grilled commissioners McCreevy and Barroso on a Swedish labor dispute, underscoring divisions on the future of the European welfare state. The case concerns a Swedish trade union which ordered a Latvian construction company to pay Swedish wages and sign its workers to a Swedish collective wage agreement. When the company refused, the unions blocked construction. The company has filed suit with the European Court of Justice. The Commission supports the Latvians, but socialist politicians say every country should have the right to defend its workers from unfair competition.

Brussels stutters over transparency text
2005/10/24 · EU Observer

A key European Commission transparency text has been delayed. Commissioner Kallas' plan was up for adoption by the commission Tuesday, but bumped off the agenda at the last minute by president Barroso's cabinet. The draft text proposes member states should be obliged to publish the beneficiaries of EU farm and structural funds, and calls for lobbyists to register their activities in Brussels. Gazeta Wyborcza reported that Mr Barroso and over half the other commissioners want to "weaken" the document.

Former communist states to thwart Blair's plan for a reforming summit
2005/10/24 · The Guardian

An ambitious plan by Tony Blair to set in motion widespread economic reforms across Europe at a special summit this week is in trouble as key figures from "new" Europe made it clear that they want the summit to focus on the EU budget. Danuta Hübner, Poland's European commissioner, warned that the new members need to plan long before the new budget kicks in at the beginning of 2007. Mr Blair had hoped to postpone discussions on the budget and focus on reforming Europe's labour markets.

A rumour, outrage and then a riot. How tension in a Birmingham suburb erupted
2005/10/24 · The Guardian

It began as a whisper, an inflammatory rumour: it was said that after being caught shoplifting, a Jamaican girl of 13 or 14 had been raped by between three and 25 Pakistani men. Six days after the rumour was given wider circulation by a pirate radio DJ, it was being blamed for much of Saturday night's rioting in Birmingham, which left one dead and up to 35 others in hospital. Shops were attacked, cars set on fire; four people were stabbed, a police officer shot.

East Europeans Crowd Through Britain's Wide-Open Door
2005/10/23 · The New York Times

Since the EU expansion, waves of East Europeans are transforming parts of London into Slavic and Baltic enclaves. Britain has absorbed these workers however, with unemployment still at 4.7 percent. They are arriving at a rate of 16,000 a month, many more than the government expected. Tens of thousands have also moved to Ireland and Sweden, the only other countries that opened their labor markets to the new members. Some say the newcomers are pushing wages down, working for about a quarter less. But "they are making a good reputation as highly skilled, motivated workers," said a British Embassy diplomat.

Four Algerians granted bail as British security agencies admit to accepting evidence obtained through torture
2005/10/21 · The Guardian

Four Algerians who are facing deportation from the UK on the grounds that they are a threat to national security were granted bail yesterday by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission. Home Office lawyers had claimed that they were involved in "creating the climate, the motivation and the opportunity that led to the" London bombing. They were bailed as it emerged that the British security and intelligence agencies accept evidence about suspected terrorists, even though it might have been obtained through torture abroad.

EU Commissioner recommends opening SAA talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina
2005/10/20 · Southeast European Times

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Wednesday he would recommend the launch of talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina, considered a first step towards eventual membership. He announced his decision a day after the BiH Parliament approved an agreement on police restructuring in the country, thus fulfilling a key EU condition.

Amnesty slams Bulgaria and Romania days over Roma, mentally ill, before EU report
2005/10/20 · EU Observer

Just a week ahead of the Commission's progress report on Romanian and Bulgarian EU membership, Amnesty International has pointed to wide-spread police brutality, mistreatment of Roma populations and of the mentally ill. Amnesty reports on racially motivated violence against the Roma population, by skinhead groups but also by law enforcement authorities. It also says that mentally ill persons are not fully protected against physical and mental abuse, nor are they provided with "services in line with human rights".

Brussels should take over Sarajevo mandate, Bosnian PM says
2005/10/19 · EU Observer

The Bosnian prime minister has called upon the EU to fully take over the mandate of the current UN high representative as soon as Sarajevo signs a stabilisation and association agreement (SAA). "As the stamp of the SAA will mean a stable relationship with the EU, we will not need the office of the high representative anymore", Mr Terzic said. He admitted that this would mean an unusually strong EU presence, with the possibility of Brussels itself partly preparing Bosnia's accession.

Spanish Judge Issues Warrant for Three GIs
2005/10/19 · Yahoo! News

Judge Santiago Pedraz has issued an international arrest warrant for three U.S. soldiers whose tank fired on a Baghdad hotel during the Iraq war, killing a Spanish journalist and a Ukrainian cameraman. In the arrest order, he cited a lack of judicial cooperation from the United States. His requests to the US to have statements taken from the suspects or to obtain permission for a Spanish delegation to quiz them had gone unanswered.

Corruption: The 'Clean' Should Look Within Too
2005/10/19 · TerraViva Europe

The Corruption Perceptions Index shows high corruption among developing nations. But banking systems in the West are helping make that possible. ''The total capital flight from the African continent a year is about 150 billion dollars, and the total aid flow to the African continent is 25 billion dollars,'' Chandrashekhar Krishnan said. ''That flight capital basically represents the routing of state assets by corrupt politicians.' The receipt of money in banks in the West does not show in the corruption index. Switzerland ranks a noble seventh.

Corruption still rampant in SEE Countries
2005/10/19 · Southeast European Times

Corruption remains wide-spread in Southeast Europe (SEE), Transparency International's annual survey suggests. All SEE countries, except for Cyprus, score less than 5.0, placing them among 113 nations where "corruption pervades all aspects of public life". Greece scores best at 4.3. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia-Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania are among 70 countries scoring less than 3.0, indicating "rampant corruption that poses a grave threat to institutions as well as to social and political stability".

Czech Republic among EU countries with highest corruption -- TI
2005/10/18 · České Noviny

The Czech Republic is one of the countries with the highest level of corruption within the European Union as only Latvia and Poland placed behind it, according to a Transparency International (TI) report released today. Among 159 world countries, the country has the 47th-50th position, along with Greece, Namibia and Slovakia. Adriana Krnacova, head of the TI's Czech branch, said that the country is markedly worse than Estonia (6.4), Slovenia (6.1) or Hungary (5.0).

Krakow Gets First Rabbi Since Holocaust
2005/10/17 · Yahoo! News

The first rabbi to serve Krakow full-time since the Holocaust took up his post, a mission that includes guiding a revival of Jewish life. Avraham Flaks, a 38-year-old Russian-born Israeli, officially took up his duties on Monday. An estimated 1,000 Jews are believed to live in Krakow - most of whom only recently discovered their Jewish roots. During the communist era, some Jews hid their religious identities to avoid discrimination, especially after a government-sponsored anti-Semitic campaign in 1968.

Clarke chastised over Zimbabwe deportation policy: government "uninterested" in deportees' fate
2005/10/14 · The Guardian

British Minister Clarke's policy on deportation was severely criticised today in a court ruling which found that a failed asylum seeker from Zimbabwe had a "well-founded fear of persecution" if he was sent home. The tribunal also criticised the lack of evidence uncovered by a fact-finding delegation sent by the government last month. It appeared to show that the home secretary "ceased to have any very clear interest in what happened" with deported persons once officials handed their papers over to the air crew, including how they are received by Zimbabwean authorities.

Helsinki Commissioners Blast Turkey on Prosecution of Noted Writer, Call on Turks to "Face Their History"
2005/10/13 · CSCE

The U.S. Helsinki Commission, a U.S. Government agency that monitors progress in the implementation of the 1975 Helsinki Accords, this week sent a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, calling on him to authorize the removal of charges on noted writer Orhan Pamuk. Pamuk was recently indicted for speaking openly on the Armenian question and charged with "public denigration of the Turkish identity."

Danish Muslims denounce newspaper over cartoons of Prophet
2005/10/12 · Al Jazeera

Danish Muslims have strongly condemned one of the country's largest newspapers for publishing drawings of the Prophet Muhammad. On 30 September, the Jyllands-Posten daily printed 12 drawings by Danish cartoonists who had been asked to illustrate the prophet. Islam bans depictions of Prophet Muhammad. 16 Muslim organisations on Wednesday demanded that Jyllands-Posten apologise for printing the drawings. Jyllands-Posten, citing the freedom of speech, said it would not.

Dutch parliament supports eviction of 'criminal' foreigners
2005/10/12 · Radio Netherlands

The Dutch parliament has voted to support a proposal by Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk to expel foreigners who break the law. The minister wants to deport foreigners with residence permits who are sentenced to a jail term during their first three years in the Netherlands. Current legislation only allows the authorities to deport foreigners who have committed serious offences. Ms Verdonk wants to be able to take away the residence permit of anyone who commits a crime.

Trial of "Vukovar Three" opens at The Hague War Crimes Tribunal
2005/10/11 · Southeast European Times

The trial of three former Yugoslav Army officers charged with complicity in the 1991 Vukovar massacre opened at the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague on Tuesday. Prosecutors say former Yugoslav Army officers Mile Mrksic, Miroslav Radic and Veselin Sljivancanin commanded troops that removed more than 400 people from a hospital and then slaughtered many of them.

Thanks, nimh, excellent laborious work!


(Well, you might be sure that about that. :wink: )

Well, I didnt do the work for A2K, thank God ... I just decided to share it ;-)

A2K as part of the waste management

Very interesting selection, Nimh. What conclusions do you take from it regarding European affairs generally and the evolution of the union?

I see a picture of human beings and politicians more or less as they really are, and an illustration of the futility of European attempts to reform either. Social engineering is an attractive idea, but it rarely works for long in practice. The world is a competitive place with winners and losers - in general the good effects of this on human economic behavior outweigh the bad that comes from the ultimate failure of socialist illusions.

Perhaps someone will find a way to blame all this on America or President Bush.

NIMH,

I appreciated the collection of titles and comments...this helps me develop a mind set re life in Europe.

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